ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

Mrs. Seema Bahuguna who hails from India, assumed the charge of the office of the Assistant Secretary General of Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) on 19 December 2005 after being unanimously elected by the 53rd Session of the Executive Committee of AARDO, held in Damascus, Syria on 11-13 September  2005. 

Mrs.  Seema   Bahuguna  is  a  career bureaucrat  having joined the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1983. She brings with her considerable knowledge and experience in the field of rural development and welfare of women and children.

Mrs. Seema Bahuguna is a Post-graduate in History from the University of Delhi. She has done her Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Development Studies from the University of Bath in United Kingdom. Besides academic achievements, Mrs. Bahuguna had been a Fellow of Rockfeller Foundation under its Leadership for Environment and Development Programme. She had undergone intensive training at national and international level under this programme during 1993-95 on issues relating to sustainable development. 

Prior to her appointment in the Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization, Mrs. Seema Bahuguna was Additional Director General of Foreign Trade (ADG FT), Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. As ADG FT, she played a crucial role in trade promotion, formulation and implementation of EXIM (Export and Import) policy of the country.

She has worked in various capacities in the Government of India and in the State of Rajasthan. As Zonal Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, Mrs. Bahuguna was primarily responsible for the implementation of export promotion schemes of Government of India. While serving in the State of Rajasthan, she successfully implemented policies for the development of women and children as well as for promotion of industrialisation and micro-enterprise development in the rural non-farm sector in the State.

Mrs. Seema Bahuguna has also published a Paper on the Women’s Development Programme in Rajasthan as part of the dissertation for M.Sc. in the University of Bath. The Paper is titled “Women’s Empowerment – A Myth or Reality”, a critique of the Women’s Development Programme.

The cause of rural development is very close to Mrs. Seema Bahuguna’s heart. With a vast and varied experience in policy planning and programmes relating to rural development, welfare of women and children, it is hoped that AARDO would be benefited during her stay in the Organization.