WOMEN WITH A MISSION (3)
Just
Right
Suzannah
Jessep Acting New Zealand high commissioner
Reached India: January 2016
Credentials: Senior policy officer at the ministry of foreign
affairs and trade, deputy high commissioner to Vanuatu in the Pacific
What she loves in India: Spending time with her kids at Delhi's
gardens
Suzannah Jessep can proudly say that the foreign service in her
country, New Zealand, is very well represented by women at all levels. While
Joanna Kempkers, the high commissioner-designate for India will soon be
presenting her credentials to President Pranab Mukherjee and then heading the
mission, charge d'affaires Jessep is the deputy high commissioner.The head of
immigration in India too is a woman and so are the two trade commissioners and
the consular officer. “We are very proud of the fact that a majority of our
staff here in India are women.“
Even though she doesn't deny that there is an underlying gender
bias in diplomacy, she feels that meeting many inspiring women in government
and civil society in India has been very positive for her. “Motherhood and
childcare are challenges that many women diplomats have to face in their career
paths,“ says Jessep. Husband Mike Hogan, a musician and composer, is at home
when she is at work and helps with bringing up their two children -Grace, 8,
and Max, 5. “During my previous assignment, my children were very young and it
was tiring looking after them. My husband and I made the choice that he remains
at home and looks after them when I go out to work. Now they go to school,“ she
says.
Jessep is soaking in India's diversity and the vibrant
democracy, but feels confronted every time she finds an instance of a young
woman being treated differently from her male counterparts.Even as she plans an
outreach programme for international women's day with a local NGO, she will
make sure that all male colleagues too join in the activity.
Ishani Duttagupta
ETM5MAR17
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