Biographical Note

New Permanent Observer of Partners for Population and Development

 

Presents Appointment Letter

 

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Observer for Partners in Population and Development, Sethuramiah L.N. Rao, presented his letter of appointment today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Mr. Rao has for the past five years been a Senior Adviser at the New York Office of Partners in Population and Development, which is an intergovernmental initiative created specifically for the purpose of expanding and improving South-South collaboration in the fields of reproductive health, population, and development.  During the same period, he was a visiting professor at the University of Jaume I, Spain.

Prior to joining the Partners, Mr. Rao for more than 30 years held numerous posts with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  From 2003 to 2004, he served as a Special Technical Adviser in UNFPA’s Technical Support Division, where he was involved in carrying out and analysing a worldwide inquiry on progress made in implementing the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in the areas of reproductive health, gender, HIV/AIDS, and adolescent reproductive and sexual health issues.  In 2004, he also co-authored the subsequent UNFPA report, Investing in People.

From 2000 to 2002, he served as the Director of the Fund’s Strategic Planning and Coordination Division and he spent 1995 to 2000 as the Director, Technical and Evaluation Division.  During the early 1990s, Mr. Rao was UNFPA’s Country Director in Ethiopia and, during the prior decade, he served as the Chief of the Fund’s Policy Branch from 1982 to 1987.  He began his work with the Fund in 1977, when he served a three-year stint as Project Manager for the United Nations Programme of Training in Population in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Rao received a Ph.D in population studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.  He also holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a post-graduate certificate in demography from the United Nations Demographic Training and Research Centre in Bombay.

Mr. Rao was born 28 April 1942 in Mysore, India.

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For information media • not an official record