THE VOICE OF REASON

NISHTHA SATYAM, Head of Office - UN Women in Timor Leste, tells Shraddha Kamdar what it means to fight for gender equality from the grassroots level and up

- Shraddha Kamdar

For Nishtha Satyam, it is tough being a feminist, but tougher to not be one, especially as Head of Office – UN Women in Timor Leste, the entity of the United Nations (UN) that is dedicated to working towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. “When we break down gender equality, in essence, we are challenging power structures and asking for the redistribution of power, so resistance from society is expected,” she explains. “And my experiences as an advocate of gender equality have not been too different from those of any other woman. I have found great allies sometimes and, at other times, it takes a lot.”

As a trained economist, the University of Nottingham and Delhi University alumna worked in the private sector with top-notch organisations such as KPMG and American Express before the feminist and futurist in her finally led her to join the UN in 2012. She began in partnership development and moved on to become the Deputy Country Representative for UN Women in India. She later served as the Officer in Charge from 2018 to 2021. As the youngest woman, at 33, to head a country office for UN Women among 193 nations, Nishtha brought with her a keen interest in applied macroeconomic and fiscal policy.