Purnima Mane profile 800x600 womanleader GWLvoices
Her voice

“Violence against women continues to be a common, yet widely ignored phenomenon that robs women worldwide of their health, well-being and lives.” 

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BIO

Ms. Mane is an expert on sexual and reproductive health who served as the President and CEO of Pathfinder International from 2012-2016. Earlier, from 2007 – 2011, she served as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Deputy Executive Director (Programme).

Ms Mane began her professional career in India where she worked as faculty member at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences from 1981-1994. Mane joined the World Health Organization’s Global Programme on AIDS in 1994, moving to UNAIDS at its inception in 1996, where she was Chief of the Executive Office.

From 1999 to 2003, she worked at the Population Council in New York, where she later became Vice President and Director of International Programmes. In 2003, she went on to work for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as Chief Fund Portfolio Director and Director, Asia. She returned to UNAIDS in 2004 as Director, Policy, Evidence and Partnerships, serving as a vital member of the senior management team before moving to UNFPA.

Ms Mane holds a doctorate from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. Before joining UNAIDS, she worked for over 13 years in India on public health and gender-related issues, and was one of the first social science researchers working on social and behavioral aspects