Kamala Harris, the Vice President of the United States, appointed Indian-American Geeta Rao Gupta as the Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues in the State Department. In May this year, the US Senate confirmed Gupta’s name for the post by a vote of 51 to 47.
According to Gupta, women across the world face many inequalities and humiliations, which prevent them from participating fully in the economy. “Their security is threatened and they fear violence even on a daily basis, and this determines their mobility. In situations of conflict, emergency and humanitarian crisis, they are particularly vulnerable, not only in terms of their own safety, but also in terms of being able to take care of themselves and support their families. he said during his confirmation hearing last year.
Describing herself as a “first-generation immigrant,” she said, “I come from a family of professional women, each of whom dedicated their lives to serving their communities, and a family of men who supported them wholeheartedly. ” She told lawmakers that she did her doctoral research in India to understand the barriers women face in pursuing careers, which ultimately led her to a career focused on improving the inequalities women experience. “It became both my passion and profession,” she said.
“From women entrepreneurs in Kenya and India who maintain small businesses despite limited access to financial services, to the brave women of Liberia who united against great odds to demand peace for their families and communities, I have seen women use the limited resources they have to support their families and protect others,” Gupta said.
The brief formal swearing-in was attended, among others, by another gentleman; her husband Arvind Gupta; daughter Nayana Gupta; Manjuli Maheshwari, sister-in-law and Carolina Rojas, a close family friend. Most recently she was the Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation.
Gupta served as Deputy Executive Director at UNICEF and Senior Fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously, for more than a decade, Gupta was president of the International Center for Research on Women, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization that works to shape international development policies and programs to empower women and girls. was dedicated to using research.
(With inputs from PTI)
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