India-born Geeta Rao Gupta now Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues in US

Indian-American Geeta Rao Gupta has been sworn in as the Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues in the US State Department.

Gupta was confirmed by the US Senate by 51 to 47 votes for the position in May. US Vice-President Kamala Harris swore her in on Monday (July 10).

According to Gupta, women suffer many inequities and indignities around the world, which hold them back from participating fully in the economy.

“They are subject to threats to their safety and have a fear of violence even on a daily basis, and that determines their mobility. In situations of conflict and emergencies and humanitarian crises, they are particularly vulnerable, both in terms of their safety but also in terms of their being able to look after their families and feed their families,” she said during her confirmation hearing last year.

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The learning days in India

Describing herself as a “first-generation immigrant”, she said, “I belong to a family of professional women, each of whom dedicated their lives to serving their communities and from a family of men who supported them fully.”

Born in Mumbai in 1956, Gupta was raised in Delhi. Her educational background includes a PhD in Social Psychology from Bangalore University and an MPhil and MA from the University of Delhi.

She told lawmakers that she did her doctoral research in India on understanding the barriers women face in pursuing a career, which ultimately propelled her towards a career focused on rectifying the inequities experienced by women. “That became both my passion and my profession,” she said.

“From the women entrepreneurs in Kenya and India who sustain small businesses despite limited access to financial services, to the brave women in Liberia who mobilised against great odds to demand peace for their families and communities, I have seen women use the limited resources they have to provide for their families and protect others,” Gupta said.

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Rich experience

The brief ceremonial swearing was attended, among others, by the second Gentleman; her husband Arvind Gupta; daughter Nayna Gupta; Manjuli Maheshwari, sister-in-law and Carolina Rojas, a close family friend.

Till recently, she was Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation.

Gupta served as Deputy Executive Director at UNICEF and as a senior fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Before that, for over a decade, Gupta was the president of the International Centre for Research on Women, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC, dedicated to using research to shape international development policies and programs to empower women and girls.

(With agency inputs)