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About the Council of
Women World Leaders & Its Mission
The Council of Women World Leaders is a
network of current and former women prime ministers and presidents established
in 1996 by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of Iceland (1980-1996) and first
woman in the world to be democratically elected president, and Laura Liswood,
Secretary General. The Council's mission is to mobilize the highest-level women
leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to
women. Through its networks, summits and partnerships, the Council promotes
good governance and gender equality, and enhances the experience of democracy
globally by increasing the number, effectiveness, and visibility of women who
lead their countries. Tarja Halonen, President of Finland (2000-present),
serves as Chair of the Council. The Council is a policy program of the Aspen Institute.
As part of its goal to convene women at the highest levels of leadership, the
Council increased its activities in 1998 to include women cabinet ministers.
The Honorable Margot Wallström, Vice President of the European Commission, is
the Chair of the Ministerial Initiative. The Ministerial Initiative seeks to
promote ministerial-level exchange on global issues, to identify and address
the particular challenges facing women in ministerial leadership positions, and
to increase their visibility both nationally and internationally. To have the
greatest impact, women ministers within the Ministerial Initiative are
organized into different portfolios by ministry. The Council has convened
numerous high-level meetings of women ministers of the environment, finance and
development, health, justice, culture and women’s affairs. These meetings have
created a unique space for ministers to share best practices from developing
and developed country experiences and to form a powerful and united force for
policy change, with a gender perspective.
A key dimension of the Council’s mission has been to build the capacity of
emerging leaders. To this end, the Council has developed a program which places
promising young women in the offices of Council members and other women leaders
for summer Graduate Fellowship Programs. Supported by the Council’s early
association with Harvard, and later, Columbia University, over 80 women and one
man have served as fellows in 24 offices worldwide. Expanding upon our existing
Graduate Fellowship Program,
in 2009 the Council has launched the Public Health
Graduate Fellowship Program. This program places students from top-tier
graduate schools of public health in the ministries of members of the Council’s
Ministerial Initiative for Health
as well as in international organizations.
Through its programs and initiatives, the Council of Women World Leaders seeks
to:
· Mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women;
- Promote good governance
and gender equality, and enhance the experience of democracy globally by
increasing the number, effectiveness, and visibility of women who lead
their countries;
- Create and sustain
Ministerial Initiatives for cabinet ministers and promote the use of their
collective power, together with women prime ministers and presidents, to
shape global and national policies towards women and girls;
- Improve the governance
and effectiveness of women leaders through exchange and networking
programs such as the ministerial fellowships, executive education, and
graduate fellowships;
- Foster greater gender
awareness at major international institutions, partnering with major
academic and policy institutions, and collaborating with grassroots
organizations.
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