The women here are but a small selection from a deep and wide pool of revolutionaries, academics, internationalists and global leaders. Each has made an indelible mark on the world today.<\/p>\n
US-Taiwan-China relations\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-soong-mei-ling.jpg?itok=3nHPihqU\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSoong Mei-ling<\/strong>
(1898\u20132003)<\/strong>
First Lady of the Republic of China<\/strong><\/h4>\nWhile she was known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling forged a path of her own making to become one of the most famous women of her era. Married to the Kuomintang general and Republic of China\u2019s president, she worked as his English translator and adviser. The couple fled to Taiwan after the Kuomintang defeat. During the Second World War, she played an important diplomatic role, and later became the first Chinese national and only the second woman to address a joint session of the US Congress. For nearly 25 years she was included on the list of America\u2019s ten most admired women. She died in her sleep in her Manhattan apartment at the age of 105.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
India in the world<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-vijaya-lakshmi-pandit.jpg?itok=ZoST0yQk\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nVijaya Lakshmi Pandit
(1900\u20131990) <\/strong>
President of the UN General Assembly<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom freedom fighter to global diplomat, the path to the world stage for Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit is bound with India\u2019s modern history. As the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit\u2019s Indian nationalism ran through her veins, and she was imprisoned three times by the British during the struggle for independence. Pandit went on to become the first woman to hold a cabinet position under colonial rule. Post-independence she represented India as the young nation\u2019s first ambassador to the\u00a0Soviet Union before moving to\u00a0ambassadorships to the United\u00a0States, Mexico and Spain. In 1953\u00a0she became the first female president of the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International political\u00a0economy<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-susan-strange.jpg?itok=vp2AaHRl\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSusan Strange
(1923\u20131998)
Co-founder of the British International Studies Association<\/strong><\/h4>\nSusan Strange has been hailed as \u2018a towering figure in British international relations and a world-leading thinker on international political economy\u2019. With her background as a\u2002journalist for The Economist and The Observer, Strange was well placed to study the relationship between state power and global finance. At Chatham House she turned to research, deepening her theories which led to the establishment of international political economy as a field of study. Strange built the graduate programme in international political economy at London School of Economics as well as co-founding the British International Studies Association, and she became the first female president of the International Studies Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\nWomen, peace and security<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-margaret-anstee.jpg?itok=DNUmG0oU\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDame Margaret Anstee
(1926-2016)
Lifetime UN Diplomat<\/strong><\/h4>\nDame Margaret Anstee is widely described as a woman of firsts. She joined Britain\u2019s Foreign Office in 1948 when it opened diplomatic positions to women. But the Foreign Office\u2019s policy on not allowing married women in service led to her resignation a year later. She then joined the United Nations, and over a 40-year career became the first female head of economic and social development, as well as peacekeeping missions throughout the developing world, rising to the rank of under-secretary-general. Anstee chaired the Windhoek seminar which provided the foundational documents for UN Security Council Resolution 1325, putting women, peace and security on the global agenda.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Middle East peace process\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-hanan-ashrawi.jpg?itok=XevjQFEx\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHanan Ashrawi
(1946-)
Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\nSince the 1987 intifada, Ashrawi has\u00a0championed Palestinian self-determination in many roles. She was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks brokered by George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. A pioneer like her father, a founder of the Palestinian Liberal Organization, Hanan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in Palestine\u2019s highest executive body. Never scared to press for change, she has embodied the \u2018new spirit of Palestinian pragmatism\u2019, and her work on gender equality and nation-building has rippled throughout the region. Her contributions to Palestinian culture and civil society run parallel to her official roles: she founded several initiatives and championed Palestinian literature.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The landmine ban\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-jody-williams.jpg?itok=GmLz53kI\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-christiana-figueres.jpg?itok=dZpudFuC\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-amina-j-mohammed.jpg?itok=A4zvPgkt\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/uncropped_tiny\/public\/2022-02\/2022-02-04-twt-women-in-international-affairs-fatou-bensouda.jpg?itok=dgcmv4Kh\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSoong Mei-ling<\/strong>
(1898\u20132003)<\/strong>
First Lady of the Republic of China<\/strong><\/h4>\nWhile she was known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling forged a path of her own making to become one of the most famous women of her era. Married to the Kuomintang general and Republic of China\u2019s president, she worked as his English translator and adviser. The couple fled to Taiwan after the Kuomintang defeat. During the Second World War, she played an important diplomatic role, and later became the first Chinese national and only the second woman to address a joint session of the US Congress. For nearly 25 years she was included on the list of America\u2019s ten most admired women. She died in her sleep in her Manhattan apartment at the age of 105.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
