Dr Shefali Juneja, a 1992-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, has been elected as the first vice-president of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a UN aviation expert agency. Ms. Juneja, who is from Agra, is the first Indian to sit in this coveted seat in 68 years.
She has been India’s ICAO representative since 2019 and was chosen head of the UN specialised aviation agency’s Air Transport Committee (ATC) last year. She is India’s first female representative at the ICAO. She is the wife of Dipesh Juneja, a top UP cadre IPS officer who is currently ADG Prosecution in Lucknow.
On Friday, India’s representative to the ICAO tweeted, “A big success for India. The International Civil Aviation Organisation today elected the Representative of India, Dr Shefali Juneja as the first Vice President @icsa. India gets this after 68 years”
During her four years at ICAO, she has also served as the chairperson of several committees, including Innovation, Gender, Strategic Policy, Alternative Fuels, and Aviation Security. She was instrumental in completing an MoU between the ICAO and the International Solar Alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s main project.
Shefali, who was appointed as India’s Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in 2019, was given an extension last year due to her Meritorious performance. She has cracked the glass ceiling at the ICAO, which has previously been dominated by Western rich nations. Juneja has held key positions in the IRS, including investigation, vigilance, and assessments, in UP and Delhi. She worked as a director and joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation before being chosen for this distinguished position as the ROI.
