Lakshmi Puri

Lakshmi Puri (born in 1952, in India) is the Assistant Secretary-General for Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships at the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). She was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on 11 March 2011.^[1] Puri is the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.^[2]

Education

Puri has pursued studies in history, public policy and administration, international relations and law, and economic development. She has a B.A. in First Division from Delhi University and a postgraduate degree from Punjab University, as well as professional diplomas.

Career

Puri has more than 37 years’ experience in economic and development policy-making as well as in political, peace and security, humanitarian and human rights–related diplomacy. More than twenty years of these have been in relation to the United Nations system. At the UN she has been something of a controversial and divisive figure. She has also promoted the gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda throughout her career. She has considerable experience and professional background in all the thematic and functional areas of UN Women. She has been actively involved in pioneering efforts to analyse and advocate positive linkages between economic development and gender equality. She has worked on ensuring inclusion of a gender perspective in trade investment, migration and labour mobility, financial flows, environment and climate change, energy, agriculture and food security, and access to essential services, among other issues. Puri has contributed to policy-related research in think tanks, academic institutions and in the context of development banks.

Puri held the rank of Permanent Secretary of the Government of India, was Ambassador of India to Hungary and accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that capacity she worked closely with the Peacekeeping Mission there through coordination with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the Indian peacekeeping contingent.

During her diplomatic postings in Geneva, including as Deputy Permanent Representative of India, she developed an expertise in human rights and humanitarian affairs and played an active role in the Commission on Human Rights and its subsidiary bodies. Puri joined the United Nations as Director of UNCTAD’s largest division and led the work of the organization in making trade work for development in all its dimensions and, in particular, for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. She was acting Deputy Secretary General of UNCTAD from 2007 to 2009. She was appointed Director in the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Islands Developing States in December 2009, and she actively directed the preparations for the United Nations LDC IV conference in Istanbul in 2011.^[3]

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