Lakshmi Puri is a former IFS officer and Ambassador. She has actively engaged in multilateral diplomacy since 1981. She also served at the United Nations for 15 years – as Director, International Trade Division, UNCTAD and later as Assistant Secretary General, United Nations and the founding Deputy Executive Director of UNWOMEN. She is a Distinguished Fellow of Indian Association of International Studies (IAIS) and recipient of the prestigious Eleanor Roosevelt Prize for Human Rights.