WOMEN POLITICAL LEADERS

Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir,
Minister Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir,
Mayor Dagur Bergþóruson Eggertsson, 

Iceland is the country of peace, and Iceland is the world champion of women in leadership.

WPL as the global non-partisan network of women politicians appeals to you as the leaders of Iceland to immediately offer an invitation to the President of Russia and the President of the United States to come to Reykjavík and meet in the emblematic Hofdi House, to stabilize world peace.

WPL believes that Iceland as a country led by women as Prime Minister and as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense, is the country that can make the difference as it did in Reykjavík in 1986 when the Presidents of the Soviet Union and the US, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, met there to end the Cold War.

Such a dialogue is now needed more than ever.

WPL asks you to once again facilitate steps for world peace. It is urgent in this time.

Yours sincerely,

Silvana Koch-Mehrin
President of Women Political Leaders (WPL)

Helen Clark
Chair of the WPL Board
Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999-2008)

 

SIGN OPEN LETTER

 

Signed by:

Women Presidents and Prime Ministers

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim – President of Mauritius (2015-2018).

Aminata Touré – Prime Minister of Senegal (2013-2014); WPL Global Ambassador.

Chandrika Kumaratunga – President of Sri Lanka (1994-2005).

Dalia Grybauskaitė – President of Lithuania (2009-2019).

Doris Leuthard – President of Switzerland (2010, 2017).

Iveta Radičová – Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic (2010-2012).

Jadranka Kosor – Prime Minister of Croatia (2009-2011).

Joyce Banda – President of Malawi (2012-2014).

Julia Gillard – Prime Minister of Australia (2010-2013); Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.

Laimdota Straujuma – Prime Minister of Latvia (2014-2016).

Laura Chinchilla Miranda – President of Costa Rica (2010-2014); Vice President of the Club de Madrid.

Maria do Carmo Silveira – Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (2005-2006).

Maria Liberia-Peters – Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles (1984-1986, 1988-1994).

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca – President of Malta (2014-2019); President of Eurochild.

Mary McAleese – President of Ireland (1997-2011).

Mary Robinson – President of Ireland (1990-1997); Chair of The Elders.

Paula Ann Cox – Premier of Bermuda (2010-2012).

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka – Deputy President of South Africa (2005-2008); UN Women Executive Director (2013 – 2021).

Rosalía Arteaga Serrano – President of Ecuador (1997); Executive President of FIDAL Foundation; Member of WPL Board.

Salome Zourabichvili – President of Georgia.

Sylvie Kinigi – Prime Minister of Burundi (1993-1994).

Tarja Halonen – President of Finland (2000-2012).

Thokozani Khupe – Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (2009-2013).

Zuzana Čaputová – President of the Slovak Republic.

 

Nobel Peace Laureates 

Jody Williams – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1997); Chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative.

Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2011); Founder of Gbowee Peace Foundation.

Mairead Maguire – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1976).

Maria Ressa – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2021); CEO and Executive Editor of Rappler.

Shirin Ebadi – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2003).

Tawakkol Karman – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2011); President of the Tawakkol Karman Center for Peace and Democracy.

 

Political Leaders

Aigul Kuspan – Member of the Parliament of Kazakhstan; WPL Country Ambassador.

Annita Demetriou – President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus.

Arndis Anna Kristinardottir Gunnarsdottir – Member of the Parliament of Iceland.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner – European Commissioner for Trade (2009–2010).

Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir  – Member of the Parliament of Iceland.

Božena Jelušić – Member of Parliament of Montenegro.

Branka Bosnjak – Vice President of Parliament of Montenegro.

Bryndís Haraldsdóttir – Member of the Parliament of Iceland.

Diana Stoica – Member of the Assembly of Deputies of Romania.

Djuna Bernard – Vice President of the  Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg.

Dorien Rookmaker – Member of the European Parliament.

Dhurata Tyli – Member of Parliament of Albania.

Ellen Amarkai Attoh – Member of the House of Representatives of Liberia; WPL Country Ambassador.

Emer Currie – Member of the Senate of Ireland.

Emilia Töyrä – Member of Parliament of Sweden.

Filsan Abdullahi Ahmed – Minister of Women, Children and Youth of Ethiopia (2020-2021).

