Diana J. Arango is the Global Lead on Gender-based Violence (GBV) in the Gender Group at the World Bank (WB). During her tenure at the WB, she has led the institution in changing its approach to integrating GBV into operations across all WB sectors. She also led efforts to provide guidance on mitigating risk of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment that the institution’s lending operations may exacerbate or trigger. She fostered a unique and strong partnership with the Sexual Violence Research Initiative that funded innovative research in high- and middle-income countries to build the evidence base on what works to end GBV. The joint effort supported fifty teams in their research and has led to numerous articles, tools, and resources to help programmers scaling evidence-based interventions to address GBV. Before joining the World Bank, she was a Research Scientist at George Washington University's Global Women's Institute leading research on violence against women and girls in conflict settings. She has also worked with UNFPA, WHO, and UNCHR and has on-the-ground experience in every WB region.
