24/06/2026 Women@PACE
To mark the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, the Women@PACE group of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe hosted an informal luncheon bringing together women Ambassadors and members of the Assembly.
The event was attended by the President of PACE Petra Bayr, Estonia's Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas, as well as the Secretary General of PACE Despina Chatzivassiliou, and featured exchanges on women’s leadership in diplomacy and peace processes.
In her address, the President of PACE recalled: “Women in diplomacy are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for the world to be taken seriously by all those who live in it.”
She also highlighted persistent global inequalities in peace processes, noting that “between 1992 and 2019, women represented just 13% of negotiators, 6% of mediators, and 6% of signatories in peace processes worldwide”, stressing that “these are not historical footnotes — they are symptoms of a structural problem that persists today”.
She added that “at PACE, we are determined to be part of changing this”.
Also speaking at the event, Kristina Kallas underlined the persistent challenges faced by women leaders, noting that “women leaders have certain frames that they have to fit in, and if they don’t they are harshly criticised for that,” adding that “there’s still a lot of work that we need to do when it comes to women leaders”.
PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou welcomed this opportunity to bring women ambassadors and women parliamentarians together, emphasising that “diplomacy and parliamentary engagement are complementary pillars of international cooperation”.
Participants used the occasion to reflect on the under-representation of women in diplomacy and peacebuilding, and on the need to strengthen equality in international decision-making processes.
The Women@PACE group is open to women members of the Assembly — from all countries and across party lines — for informal discussion and sharing of experience from women’s perspectives.
