<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has reiterated his call for a woman from Latin America and the Caribbean to head the United Nations Secretary-General, arguing that “it is time for international institutions to reflect the diverse, pluralistic, and just reality of our societies.”</strong></h4> Sánchez made these remarks on Friday, January 30, during the closing session of the “Women Leading the 21st Century UN” event, organized by Global GWL Voices at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. The second GWL Voices Dialogue brought together over one hundred high-level figures (representatives of the multilateral system, government officials, and specialists) on January 29 and 30 to analyze the current geopolitical situation and explore solutions in which women can act as agents of change. At the opening ceremony, King Felipe VI called for “a greater role and participation of women in multilateral organizations and in any system of international governance in general.” During his speech, the head of the Executive Branch warned that the historical exclusion of women from decision-making positions is a “democratic anomaly” and recalled that, since its founding in 1945, no woman has held the position of Secretary-General of the UN. “We cannot continue excluding half of the talent and half of humanity from the places where its future is decided,” he stated. For this reason, he argued that the person leading the United Nations should be a woman who also comes from Latin America and the Caribbean, “because it is time and it is a matter of justice.” The president insisted that feminism and multilateralism go hand in hand, since the participation of women improves the legitimacy, sustainability, and quality of collective decisions, and cited as an example of Spain's feminist foreign policy the commitment to the presence of women in peace processes, humanitarian action, climate finance, and the governance of new technologies. Following his speech, Pedro Sánchez participated in a group photo with representatives of the Global Women Leaders Voices (GWL Voices) organization, including its president, Susana Malcorra, co-founders Helen Clark and Irina Bokova, and its executive director, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rebecca Grynspan, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Diene Keita. 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 committed 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. Her notable contributions include those to the reform of the United Nations with a gender perspective, high-level advice on feminist foreign policies, and active participation in the Fourth United Nations Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, as well as in the Conferences of the Parties and multilateral events on Climate Change.
