Lucknow’s Jagriti Yadav becomes British High Commissioner for a day

Jagriti experienced a broad range of diplomatic activities; including leading meetings with diverse stakeholders, chairing discussions and attending several events during the day. She met the Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi, the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, and the Executive Chairman of Wipro Rishad Premji. Other highlights included interacting with project leads working on the Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) project at the British Council and beneficiaries of the Chevening-funded SheLeads project – a women leadership programme that helps aspiring female political leaders.

Alongside Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, she also launched a book honouring 75 Indian Women in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). This year’s competition was made possible through the gracious support of partners Cosmopolitan India, Taj Hotels, and Vistara.

Jagriti Yadav, High Commissioner for the Day, said:

It was an intellectually inspiring experience to serve as the British High Commissioner for a day. My day was full of opportunities – discussions with established business leaders, a meeting with the Mayor of West Yorkshire and interacting with a leading female politician of India about significant obstacles to women’s professional advancement and the value of women as leaders.

Meeting the SheLeads project beneficiaries and female STEAM role models was motivating, and I learned about STEAM engagement between the UK and India and the UK’s efforts to advance gender equality. The day gave me the opportunity to learn from a diverse perspective and, as a young woman, it gave me the confidence to be more determined and considerate towards the role of women in society.

Alex Ellis, Deputy High Commissioner for the Day (on other days, High Commissioner to India), said:

The High Commissioner for a Day is an event I look forward to every year. Jagriti is articulate and focused and shows the talent across India. As women rise, we all rise.

The UK and India do a lot together to promote gender equality, including on research and education. I’m delighted that 50% of the Chevening scholarships for India this year were awarded to women. The UK is a world leader at incorporating gender equality in universities and India is a top country for girls studying STEM-subjects. I wish Jagriti the best for the future and hope she enjoyed being High Commissioner for the day.

The British High Commission in New Delhi has organised the ‘High Commissioner for a Day’ competition annually since 2017 to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child (October 11). More than 270 young girls from all around India applied for this year’s competition.

Further information

Free-to-use high resolution images of Jagriti’s day as High Commissioner are available here.

The International Day of the Girl is also being celebrated in UK’s other diplomatic missions across India, where one young girl will have the opportunity to be the ‘British Deputy High Commissioner for a Day’: Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Chennai.

Jagriti Yadav was High Commissioner for a Day on Wednesday, 21 September. Applicants for this year’s competition were invited to submit a one-minute video answering ‘which woman in public life inspires you the most and why?’ Jagriti’s winning entry can be found here.

About the winner: Jagriti hails from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and is a recent graduate with a BSc in Physical Science with Computer Science from Delhi University. She is an avid reader and prefers to read self-help books that provide insights and perspective on life.

Joint work on Gender: The UK and India are working together to help ensure women and girls can reach their full potential. In India, the UK is working with various Government and private stakeholders to promote gender equality. Examples include:

• The British Council has partnered with India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) on the Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) project, to introduce a gender equality framework, drawing upon successful models in the UK, namely Athena Swan. This pilot project is customised to the requirements of the Indian context, with a focus on bringing about transformational change.

• The UK in India Pledge for Progress campaign launched in November 2020, which brings together over 130 partners to exchange expertise, including on gender diversity in STEMM, financial and professional services. The pledge is a joint commitment to promote gender equality and take practical steps to tackle gender challenges.

High Commissioner for a Day 2022 partners:

• Cosmopolitan is the largest-read women’s magazine in the world. Cosmopolitan encourages young women to be brave, bold, and live their best lives – a philosophy that runs through print pages, and digital media assets.

• The iconic Taj Hotels are part of Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), India’s largest hospitality company. The group recently launched ‘She Remains the Taj’, a holistic framework of women-centric initiatives for all stakeholders including guests, employees, partners and the community. IHCL has also announced a goal to raise women participation in its workforce to 25% by 2025, and support women-led businesses and partners. Wider IHCL initiatives include the opening of South Asia’s first all-women managed luxury residences, Taj Wellington Mews in Chennai, and the all-women engineers’ team to build Ginger’s flagship hotel in Mumbai.

• Vistara has a diverse workforce and prides itself on getting superlative talent regardless of race, gender or any other factor. Women employees form almost 43% of Vistara’s workforce, and 12% of its leadership members are women. Almost 12% of Vistara’s pilots are women, which is more than double the global average, and the airline is constantly working towards taking this number higher. The airline is also a signatory to the UK in India Pledge for Progress to promote gender diversity at the workplace and in society at large.

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