Salil Shetty
| Salil Shetty | |||
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| File:Salil Shetty Wikimania 2014.jpg
Salil Shetty at Wikimania 2014
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| Born | 3 February 1961 Bangalore, Karnataka |
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| Nationality | Indian | ||
| Education | St. Joseph's College of Commerce, London School of Economics, Indian Institute of Management | ||
| Employer | Amnesty International | ||
| Title | Secretary-General of Amnesty International | ||
| Term | 21 December 2009 | ||
| Predecessor | Irene Khan | ||
| Successor | Incumbent | ||
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Salil Shetty (born 3 February 1961 is an Indian human rights activist who currently serves as Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International (2010–present). Previously, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. Before joining the UN, he served as the Chief Executive of ActionAid.
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Early life and education
Shetty grew up in Bangalore. His mother, Hemlatha Shetty, was active in women’s groups and his father, V.T. Rajshekar, was active with the Dalit movement. He received a BCom in Advanced Accounting from St. Joseph's College of Commerce in 1981, an MBA in 1983, and an MSc in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics in 1991. In 1983, he began working for the Indian IT company Wipro, and served as Chief Executive of ActionAid from 1998 to 2003. He became director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign in 2003.[1]
Amnesty International
Shetty was appointed as Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International on 21 December 2009 starting work in July 2010. He succeeded Irene Khan in this post.[2]
Decentralisation controversy
The decentralisation of Amnesty International's international secretariat, led by Shetty, has caused a serious dispute amongst the organisation's staff. According to an article published by the Guardian on 2 December 2012, <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
the core of the dispute lies in the decision, led by the secretary general, Salil Shetty, to take the organisation "closer to the ground", opening 10 new regional "hubs" in hotspots where human rights violations occur. Some of Amnesty's 500 staff in London will be moved abroad, and those affected argue that the shift is under-planned, ill-judged and risks muddying the purpose of the organisation. For them this is not an industrial dispute over job cuts, but a battle for the organisation's soul.[3]
The British newspaper The Observer, where Amnesty International's founder launched the organization in 1961, characterized the situation caused by Shetty's sacking of staff working on core issues such as women's rights and the death penalty: "Amnesty was one of 20th-century Britain's greatest gifts to the world. Now it is a wreck."[4]
Notes
- ↑ http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/fighting-poverty-and-hunger-1.565512
- ↑ "Salil Shetty: Amnesty International's new voice in the fight against injustice - Salil Shetty wants to make Amnesty International, the world's largest human rights organisation, truly international"
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External links
- Press release, Amnesty International
- Riz Khan - Making human rights universal - interview with Salil Shetty on Al Jazeera English
- Salil Shetty keynote speech at Wikimania 2014
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
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| Preceded by | Secretary-General of Amnesty International 2009–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
