Chitra Barth-Radhakishun

Biography

Chitra Barth-Radhakishun is an expert in ethics, international administrative law and international dispute resolution, with over 30 years of experience in the United Nations system.
She recently (Spring 2021) concluded her mandate as Chief Ethics Officer of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), one of the oldest specialized agencies of the United Nations system, in which function she also provided services to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, UPOV. Prior to that she served at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly, where she undertook and oversaw research in the areas of international trade and investment, arbitration and dispute resolution, communications and IT, as a basis for proposing policy options to further socio-economic development. She also delivered related technical assistance to member states on these issues. In UNCTAD she was also the coordinator of technical cooperation proj ects for the development of international trade and regional integration. Her experience includes providing expert services to other international organizations and working as legal counsel in the private sector.
Chitra has widely published on ethics and dispute resolution, as well as on a variety of topics on the international agenda relative to international cooperation between the economic North and the developing South, and on emerging issues in multilateralism.
She has frequently made presentations at United Nations' and international events, for NGOs and Think Tanks, including as chair and/or moderator, and has conducted training courses and/or lectured at Universities in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.
Ms. Barth-Radhakishun was born in Suriname and studied law, ethics, international arbitration and development cooperation.

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