Siddharth Chatterjee

Siddharth Chatterjee is a feminist as well as a humanitarian and development professional in the United Nations (UN). He has served in various war-ravaged and fragile parts of the world and has seen firsthand many human tragedies and triumphs, from which he has learnt important lessons. He is the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative in Kenya. He is enthusiastic about ensuring the success of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), advancing the rights and well being of "every woman and every child" and supporting the empowerment of every young person, so that she/he will achieve her/his full human potential. Before taking up this role he was the UNFPA Representative to Kenya, fighting to end traditional harmful practices such as FGM and child marriage as well as speaking out against all forms of violence against women and girls. Before joining UNFPA, he was the Chief Diplomat and Head of Strategic Partnerships & Resource Mobilization at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He has served the UN since 1997 in Peace Keeping operations, UNICEF and the United Nations Office for Project Services in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. A military veteran, he began his early career as an officer in a Special Forces unit of the Indian Army and was decorated for gallantry by the President of India. He has a Masters in Public Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs in Princeton University in the United States of America and is an undergraduate from the National Defence Academy in India. He has written extensively on a range of social issues. Besides the Huffington Post, his articles have featured in CNN, Al Jazeera, Forbes, Reuters, the Guardian, as well as leading Kenyana and Indian journals. These can be found in his blog: http://siddharthchatterjee-wws.blogspot.com.