Najma Heptulla: President of the IPU

Najma Heptulla, Deputy Chair of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, was elected President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in October 1999. It was a milestone for the organization. Although the IPU has existed for more than 100 years, Ms. Heptulla was the first woman to take its helm.

Ms. Heptulla, born in 1940, graduated university at the top of her class with a degree in Zoology when she was 20. Two years later she received a doctorate in cardiac anatomy. She married, raised three daughters, wrote poetry and published numerous books, ranging in topics from Indian foreign policy to the environment.

But her real calling was politics - a career for which she seemed destined. Ms. Heptulla is the grandniece of India's first education minister, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad. She grew up surrounded by people such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.

In January 1985, she was named Deputy Chair of the Upper House of the Parliament of India, a position she retains today. In 1995, she became a member of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and was elected its vice-president in 1999. She became the president later that year.

Ms. Heptulla is well aware of how her position has influenced others in a country where women are not traditionally empowered. In a 1994 interview with The Straits Times, she noted, "By being in high posts, we give other women confidence and inspire them."

As a member of the IPU, she champions both women's and children's issues. She has presided over several meetings of women parliamentarians, headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 1997 and in 1995 played an active part in the Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing.

She is also President of the Indian Housewives' Federation, for which she has organized over a hundred seminars and several national-level meetings. She is a member of the Maharashtra State Government Committee for the Status of Women and was a special invitee at the World Women's Forum held at Harvard University in 1997.

Most recently, she has steered the IPU's attention towards the most pressing concerns of children. At the 106th Inter-Parliamentary Conference on 14 September 2001, the IPU adopted a resolution on the protection of children urging states that have not yet ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to do so immediately. The resolution also urges states to take steps to eliminate child poverty and sexual exploitation, and to provide adequate education and health care for children.