Indian-origin Anita Bhatia appointed UN Deputy Executive Director

United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres recently appointed Indian-origin Anita Bhatia as Deputy Executive Director of United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships.

Key Highlights

• Earlier Lakshmi Puri, Veteran Indian diplomat and a gender equality champion had served as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.
• The key appointment comes less than a week after Antonio Guterres appointed Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar an Indian Army officer as new Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS ).

About Anita Bhatia

• She is a veteran in strategic partnerships, resource mobilisation and management.
• She has had a distinguished career at World Bank (WB) Group, has served in various senior leadership and management positions, both at the headquarters (Washington, D.C., United States) and in the field.

About UN Women

• The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) is the UN’s agency focused on women empowerment and gender equality.
• Background: It was established in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and is headquartered in New York City, United States. It became operational in January 2011.
• Objective: UN Women is a global champion for women and girls which seeks to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.
• Function: It works globally to make vision of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2019