Salil Shetty joined the United Nations in October 2003 as Director of the Millennium Campaign after two decades as a recognized civil society leader. In the last three years, Mr.Shetty has played a pivotal role in building up the global advocacy campaign for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in over 50 countries. This powerful anti-poverty campaign is a unique global partnership of the UN with NGOs, trade unions, faith groups, local authorities and the media, calling for greater accountability from Governments in the fight against hunger, disease and illiteracy.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr.Shetty was the Chief Executive of ActionAid – a leading international development NGO; here he worked initially in field programmes in South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa and latterly in the fundraising and advocacy programmes in Europe and U.S.A.
.
Mr. Shetty serves on the Boards of The Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, The Overseas Development Institute, London, and the Agence France-Presse Foundation, Paris and is a Member of the Advisory Council of the American-Indian Foundation, New York. He also serves on the Global Leadership Council of the Technology Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.

An Indian National, Mr.Shetty earned a distinction in a Masters of Science in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics and has a Masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.