Innovative Indian ideas can help leap-frog women's empowerment: UN official

Anita Bhatia, the newly-appointed Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, stressed that India is a 'crucible of innovation' that can really serve other parts of the developing world.

India is the crucible for innovative ideas which can be shared with other developing nations to implement changes that leap-frog women's empowerment and equality for generations ahead, Anita Bhatia, the newly-appointed Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, has said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month appointed Bhatia as Assistant Secretary-General for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Bhatia is the senior-most Indian woman in the UN system in New York.

"Because of its size, India is really the crucible for so many ideas and for the implementation of new and innovative approaches," Bhatia told PTI in an interview here.

Bhatia said India has implemented several measures and policies towards ensuring women's economic empowerment such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 and The Maternity (Amendment) Bill 2017.

"These are good (policies) and we need to just build on them and come up with innovative and new ways of connecting women, may be using mobile technology and digital interventions to implement leap-frog changes so that it is not just one step at a time but you are jumping many generations forward through technological interventions," Bhatia said.

She stressed that India is a "crucible of innovation" and one often sees things and ideas being developed there that can really serve other parts of the developing world and help enhance economic opportunities for women.

Bhatia, who assumed her duties on August 1, is the senior-most Indian woman in the UN system in New York, home to the world body's headquarters. Bhatia has had a distinguished career at The World Bank Group, serving in various senior leadership and management positions. She brings extensive experience in the area of strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and management.

She added that Indian women are succeeding on many levels across sectors and the most important thing for women is to have security, safety, protection against domestic violence as well an opportunity to earn a fair living wage.

Business Standard