India in the world<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nVijaya Lakshmi Pandit
(1900\u20131990) <\/strong>
President of the UN General Assembly<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom freedom fighter to global diplomat, the path to the world stage for Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit is bound with India\u2019s modern history. As the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit\u2019s Indian nationalism ran through her veins, and she was imprisoned three times by the British during the struggle for independence. Pandit went on to become the first woman to hold a cabinet position under colonial rule. Post-independence she represented India as the young nation\u2019s first ambassador to the\u00a0Soviet Union before moving to\u00a0ambassadorships to the United\u00a0States, Mexico and Spain. In 1953\u00a0she became the first female president of the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International political\u00a0economy<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSusan Strange
(1923\u20131998)
Co-founder of the British International Studies Association<\/strong><\/h4>\nSusan Strange has been hailed as \u2018a towering figure in British international relations and a world-leading thinker on international political economy\u2019. With her background as a\u2002journalist for The Economist and The Observer, Strange was well placed to study the relationship between state power and global finance. At Chatham House she turned to research, deepening her theories which led to the establishment of international political economy as a field of study. Strange built the graduate programme in international political economy at London School of Economics as well as co-founding the British International Studies Association, and she became the first female president of the International Studies Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\nWomen, peace and security<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDame Margaret Anstee
(1926-2016)
Lifetime UN Diplomat<\/strong><\/h4>\nDame Margaret Anstee is widely described as a woman of firsts. She joined Britain\u2019s Foreign Office in 1948 when it opened diplomatic positions to women. But the Foreign Office\u2019s policy on not allowing married women in service led to her resignation a year later. She then joined the United Nations, and over a 40-year career became the first female head of economic and social development, as well as peacekeeping missions throughout the developing world, rising to the rank of under-secretary-general. Anstee chaired the Windhoek seminar which provided the foundational documents for UN Security Council Resolution 1325, putting women, peace and security on the global agenda.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Middle East peace process\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHanan Ashrawi
(1946-)
Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\nSince the 1987 intifada, Ashrawi has\u00a0championed Palestinian self-determination in many roles. She was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks brokered by George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. A pioneer like her father, a founder of the Palestinian Liberal Organization, Hanan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in Palestine\u2019s highest executive body. Never scared to press for change, she has embodied the \u2018new spirit of Palestinian pragmatism\u2019, and her work on gender equality and nation-building has rippled throughout the region. Her contributions to Palestinian culture and civil society run parallel to her official roles: she founded several initiatives and championed Palestinian literature.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The landmine ban\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nVijaya Lakshmi Pandit
(1900\u20131990) <\/strong>
President of the UN General Assembly<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom freedom fighter to global diplomat, the path to the world stage for Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit is bound with India\u2019s modern history. As the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit\u2019s Indian nationalism ran through her veins, and she was imprisoned three times by the British during the struggle for independence. Pandit went on to become the first woman to hold a cabinet position under colonial rule. Post-independence she represented India as the young nation\u2019s first ambassador to the\u00a0Soviet Union before moving to\u00a0ambassadorships to the United\u00a0States, Mexico and Spain. In 1953\u00a0she became the first female president of the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International political\u00a0economy<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSusan Strange
(1923\u20131998)
Co-founder of the British International Studies Association<\/strong><\/h4>\nSusan Strange has been hailed as \u2018a towering figure in British international relations and a world-leading thinker on international political economy\u2019. With her background as a\u2002journalist for The Economist and The Observer, Strange was well placed to study the relationship between state power and global finance. At Chatham House she turned to research, deepening her theories which led to the establishment of international political economy as a field of study. Strange built the graduate programme in international political economy at London School of Economics as well as co-founding the British International Studies Association, and she became the first female president of the International Studies Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\nWomen, peace and security<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDame Margaret Anstee
(1926-2016)
