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UN-Women gets Indian origin Anita Bhatia as new deputy executive director

UNITED NATIONS (UN) secretary-general António Guterres has appointed Indian origin Anita Bhatia as the deputy executive director of the UN agency for gender equality and the empowerment of women (UN-Women) for resource management, sustainability and partnerships.

Bhatia has had a distinguished career at the World Bank Group, serving in various senior leadership and management positions, both at headquarters and in the field.


She brings extensive experience in the area of strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and management.

Bhatia served for several years as director of global partnerships for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s private sector arm.

She developed and expanded innovative partnerships with public and private sector partners to support IFC strategy in key areas, including fragile and conflict-affected states, gender equality, financial inclusion, and others.

In addition, Bhatia has served as director of development partner relations for the World Bank.

In various positions, she focused on enhancing sustainability, institutional effectiveness and impact through strategic partnerships.

As Head of IFC’s Latin America advisory operations, based in Lima and La Paz, she successfully grew the corporation’s reach and impact in the region.

In addition to Latin America, she has worked in Africa, Europe, Central Asia and South, and East Asia.

Bhatia holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Calcutta University, a Master of Arts in Political Science from Yale University and a Juris Doctor in Law from Georgetown University.

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Expectations around marriage and domestic life felt far louder than conversations about ambition

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Fathima Hakkim on breaking south Asian expectations to build a global creative career

Highlights

  • Fathima Hakkim said art first became a form of escape while growing up in Kerala
  • She went from carrying paintings across India to working with Netflix, Nike, Google and HarperCollins
  • She also opened up about marriage, motherhood and writing her memoir Brown Sheep Baggage

Art became her escape before it became her career

Growing up in Kerala in what she described as an orthodox Muslim household, Hakkim often felt her future had already been mapped out. Expectations around marriage and domestic life felt far louder than conversations about ambition.

At school, things were not much easier. She has spoken about being neurodivergent in a system that struggled to understand her, leaving her feeling out of place academically and socially.

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