FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Ligia Noronha from Altinho has been lauded for her intellectual rigour all along. She holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Mumbai, as well as a master’s in sea use law, economics and policy and a PhD from the London School of Economics. She has gained considerable international experience over thirty years in the field of sustainable development. This Goan has strong ties to the state. Her father was Carmo de Noronha who retired as the Excise Commissioner and then turned into a very prominent writer. Her mother was from Loutolim from the well known de Miranda family, and many members of her family are great musicians apart from being academically inclined.
The elevation of Dr Ligia Noronha is a proud moment for India, and Goa in particular. Her passionate commitment to the field of sustainable development has paid off. While now she will be expected to watch over the interests of the world at large, judging issues on merit, her appointment is a new ray of hope to the country’s environmental movement. It is also a shot in the arm for the Goan citizenry presently grappling with a range of problems. Dr Ligia comes from a scholarly family that has rendered services in many fields. Her father retired as commissioner of excise in Goa and was a writer in Portuguese. Her siblings have excelled in law, academics and management. Husband Dr Peter Ronald de Souza is a respected academic and the two are a power couple. Dr Ligia’s promotion has generated excitement amidst family and friends and, obviously, does all Goans proud.
- OSCAR DE NORONHA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, PERNEM
I am absolutely delighted but not surprised because she has always been a star. Given her lifetime of dedication on environmental issues she must be distraught at the direction taken by our government in Goa. This elevation is a great honour for Goa and India. What I admire of Ligia is that she has raised a wonderful family of children while combing an outstanding career along with her husband Peter D Souza both of whom are greats Goans within the national scene and now international. He father Carmo Noronha was an outstanding officer and an intellectual. My husband Alban Couto recalled how during the transition after liberation, he helped transform the Portuguese Fazenda into three departments, finance, revenue and statistics. Ligia was a small girl or maybe was not born yet when we were neighbours between 1963- 1965 and I recall a wonderful group of children along with their loving parents.
- MARIA AURORA COUTO, WELL KNOWN GOAN WRITER
She’s always been the unconventional one in her choices, views, decisions etc. We always knew she was in high places, but in her simplicity she never let on much about her work. She was always that same much, much loved sister / sister in law, aunt and dear friend to each one of us. To me, personally, she was always & still is a role model and example of how thinking differently & working with passion can change one’s life and the lives of those around you. As a nephew, I’ve always been in awe of Tia Liginha (as we nephews & nieces call her). With the news we now have of her appointment as ASG to UNEP that awe has turned to worship. This is an enormous honour, not just to the family, but to Goa.
- OMAR DE LOIOLA PEREIRA, HER NEPHEW, GUITARIST, VOCALIST, MUSICAL DIRECTOR
We are all very happy. My sister does it out of a sense of mission. The environment is her life mission. She is very committed to committed and is not affected by the post. We will now have a much wider range of influence. We all believe we have to work hard to protect the environment for future generations. She was an academically brilliant student and dad sent her to Mumbai and then later to the London School of Economics. During her tenure at the Tata Energy Research Institute she got interested in conserving energy. She we are all sure will do very well.
- ELGAR NORONHA, SENIOR LAWYER AND BROTHER OF DR LIGIA NORONHA
LIGIA NORONHA, KATOR RE BHAJI
One’s heart leapt with joy, upon hearing the announcement, that one of our very own Goans, Ligia Noronha Sousa, rocked the party and was appointed as the Asst. Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Full disclosure: I have known Ligia and her equally erudite husband Peter Ronnie for years now and I am not going to wax eloquent about the qualities of head and heart that they both possess in abundance. You will read about it elsewhere. Ligia’s appointment to me is a moment of catharsis, indeed an epiphany, especially after the brutal incarceration of a young girl, Disha Ravi, for raising these very climate and environment issues. Ligia, by her appointment and the sterling work which will surely follow, will be a torch-bearer for young activists, economists, and social and environmental scientists that, even when your blood turns cold as repressive governments across the globe crack down on environmental champions and dreamers, a little glow of hope, a flame that burns bright, somehow shines through. Preserving the environment is perhaps the most patriotic global act one can indulge in. One hopes that, with Ligia at the helm, these little drops of water of environmental protection get converted into a massive tidal wave that achieves the objective. We know we are putting you in the dock to bite the bullet, Ligia, but as Goans we frankly expect nothing else. For all you little boys and girls, traumatised by the unconscionable devastation of our Goan landscape, just Dream On.
And Keep the faith!!
- DR OSCAR REBELO, GOA