Lifetime UN Diplomat<\/strong><\/h4>\nDame Margaret Anstee is widely described as a woman of firsts. She joined Britain\u2019s Foreign Office in 1948 when it opened diplomatic positions to women. But the Foreign Office\u2019s policy on not allowing married women in service led to her resignation a year later. She then joined the United Nations, and over a 40-year career became the first female head of economic and social development, as well as peacekeeping missions throughout the developing world, rising to the rank of under-secretary-general. Anstee chaired the Windhoek seminar which provided the foundational documents for UN Security Council Resolution 1325, putting women, peace and security on the global agenda.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Middle East peace process\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHanan Ashrawi
(1946-)
Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\nSince the 1987 intifada, Ashrawi has\u00a0championed Palestinian self-determination in many roles. She was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks brokered by George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. A pioneer like her father, a founder of the Palestinian Liberal Organization, Hanan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in Palestine\u2019s highest executive body. Never scared to press for change, she has embodied the \u2018new spirit of Palestinian pragmatism\u2019, and her work on gender equality and nation-building has rippled throughout the region. Her contributions to Palestinian culture and civil society run parallel to her official roles: she founded several initiatives and championed Palestinian literature.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The landmine ban\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSusan Strange
(1923\u20131998)
Co-founder of the British International Studies Association<\/strong><\/h4>\nSusan Strange has been hailed as \u2018a towering figure in British international relations and a world-leading thinker on international political economy\u2019. With her background as a\u2002journalist for The Economist and The Observer, Strange was well placed to study the relationship between state power and global finance. At Chatham House she turned to research, deepening her theories which led to the establishment of international political economy as a field of study. Strange built the graduate programme in international political economy at London School of Economics as well as co-founding the British International Studies Association, and she became the first female president of the International Studies Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\nWomen, peace and security<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDame Margaret Anstee
(1926-2016)
Lifetime UN Diplomat<\/strong><\/h4>\nDame Margaret Anstee is widely described as a woman of firsts. She joined Britain\u2019s Foreign Office in 1948 when it opened diplomatic positions to women. But the Foreign Office\u2019s policy on not allowing married women in service led to her resignation a year later. She then joined the United Nations, and over a 40-year career became the first female head of economic and social development, as well as peacekeeping missions throughout the developing world, rising to the rank of under-secretary-general. Anstee chaired the Windhoek seminar which provided the foundational documents for UN Security Council Resolution 1325, putting women, peace and security on the global agenda.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Middle East peace process\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHanan Ashrawi
(1946-)
Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\nSince the 1987 intifada, Ashrawi has\u00a0championed Palestinian self-determination in many roles. She was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks brokered by George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. A pioneer like her father, a founder of the Palestinian Liberal Organization, Hanan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in Palestine\u2019s highest executive body. Never scared to press for change, she has embodied the \u2018new spirit of Palestinian pragmatism\u2019, and her work on gender equality and nation-building has rippled throughout the region. Her contributions to Palestinian culture and civil society run parallel to her official roles: she founded several initiatives and championed Palestinian literature.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The landmine ban\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Women, peace and security<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDame Margaret Anstee
(1926-2016)
Lifetime UN Diplomat<\/strong><\/h4>\nDame Margaret Anstee is widely described as a woman of firsts. She joined Britain\u2019s Foreign Office in 1948 when it opened diplomatic positions to women. But the Foreign Office\u2019s policy on not allowing married women in service led to her resignation a year later. She then joined the United Nations, and over a 40-year career became the first female head of economic and social development, as well as peacekeeping missions throughout the developing world, rising to the rank of under-secretary-general. Anstee chaired the Windhoek seminar which provided the foundational documents for UN Security Council Resolution 1325, putting women, peace and security on the global agenda.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Middle East peace process\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHanan Ashrawi
(1946-)
Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\nSince the 1987 intifada, Ashrawi has\u00a0championed Palestinian self-determination in many roles. She was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks brokered by George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. A pioneer like her father, a founder of the Palestinian Liberal Organization, Hanan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in Palestine\u2019s highest executive body. Never scared to press for change, she has embodied the \u2018new spirit of Palestinian pragmatism\u2019, and her work on gender equality and nation-building has rippled throughout the region. Her contributions to Palestinian culture and civil society run parallel to her official roles: she founded several initiatives and championed Palestinian literature.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The landmine ban\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDame Margaret Anstee