Gabriela Morawska-Stanecka – Deputy Speaker of the Senate of Poland; WPL Country Ambassador.

Geraldine J. Fraser-Moleketi – Member of Parliament of South Africa (1994 -2008); Minister for Public Service and Administration, South Africa (1999 -2008).

Hajah Zuraida Binti Kamaruddin – Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) of Malaysia; WPL Country Ambassador.

Hélène Ryckmans – Member of the Senate of Belgium.

Jamila Debbech Ksiksi – Member of Parliament of Tunisia.

Katarina Nemet – Member of Parliament of Croatia.

Lía Verónica Caliva – Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina.

Lina Lopes – Member of Parliament of Portugal; WPL Country Ambassador.

Linas Linkevičius – Ambassador; Minister of Defence (2000-2014); Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania (2012-2020).

Lotta Johnsson Fornarve – Member and Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden.

Lucero Saldaña – Member of the Senate of Mexico (2012–2018); Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico (2018–2021).

Karin Jiroflée – Member of the House of Representatives of Belgium; WPL Country Ambassador.

Kim Pate – Member of the Senate of Canada.

Margareta Kiener Nellen – Member of Parliament of Switzerland (2011-2019).

Maria da Graça Carvalho – Member of the European Parliament.

María del Rosario Guerra de La Espriella – Member of the Senate of Colombia.

Marie Jeanne d’Arc Masy Goulamaly – Member of the National Assembly of Madagascar, WPL Country Ambassador.

Marilou McPhedran – Member of the Senate of Canada; WPL Country Ambassador.

Martha Martin Dar – Member of the National Legislative Assembly of South Sudan; WPL Country Ambassador.

Maryam Bin Theneya – Member of the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates; WPL Country Ambassador.

Masai France – Member of the Senate of Belgium.

Michele Audette – Member of the Senate of Canada.

Natalie Jaresko – Minister of Finance of Ukraine (2014–2016).

Neila Mia Tazi – Member of the House of Councilors of Morocco; WPL Country Ambassador.

Nie Ching Teo – Member of Parliament of Malaysia, Deputy Minister of Education (2018-2020)

Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana – Member of the European Parliament.

Rose Marie Arenas – Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, WPL Country Ambassador.

Rosine Sori-Coulibaly – Minister of Economy, Finance and Development of Burkina Faso (2016-2018); Special Representative to the United Nations Secretary General (2019-2020).

Rositsa Kirova – Vice president of the National Assembly of Bulgaria.

Saskia Bricmont – Member of the European Parliament.

Séverine de Laveleye – Member of the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium.

Shinkai Karokhail – Member of Parliament of Afghanistan; WPL Country Ambassador.

Soetkin Hoessen – Member of the Senate of Belgium.

Verónica Delgadillo García – Member of the Senate of Mexico; WPL Country Ambassador.

Viviane Reding – Vice-President of the European Commission (2010-2014); European Commissioner (1999–2010).

Yoko Kamikawa – Member of the House of Representatives of Japan;; Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs (2014, 2017, 2021); Minister of Justice (2020-2021); WPL Country Ambassador.

Zornitsa Stratieva – Member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria.

________________________________________________________________

Anino Emuwa – Founder of 100 Women@Davos, and the African Women CEOs Network.

Bettina Schaller – President of the World Employment Confederation.

Barbara Balke – General Counsel of the European Investment Bank.

Carolina Müller-Möhl – President of the Müller-Möhl Group & Müller-Möhl Foundation.

Christy Tanner – President of Tanner Media LLC.

Elena Sokova – Executive Director of the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.

Hatice Kucuk – Executive Director of the G20 Health and Development Partnership.

Jennifer Allen Simons – Founder  and President of The Simons Foundation Canada.

Lilyana Pavlova – Vice-President of the European Investment Bank.

Lisa Witter – CEO of the Apolitical Foundation.

Mariann Eriksson – CEO of Plan International Sweden.

Marjut Falkstedt – Secretary General of the European Investment Bank.

Melanne Verveer – United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues (2009–2013); Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security.

Pat Mitchell – Media Executive, Convener & Curator, Pat Mitchell Media.

Rodrigo A. Carazo – Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations, New York.

Stacey Boyd – CEO of Olivela.

Toyin Ojora Saraki – Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa.

Virginija Langbakk – Former Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).

 

… and 270 more signatories.