Council of Women World Leaders

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Council of Women World Leaders

Formation	1996
Founder	Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Mary Robinson Laura Liswood
Type	NGO, network
Purpose	To mobilize the highest-level women leaders on issues of critical importance to women
Headquarters	United Nations Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Membership	83 current and former women prime ministers and presidents
Secretary General	Laura Liswood
Council Chair	Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Affiliations	United Nations Foundation
Website	councilwomenworldleaders.org

The Council of Women World Leaders, created in 1996, is a network of 83 current and former presidents and prime ministers. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government. The council's Ministerial Initiative also involves current and former cabinet ministers and secretaries in the work of the council.

The first summit was held April 29–30, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.^[1]

• 
  Katrín Jakobsdóttir
  Council Chair
  (2020–present)
  Prime Minister of Iceland
  (2017–2024)
• 
  Laura Liswood
  Secretary General
  (1996–present)

• 
  Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
  Council Chair
  (1996–1999)
  President of Iceland
  (1980–1996)
• 
  Kim Campbell
  Council Chair
  (1999–2003)
  Prime Minister of Canada
  (1993)
• 
  Mary Robinson
  Council Chair
  (2003–2009)
  President of Ireland
  (1990–1997)
• 
  Tarja Halonen
  Council Chair
  (2009–2014)
  President of Finland
  (2000–2012)
• 
  Dalia Grybauskaitė
  Council Chair
  (2014–2019)
  President of Lithuania
  (2009–2019)
• 
  Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
  Council Chair
  (2019–2020)
  President of Croatia
  (2015–2020)

• 
  Mette Frederiksen
  Prime Minister of Denmark
  (2019–present)
• 
  Saara Kuugongelwa
  Prime Minister of Namibia
  (2015–present)
• 
  Katerina Sakellaropoulou
  President of Greece
  (2020–present)
• 
  Maia Sandu
  President of Moldova
  (2020–present)
• 
  Ingrida Šimonytė
  Prime Minister of Lithuania
  (2020–present)
• 
  Sahle-Work Zewde
  President of Ethiopia
  (2018–present)
• 
  Salome Zourabichvili
  President of Georgia
  (2018–present)
• 
  Hilda Heine
  President of the Marshall Islands
  (2016–2020, 2024–present)

• 
  Mercedes Aráoz
  Prime Minister of Peru
  (2017–2018)
• 
  Jacinda Ardern
  Prime Minister of New Zealand
  (2017–2023)
• 
  Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
  President of the Philippines
  (2001–2010)
• 
  Michelle Bachelet
  President of Chile
  (2006–2010, 2014–2018)
• 
  Joyce Banda
  President of Malawi
  (2012–2014)
• 
  Gro Harlem Brundtland
  Prime Minister of Norway
  (1981, 1986–1989, 1990–1996)
• 
  Micheline Calmy-Rey
  President of Switzerland
  (2007, 2011)
• 
  Susanne Camelia-Römer
  Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles
  (1993, 1998–1999)
• 
  Tansu Çiller
  Prime Minister of Turkey
  (1993–1996)
• 
  Helen Clark
  Prime Minister of New Zealand
  (1999–2008)
• 
  Paula Cox
  Premier of Bermuda
  (2010–2012)
• 
  Édith Cresson
  Prime Minister of France
  (1991–1992)
• 
  Viorica Dăncilă
  Prime Minister of Romania
  (2018–2019)
• 
  Luisa Diogo
  Prime Minister of Mozambique
  (2004–2010)
• 
  Ruth Dreifuss
  President of Switzerland
  (1999)
• 
  Park Geun-hye
  President of South Korea
  (2013–2017)
• 
  Julia Gillard
  Prime Minister of Australia
  (2010–2013)
• 
  Pamela F. Gordon
  Premier of Bermuda
  (1997–1998)
• 
  Ameenah Gurib-Fakim
  President of Mauritius
  (2015–2018)
• 
  Atifete Jahjaga
  President of Kosovo
  (2011–2016)
• 
  Emily de Jongh-Elhage
  Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles
  (2006–2010)
• 
  Kersti Kaljulaid
  President of Estonia
  (2016–2021)
• 
  Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
  President of Argentina
  (2007–2015)
• 
  Mari Kiviniemi
  Prime Minister of Finland
  (2010–2011)
• 
  Jadranka Kosor
  Prime Minister of Croatia
  (2009–2011)
• 
  Chandrika Kumaratunga
  President of Sri Lanka
  (1994–2005)
• 
  Doris Leuthard
  President of Switzerland
  (2010)
• 
  Maria Liberia Peters
  Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles
  (1984–1986, 1988–1994)
• 
  Sanna Marin
  Prime Minister of Finland
  (2019–2023)
• 
  Theresa May
  Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  (2016–2019)
• 
  Mary McAleese
  President of Ireland
  (1997–2011)
• 
  Beatriz Merino
  Prime Minister of Peru
  (2003)
• 
  Angela Merkel
  Chancellor of Germany
  (2005–2021)
• 
  Laura Chinchilla Miranda
  President of Costa Rica
  (2010–2014)
• 
  Mireya Moscoso
  President of Panama
  (1999–2004)
• 
  Maria das Neves
  Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe
  (2002–2004)
• 
  Roza Otunbayeva
  President of Kyrgyzstan
  (2010–2011)
• 
  Pratibha Patil
  President of India
  (2007–2012)
• 
  Kamla Persad-Bissessar
  Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
  (2010–2015)
• 
  Michèle Pierre-Louis
  Prime Minister of Haiti
  (2008–2009)
• 
  Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
  President of Malta
  (2014–2019)
• 
  Dilma Rousseff
  President of Brazil
  (2011–2016)
• 
  Jenny Shipley
  Prime Minister of New Zealand
  (1997–1999)
• 
  Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
  Prime Minister of Iceland
  (2009–2013)
• 
  Maria do Carmo Silveira
  Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe
  (2005–2006)
• 
  Portia Simpson-Miller
  Prime Minister of Jamaica
  (2006–2007, 2012–2016)
• 
  Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
  President of Liberia
  (2006–2018)
• 
  Jennifer M. Smith
  Premier of Bermuda
  (1998–2003)
• 
  Erna Solberg
  Prime Minister of Norway
  (2013–2021)
• 
  Simonetta Sommaruga
  President of Switzerland
  (2015, 2020)
• 
  Laimdota Straujuma
  Prime Minister of Latvia
  (2014–2016)
• 
  Hanna Suchocka
  Prime Minister of Poland
  (1992–1993)
• 
  Megawati Sukarnoputri
  President of Indonesia
  (2001–2004)
• 
  Helle Thorning-Schmidt
  Prime Minister of Denmark
  (2011–2015)
• 
  Aminata Touré
  Prime Minister of Senegal
  (2013–2014)
• 
  Yulia Tymoshenko
  Prime Minister of Ukraine
  (2005, 2007–2010)
• 
  Mirtha Vásquez
  Prime Minister of Peru
  (2021–2022)
• 
  Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
  President of Latvia
  (1999–2007)
• 
  Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
  President of Switzerland
  (2012)
• 
  Sophie Wilmès
  Prime Minister of Belgium
  (2019–2020)
• 
  Begum Khaleda Zia
  Prime Minister of Bangladesh
  (1991–1996, 2001–2006)
• 
  Natalia Gavrilița
  Prime Minister of Moldova
  (2021–2023)
• 
  Paula-Mae Weekes
  President of Trinidad and Tobago
  (2018–2023)
• 
  Tsai Ing-wen
  President of the Republic of China
  (2016–2024)
• 
  Ana Brnabić
  Prime Minister of Serbia
  (2017–2024)
• 
  Sheikh Hasina
  Prime Minister of Bangladesh
  (1996–2001, 2009–2024)

• 
  Corazon Aquino
  President of the Philippines
  (1986–1992)
• 
  Sirimavo Bandaranaike
  Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
  (1960–1965, 1970–1977, 1994–2000)
• 
  Benazir Bhutto
  Prime Minister of Pakistan
  (1988–1990, 1993–1996)
• 
  Eugenia Charles
  Prime Minister of Dominica
  (1980–1995)
• 
  Janet Jagan
  President of Guyana
  (1997–1999)
• 
  Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
  Prime Minister of Portugal
  (1979–1980)

• List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government
• United Nations Foundation
• Women Political Leaders

• Official website
• Council of Women World Leaders on Twitter
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