In 1953, the United Nations elected India’s Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as the 8th President of the General Assembly, the first woman elected to the role.
A prominent politician and active Indian nationalist, she was also the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet position in pre-independent India. As newly-independent India's top diplomat, Pandit served as ambassador to the Soviet Union (1947-49), the United States and Mexico (1949-51), Ireland (1955-61), and Spain (1958-61), and high commissioner to the United Kingdom (1955-61). In 1979, she was appointed India's representative to the UN Human Rights Commission. Pandit was an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College.
Utilizing material from the UN Audiovisual Library, this production offers a captivating glimpse into the pivotal moment when Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit took the podium for her inaugural speech. She conveyed a message of preserving and preventing threats to peace, emphasizing the importance of women's roles in the United Nations, and highlighting the urgent need for international cooperation during a time of global challenges.
