Mr. Gopal Mitra (India) is a Senior Social Affairs Officer in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. Mr. Mitra works on the coordinated implementation of the SG’s UN Disability Inclusion Strategy. He leads the Disability Team which has been established under the Secretary- General’s Senior Adviser on Policy, to work across the UN system for effective implementation of the Strategy across the UN Pillars, in both programmes and operations. 

Prior to his current appointment, he was part of UNICEF’s Disability Section for 7 years and led the work in the areas of disability inclusive humanitarian action, accessibility and assistive technology. He has supported UNICEF Country Offices in different Regions to mainstream disability inclusion. He co-chaired the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team which developed the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. Mr. Mitra has also held various posts at the international NGO Leonard Cheshire Disability. 

Mr. Mitra started his professional career in the Indian Army where as a Major he was involved in crisis and post disaster response for 10 years. Following an injury from an explosion, he became blind in 2000. 

Mr. Mitra holds an MA in Social Work, specializing in Social Work Administration, from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India, as well as an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK.