Vineeta Gupta, joined The Global Fund for Children as the Program Officer for South Asia in 2008. Prior to this engagement, she directed Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative (SHAII) based in Washington DC. She practiced medicine in India, predominantly maternal-child healthcare, both in rural and urban settings for 16 years. She has over twenty years of experience in organizational and community management in India and internationally. She has traveled widely in Europe and the U.S addressing the impact of international policies on Global South countries. Among other noted groups, she has consulted UNAIDS, International Commission of Jurists and Global Campaign for Microbicides. A strong believer in the holistic development of vulnerable children, her work emphasized the need to provide proper healthcare and education to all children. In addition to her work in health rights, she investigated, documented and litigated many human rights cases. In this vein, her work has been acknowledged by many national and international organizations such as National Human Rights Commission of India, People's Union for Civil Liberties, Amnesty International (U.K.), Physicians for Human Rights ( Denmark ), Indian courts and judges including Chief Justices of India (former). The "Rotary Service to Humanity Award 2001" was conferred upon her in recognition of her efforts to uphold ethical standards in society. In 2004, Vineeta graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame, with a Master's degree in International Human Rights Law (LL.M.). She also holds a Bachelors of Law (equivalent to J.D.) from Nehru Memorial Law College , Ajmer University , India and a dual Bachelors degree for Medicine and Surgery from Medical College Patiala, India with a Residency in Gynecology and Obstetrics. She is fluent in Hindi, English, Punjabi and Urdu.
Delhi, India – “I want to make sure that Sankalpam is always a loving and safe home for my children,” said Sumitra Mokkapati, misty-eyed, as she shared her goal for Ankuram with me during a GFC-sponsored organizational development workshop in Delhi. Sumitra is the executive director of Ankuram Woman and Child Development Society, a community-based [...]
Lahore, Pakistan – “India is winning,” said the first person I saw after getting off the plane in Lahore. I had just landed after a tough flight from Delhi, and I didn’t quite understand what she meant. Earlier that day, our plane had been diverted to Multan after being unable to land in Lahore because [...]
Kathmandu, Nepal – In August 2010, the US government suspended the adoption of children from Nepal. Nepal is in the midst of changing its adoption laws to address the United States’ concerns regarding unreliable and fabricated documents establishing the status of orphaned and abandoned children. Until the new laws and policies are firmly in place, [...]
Dhaka, Bangladesh – Whether in the context of a personal, career, or social enterprise, finding a good match is one of the critical ingredients for full realization of goals. With the mushrooming of NGOs, the options for social investment partnerships are many, and vetting to find the right partner is important and requires expertise and [...]
Kathmandu, Nepal – Spending time with Indira Ranamagar, the director of GFC grantee partner Prisoners Assistance Nepal (PA Nepal) is refreshing. She is constantly advocating for children’s causes wherever she goes and whenever she gets a chance. She founded PA Nepal in 1990 to advocate for prison reforms in Nepal. The organization’s holistic approach incorporates [...]
New York, New York – As I waited for several hours in New York on my way to Dhaka, Bangladesh, I looked through the long list of nonprofit organizations I had with me to plan my visit to explore the possibilities of supporting some new community organizations in Bangladesh and Nepal. At GFC, we call [...]
Ixtapa, Mexico – There is no easy answer to this question. But there is enough evidence, and enough concern in the child labor community and the microfinance community, to start exploring this issue further. A key approach would be to develop collaborations between various stakeholders, including human rights advocates, child labor elimination program practitioners, and [...]
Ixtapa, Mexico – Sharing thoughts on the leadership and significance of a strong management team with the 50 Cordes fellows, an amazing group of young social entrepreneurs, was one of the highlights for me on Sunday at the Opportunity Collaboration, an unconventional retreat focusing on poverty alleviation. My co-panelists were Sakena Yacoobi, founder of the [...]
Ixtapa, Mexico – I just arrived at Ixtapa, Mexico, to attend the Opportunity Collaboration. This four-day retreat will allow a variety of professionals, including social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, funders, and social investors, to engage in problem solving and strategic conversations and solutions concerning poverty alleviation. The conference hopes to bring together individuals from different sectors [...]
Mumbai, India – I landed in Mumbai amid the newspaper headline, “Monsoon chaos returns to Mumbai, disrupts normal life.” India’s climate, mythology, romantic poetry, literature, Bollywood songs—all bear the influence of the monsoon. Although the country’s infrastructure has developed at a rapid pace since the economic liberalization of the 1990s, it is still inadequate to [...]