& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Women Diplomats Make Inroads in Male 'Territory'

Priya Darshini writes from New Delhi
India seems to have drawn the most number of women ambassadors. And New Zealand will soon have the distinction of having an all-woman diplomatic mission in Delhi
WOMEN appear lo be now fully ensconced in that once all-male bastion of diplomatic service if the composition of India's foreign diplomatic corps is anything to go by
This country seems to liave drawn the most number of women holding the rank of ambassador — seven out of 125 diplomatic missions. Among those with women ambassadors in India are Finland. Ireland. New Zealand. Cuba. Belgium and the European Economic Community (EEC).
Sending the women to India seems highly appropriate as the country has boasted of women diplomats long before it became fashionable. The country's diplomatic service Itself attests to the significant strides women have made In this heretofore male preserve.
While in many countries women In the diplomatic service started making an Impact only tn the late Sixties and early Seventies. India has had its first woman diplomat since its Independence in the Fifties.
Vljayalakshml Pandit, sister of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was probably the country's first woman diplomat. She was sent to Washington. DC as India's ambassador to the United States then headed her oountry's High Commission tn London. Ms Pandit, who also headed India's embassy In the former Soviet Union, became the first woman president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Since then, the number of women in India's diplomatic corps steadily rose.
India now has three women heading overseas missions. Each year, women comprise 40 per cent of seleqled candidates for diplomatic posts. They make up 10 per cent of the total diplomatic service workforce of about 500.
The women ambassadors who are now serving in India also come from countries where women arc making enormous progress in the field of diplomacy.
Finland's diplomatic corp* Is almost equally divided between men and women. The
country has four women am bas-ndors currently on over sea' assignments. Its repre-senlative in India. Marjatla Rasi who arrived In Delhi only last September, has served “in London. Parts and New York.
Ms Rasi explains that a Job or a career Is normal for Finnish women. There are no housewives In Finland. The tradition of working women is so well established in may country that women face no discrimination as far as professional lives are concerned." she says.
Some 25 per cent of the personnel of the Irish foreign service are women, several of them holding high positions. In spite of the fact that until 1975 women had to resign when they got married.
New Zealand, which actively recruited women for the for eign service only in the Seventies when it was faced with a severe shortage of quail fled graduates, now has many women In senior positions. It will also soon have the distinction of having an all-woman diplomatic mission In Delhi.
In Cuba, women now account for 48 per cent of the foreign service personnel, a slight decline from the earlier 51 per cent share. Women are proportionately represented at the ambassadorial level.
Belgium now has two women ambassadors and women account for 33 per cent of the foreign service's workforce.
The women ambassadors admit that a career In diplomacy was not a cakewalk for them and other women.
Cristina Funcs-Noppen. the Belgian ambassador, describes her early days In the foreign service: "At first, people are very patronising. They treat you as a sweet little thing until you prove your competence. Male diplomats, of course, do not have td go through the same trial of ftre."
M,* Funes-Noppcn adds: "In other professions involving tong hours, there is at least tlic stability of living In one place. If a woman decides to be a diplomat. It Is difficult to have u family life. You can't do both."
Site also admits that some
asstenments might not be open to women. "Obviously. I would never be posted to Saudi Arabia, for instance, but at one point, our foreign office did plan to send me to Teheran (Iran)."
Margaret Hennessy, the Irish ambassador, may be a little luckier as her family was able to Join her In Delhi, but she still finds things a little hard: "Even then there are only 24 hours in a day. You have to sacrifice something — social life, reading, etc.
New Zealand's Priscilla Williams agrees. "You cany a double load. As a woman diplomat you have to run the office, the home and also entertain. Single men do it. too. But the reaction Is: See how well he manages without a wife?" For women the expectations are that much higher." she says
Women diplomats either have to organise their family life so well or choose not lo have a family at all.
Sonia Diaz of Cuba remained in her country while her children were small. Today, they are all working. Still, she finds diplomatic work very exhausting and demanding. There is so much to read — telexes, reports. and your (Indian) press — it's very rich. I sometimes read till after midnight." she said.
In a number of Instances, the diplomats' families opt to remain tn their own countries leading to what Ms Rasi describes as "remote marriages."
If having a family poses difficulties. being single has its own problems. Ms Williams says, There is more interest in the life of a single woman diplomat than tn a single man's. Especially in a small community, you have to take care to protect yourself from comment." Ms Williams, who succeeded the immensely popular Sir Edmund Hillary of
the Mt Everest fame says that "a woman ambassador has a rertatn curiosity value."
The women ambassadors share an enthusiasm and keen Interest in their host country. EEC's Ambassador Tranctnc Henrich says being posted in India Is a reward and a challenge."
Ms Rasi notes. "Everything happen* in different layers — It is such a vast country India Is a suitable place for women diplomat* to be posted to." The Irish Ms Hennessy also finds India to be no problem for a woman I am not con ious of being a woman In any professional context In India." she says.
Ms Funes Noppen says the household help initially had problems adjusting to a woman boss but she herself is "very comfortable here."
Although there is some dis adv antage in not being able to merge with the crowd, as Ms
Rasi would like lo do. tlic am hassadors appreciate the freedom of movement they enjoy
Travelling Is important to gain experience about the social, political and cultural realities of the country." Ms Hennessy says. In India, there ts no restriction on what foreign diplomat* see or where they can go".
Obviously, all the women ambassadors take pride In their positions as heads of their countries diplomatic missions to India and enjoy their posting in such a coni-pk x country.
— Depthneu s Asia