USGLC

Geeta Rao Gupta is the Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State.

Dr. Gupta was the Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women at the United Nations Foundation. She now serves as the Senior Advisor and Founder of the Program and is also a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation. Previously, Gupta served as Executive Director for UNICEF and the Vice Chair of the Board for the GAVI Alliance. Geeta Rao Gupta has also previously served as President of the International Center for Research on Women.

 Past statements on development, diplomacy, and U.S. global leadership:

On Development: “Our goals for gender and development must stay focused on women who live in poverty and the pro-poor policies and social protection programs that will give them a more just return on their labor and an opportunity to survive and thrive as individuals.” (source)

On Ending Poverty: “Focusing on the usefulness and access of an innovation for women is particularly important if your goal is to end poverty, because we know that income and resources in the hands of a woman has far-reaching positive economic and social impacts for women themselves, their children, and the communities in which they live, and thus can be an engine for poverty reduction and economic growth.” (source)

On Women and Girls: “Girls and women’s voices are rising. Girls and women are speaking up everywhere – whether at the grassroots level, in schools, in parliaments, within corporate workplaces, at protests. And they are being heard and forcing a response.” (source)

On COVID-19: “We are living through the Covid-19 pandemic which has drawn attention to the ways in which the virus differentially impacts women as compared to men, with higher rates of mortality among men and a spike in domestic violence experienced by women.” (source)

On Education: “If a girl has equal access to education at age 7, but it is forced into marriage at age 14, her opportunities for equality diminish. If a woman has potential to pursue a meaningful career, but she faces domestic violence at home, her opportunities for equality diminish.” (source)

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