Before she started Maiti-Nepal, she spent 20 years as a teacher, teaching English in different schools in Kathmandu.

Maiti Nepal also works on reuniting the rescued women with their families, patrolling the Indo-Nepal border with police and other law enforcement authorities, and also rescuing trafficked women from brothels in India with the help of Indian authorities.

[4] Koirala received the Courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts on 25 August 2006.

[11][12] In 2014, Koirala was awarded the Acharya Tulsi Kartitva Puraskar by the Akhil Bhartiya Terapanth Mahila Mandal (ABTMM).

Koirala was conferred India's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri in April 2017 by president Pranab Mukherjee.