Opening Ceremonies

On behalf of the entire Secretariat, we are so excited to welcome you to the Princeton Diplomatic Invitational! As we prepare for your arrival on our campus this coming Thursday, we are honored to announce our distinguished opening speaker, Ms. Tanisha Hewanpola! We can't wait for you all to hear from such an accomplished public servant whose vision for inclusive, lasting peace has informed an impressive career in peacebuilding at the United Nations and in the Australian Foreign Service. We hope that Ms. Hewanpola's experiences in human rights promotion, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and gender equality inspire you far beyond our conference weekend. We are very grateful for her support and participation in our Opening Ceremony (delegates are reminded that our Opening Ceremony will at 6pm on April 4th).

Tanisha Hewanpola works for the United Nations’ Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. She currently serves as a Political Affairs Officer in the Gender, Peace & Security Unit, where she works on women’s participation in peace processes, conflict-related sexual violence, inclusive ceasefires, gender-responsive sanctions, gender-based hate speech, Security Council affairs, and women’s rights in the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Tanisha was a career diplomat in Australia’s Foreign Service, working on Asia Pacific and Latin America policy, as a member of Australia’s crisis response team, and as a legal adviser. From 2012–2017, Tanisha served at the Australian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, as Australia’s human rights and gender equality expert (2012–15), conflict prevention and peacebuilding expert (2015–2016), and as the speechwriter of the President of the UN General Assembly (2016–17). 

Tanisha has Bachelors’ degrees in Arts, Commerce, and Laws from the University of Adelaide, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice. She is admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor.