<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>King Felipe VI inaugurated the second GWL Voices Dialogue this Thursday, calling for “a greater role or participation of women in multilateral organizations and in any system of international governance at large.”</strong></h4> The second GWL Voices Dialogue, held on January 29 and 30, 2026, in Madrid, brings together more than one hundred high-level figures (representatives of the multilateral system, government officials, and specialists) to analyze the current geopolitical reality and explore solutions in which women can act as agents of transformation. The event was attended by the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo; the president of GWL Voices and former Argentine Foreign Minister, Susana Malcorra; and the director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Tomás Marco. Also participating in the meeting were prominent members of the GWL Voices network, such as former Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya and former Chilean President and former UN High Representative for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. “Women represent more than half of the world population and are growingly present in all spheres of political and economic life and in all social contexts,” the King stated during his opening address. “However, it is clear by your own reports that this does not yet correlate proportionally at the highest levels of multilateral decision-making bodies,” he cautioned. Therefore, the King emphasized the dual need to “reflect on the need for a greater role or participation of women in multilateral organizations and in any system of international governance at large, whatever its nature or mandate may be,” and to “reform and thereby strengthen multilateralism, or the multilateral system, especially now, when it is under a huge scrutiny and suffers a great deal of questioning.” With this dual framework, he warned, “to allow more effectiveness and better representation of the real nature and numbers of humanity,” the multilateral system “must necessarily draw on the talent and efforts of more women.” “Gender equality is a basic human principle, so it should equally influence and reflect representation in any international body of public or corporate governance,” he continued. “Each generation must live with the multilateral framework of its time,” he added. GWL Voices is a network of nearly 80 women leaders from more than 40 countries across all regions of the world, with experience in the highest levels of government and the UN, and all linked to multilateralism. Since its founding in March 2019, the network has promoted women’s rights through their full inclusion in leadership positions within the multilateral system. Among her actions, the contributions to the reform of the United Nations with a gender focus stand out, as well as high-level advice on feminist foreign policies and active participation in the IV United Nations Conference on Financing for Development in Seville or in the Conferences of the Parties and multilateral events on Climate Change.
