• International Days
• International Women in Diplomacy Day

United Nations has designated June 24^th as the International Women in Diplomacy Day, in order to recognize the significant contributions of women and their essential role in diplomacy, while also aiming at promoting more participations to political decisions.                                                                                                      Today, women who negotiated peace agreements and strengthened international relations are celebrated, trying to inspire future generations of women to choose diplomacy as a career option. Furthermore, this day is used to remember women whose contributions were dismissed of history and women whose achievements were attributed to men in higher positions at the time.

Equal representation and participation at every decision-making level are fundamental for the achievement of sustainable development, peace and democracy.                                                                                            Gender equality is not only a matter of human rights but also essential in fighting against a hostile environment that discourages women from using their voice, threatening their right and possibility to contribute fully to society. From some research it’s emerged that when women hold diplomatic roles in governments, better laws for ordinary people, environment and social cohesion are passed.                             Furthermore, since women are half of the population, it’s imperative to use every potential voice to bring different perspectives, approaches and competences, influencing the changes towards a new way of interacting and negotiating.

Although progresses have been made, the journey is far from over: the fact that in the United Nations women are only one-fifth of the permanents representatives is an example.

Despite the Sustainable Development Goal number five concerning equal participation of women in decision-making, between 1992 and 2019 women were only 13% of negotiators, 6% of mediators and 6% of signatories in peace processes worldwide, and according to a recent UN report equal representation in parliament will not be achieved until 2062.

Alexandra Kollontai, the first female ambassador, broke barriers in the early 20^th century, when women began to enter formal diplomatic roles. The establishment of the United Nations marked an important step forward by providing a platform to engage international diplomacy. However, in addition to underrepresentation and structural issues that hamper the promotion to senior roles, women must face cultural dynamics and gender biases that lead to many challenges, such as not being taken seriously and not being perceived as worthy.                                                                                                              

If you are interested, click here for a timeline of women’s activism created by the United Nations.

Sources: 

https://www.un.org/en