Bhavna Sharma
Biography
Bhavna Sharma has been Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires since May 2023. She is a diplomat, political scientist and an international development expert with a wide-ranging and varied career in the public, private and third sectors. She has in-depth international experience, having lived and worked in Ecuador, Bangladesh, Jamaica and Uganda before her current posting in Argentina. She speaks Spanish and Hindi.
Bhavna’s 20 years of international development expertise focused on political & economic reforms and human rights, including gender and empowerment. She has worked for UN Women, Anti-Slavery International and the Overseas Development Institute. As a governance adviser for the Department for International Development (DFID) for ten years, she also specialised in designing, leading and implementing programmes on institutional reform including anti-corruption, elections, local government, public financial management, humanitarian responses and security & justice. In her role prior to DHM, she was the lead on HMG international alignment in the Transformation Team (leading the merger between the FCO and DFID).
Bhavna is particularly passionate about inclusion and well-being. She was a DFID Race Network co-chair from 2019 to 2020, supporting minority colleagues through the Covid pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests and the FCDO merger. Together with others, she received a civil service award for Advancing Race Equality (June 2020) for their report highlighting racism against BAME men in DFID, which led to a Race Action Plan and firm commitments from senior leadership to tackle racial discrimination in the workplace.
Bhavna studied Philosophy, Politics & Economics (BA Hons) at the University of Oxford, Development Studies (MSc) at the London School of Economics & Political Science and recently completed a mid-career Masters in Public Policy at Princeton University.
Deputy Head of Mission, Argentina
The Deputy Head of Mission is a senior diplomat and typically a key advisor to the Ambassador or High Commissioner. The Deputy is responsible for the daily management of an overseas Embassy or High Commission. They will represent the UK’s interests in the absence of the Ambassador as Chargé d’Affaires. A senior ranking Deputy may also take the title Minister. Smaller missions may not have a Deputy Head.