Secretary-General Appoints Anita Bhatia of India Deputy Executive Director, UN-Women, for Resource Management, Sustainability, Partnerships

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Anita Bhatia of India as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships.

Ms. 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.

She 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, support to women-owned businesses and other priorities critical to attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.  In addition, Ms. Bhatia has served as Director of Development Partner Relations for the World Bank, leading efforts to ensure strategic alignment between institutional priorities and resource mobilization across the Group.

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.  As Director of Partnerships and Advisory Operations, she oversaw financial management, risk management, portfolio management, knowledge management and learning for Advisory Services across the globe.  She has led diverse teams, including as Global Head of Knowledge Management, Head of Business Process Improvement and Head of Change Management.  In addition to Latin America, she has worked in Africa, Europe, Central Asia and South and East Asia.

Ms. 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.