We are delighted with the success of Women Political Leaders Annual Global Summit in Reykjavik, co-hosted by the Parliament and Government of Iceland. Around four hundred powerful women from 100 countries attended what turned out to be the largest ever gathering of current and former female Presidents and Prime Ministers.
Highlights of the event include a speech of the world’s first elected female President, Iceland’s Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, whose mandate started in 1980 and lasted for 16 consecutive years. At the end of the Summit, we heard the first public speech of the world’s newest woman Prime Minister, Iceland’s Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who had been named to the post just hours earlier.
Among the many current topics we addressed was the awareness of sexism as expressed through the global #MeToo movement. Adding our collective voice, we declared:
“Women Political Leaders from all continents call for an end to sexism and sexual harassment. It should not exist in politics, nor anywhere else.”
The next generation participated actively: WPL brought scores of teenage girls — tomorrow’s leaders — on stage and was heartened to hear the clarity of their convictions that the world must change to achieve gender equality everywhere. To bring WPL’s #Girl2Leader campaign to your home country in 2018, email us at [email protected].
Looking forward to 2018, we are proud to bring the WPL Summit to Eastern Europe. Lithuania, which next year celebrates 100 years since extending the right to vote to women, and which is home to the European Institute for Gender Equality, will be our host. So save the date: we look forward to seeing you June 6-8 in Vilnius!
Event livestream recordings