(1926-2016)
Lifetime UN Diplomat<\/strong><\/h4>\nDame Margaret Anstee is widely described as a woman of firsts. She joined Britain\u2019s Foreign Office in 1948 when it opened diplomatic positions to women. But the Foreign Office\u2019s policy on not allowing married women in service led to her resignation a year later. She then joined the United Nations, and over a 40-year career became the first female head of economic and social development, as well as peacekeeping missions throughout the developing world, rising to the rank of under-secretary-general. Anstee chaired the Windhoek seminar which provided the foundational documents for UN Security Council Resolution 1325, putting women, peace and security on the global agenda.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Middle East peace process\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHanan Ashrawi
(1946-)
Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\nSince the 1987 intifada, Ashrawi has\u00a0championed Palestinian self-determination in many roles. She was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks brokered by George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. A pioneer like her father, a founder of the Palestinian Liberal Organization, Hanan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in Palestine\u2019s highest executive body. Never scared to press for change, she has embodied the \u2018new spirit of Palestinian pragmatism\u2019, and her work on gender equality and nation-building has rippled throughout the region. Her contributions to Palestinian culture and civil society run parallel to her official roles: she founded several initiatives and championed Palestinian literature.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The landmine ban\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHanan Ashrawi
(1946-)
Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\nSince the 1987 intifada, Ashrawi has\u00a0championed Palestinian self-determination in many roles. She was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks brokered by George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. A pioneer like her father, a founder of the Palestinian Liberal Organization, Hanan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in Palestine\u2019s highest executive body. Never scared to press for change, she has embodied the \u2018new spirit of Palestinian pragmatism\u2019, and her work on gender equality and nation-building has rippled throughout the region. Her contributions to Palestinian culture and civil society run parallel to her official roles: she founded several initiatives and championed Palestinian literature.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The landmine ban\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJody Williams
(1950-)
Founding coordinator of the\u00a0International Campaign to\u00a0Ban\u00a0Landmines<\/strong><\/h4>\nJody Williams is a peace campaigner who is a living inspiration\u00a0for grassroots activists seeking global change. She is best known for establishing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the\u00a0early 1990s. The campaign grew from a collaborative effort between two NGOs into an initiative encompassing more than 1,300 organizations, spread across 95 countries, and culminated in the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997 with more than 100 signatories. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in\u00a0the same year. In 2006, she joined forces with fellow women laureates to establish the Nobel Women\u2019s Initiative with the aim of\u00a0amplifying the work of other women fighting\u00a0for gender equality and world\u00a0peace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nChristiana Figueres
(1956-)
Executive Secretary of the United\u00a0Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/strong><\/h4>\nThis Costa Rican diplomat has worked in public service for 40 years beginning in the Costa Rican embassy in Germany. In the mid-1990s, Christiana Figueres joined the Costa Rican climate-change negotiating team, and in 2010 she was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, responsible for the international climate change negotiations after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Her leadership culminated in the first legally binding treaty uniting countries under the common goal of limiting global warming \u2013 the\u00a0Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global, sustainable development<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAmina J Mohammed
(1961-)
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group<\/strong><\/h4>\nFrom her work on the Millennium Development Goals for the Nigerian government, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, appointed Amina J Mohammed as his special adviser on post-2015 Development Planning in the lead up to the Sustainable Development Goals summit, which set the global development agenda through to 2030. She spent a stint as the Nigerian minister of the environment then headed back to the UN where she currently acts as deputy secretary-general.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
International criminal justice<\/h3>\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFatou Bensouda
(1961-)
Prosecutor of the ICC<\/h4>\n
This Gambian lawyer joined the International Criminal Court two years after it was founded. Bensouda held a number of positions at the court over 20 years, spending nearly a decade as the head of the Office of the Prosecutor. During this time, her office put many less recognized forms of violence into the dock, including violence against women and children and the destruction of cultural heritage. Under her leadership, her office was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Before joining the ICC, Fatou made a name for herself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and before that in 1998 was only the second woman to serve as The Gambia\u2019s Minister of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n