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Geeta Rao Gupta

Candidate For Ambassador At-Large For Global Women's Issues At The Department of State

Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta has decades of experience working in both non-governmental organizations and multilateral institutions advocating for the rights of women and girls around the world. Throughout her career, Gupta has served as the president of the International Center for Research on Women and, most recently, as the executive director of the U.N. Foundation’s 3D Program for Girls and Women, before becoming a U.N. Foundation senior fellow. Gupta has expertise and a particular interest in public health solutions for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS among women and girls.

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Gupta Was Reported A Candidate For Ambassador At Large For Global Women’s Issues At The Department Of State On November 12, 2021

President Joe Biden Announced His Intent To Nominate Geeta Rao Gupta For Ambassador At Large For Global Women’s Issues At The Department Of State On November 12, 2021. “Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve in key roles: … Geeta Rao Gupta, Nominee for Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State.” [White House, 11/12/21]

President Joe Biden Sent Geeta Rao Gupta’s Nomination To The Senate For Consideration On November 15, 2021. “Nominations sent to the Senate: … Geeta Rao Gupta, of Virginia, to be Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues.” [White House, 11/15/21]

Previous Employment Of Note

Gupta Has Extensive Experience Advocating For Equitable Public Health Solutions To HIV/AIDS Prevention And Treatment For Women And Girls

Gupta Led A “Landmark 10-Year Program To Understand Women’s Vulnerability To HIV” That Helped Shape The Field Of Study For HIV/AIDS Among Women.“[ICRW] President Geeta Rao Gupta presents the findings of a landmark 10-year program to understand women’s vulnerability to HIV in a plenary address delivered at the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, ‘Gender, Sexuality, and HIV/AIDS: the What, the Why, and the How.’ This speech (and resulting journal article) provided the HIV/AIDS community with a framework for shaping and the gender-responsiveness of AIDS programming.” [International Center for Research on Women, 2002]

Gupta Has Publicly Opposed The Mexico City Policy (AKA “Global Gag Rule”)

In Discussing The “Global Gag Rule,” Gupta Discussed How The Policy Harms Aid For People Who Are HIV Positive And Pregnant. “Geeta Rao Gupta, a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation who previously served as deputy executive director of UNICEF, gives the example of HIV/AIDS clinics that get U.S. funding to provide antiretrovirals: ‘If they’re giving advice to women on what to do if they’re pregnant and HIV positive, giving them all the options that exist, they cannot now receive money from the U.S.’” [Slate, 1/24/17]

Gupta Has Advocated For And Led Efforts Toward Preventing Gender-Based Violence

Gupta Co-Chaired A World Bank Task Force That Identified Ways For The World Bank To Engage In Global Gender-Based Violence Prevention Work. “The World Bank today launched a Global Gender-Based Violence (GGBV) Task Force to strengthen the institution’s response through its projects to issues involving sexual exploitation and abuse. … The Gender-Based Violence Task Force will be asked to: … Identify effective ways for the World Bank to increase coordination with multiple stakeholders, locally, nationally and internationally, to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. … Global Gender-Based Violence Task Force Members: Co-Chairs: Geeta Rao Gupta.” [World Bank, 10/13/16]

The Task Force Headed By Gupta Released A Report On How The World Bank Can Help Prevent Sexual Exploitation And Abuse Through Investment Projects. [World Bank, 07/31/17]

Gupta Supports Access To Comprehensive Contraception And Reproductive Healthcare, Including Safe And Legal Abortions

Gupta Seeks To Address Maternal Mortality Through An Accessible And Comprehensive Approach To Reproductive Healthcare. “So I would say the way to look at the contribution of family planning to maternal mortality is through the lens of unsafe abortions and to talk about how important contraception is to reducing unwanted pregnancies, and therefore avoiding at least some potential for unsafe abortions. The other piece of it is of course where it is legal to provide safe abortion services, so that women can actually access, because even in countries where it is legal it is provided in such a way that women don’t access it, or confidentiality is not maintained, or a whole host of issues around that that we need to address.” [Council on Foreign Relations, 6/27/06]

As A Public Health Expert, Gupta Knows That Abortion And Reproductive Healthcare Have Been Wrongly Politicized. “I wish it wasn’t controversial, because it’s a simple fact if women can prevent unwanted pregnancies. … But I think that’s a fact of life, and I regret that it’s become so politically controversial that now even family planning has become controversial because it shouldn’t be. It’s what helps prevent what we want to prevent.” [Council on Foreign Relations, 6/27/06]

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