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Dear Members of the Council of Women World Leaders,
After five exciting years, it is time for me to step down as Chair of the Council as my second term in office as President of the Republic of Lithuania ends this year on July 12.
I am pleased to announce that the President of Croatia and Council Member Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will be taking over as Chair.
Looking back on the five years, I can confidently say that we have grown significantly and increased our efforts to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality worldwide. Since 2014, our unique network has been joined by 22 current and former Presidents and Prime Ministers, increasing membership from 52 to 74 members.
Thank you all for your continued participation and contribution to the CWWL activities. Let us all continue to use our CWWL membership and this unique network of highest-level women politicians to accelerate progress towards a broader and bolder women’s involvement in building the well-being of our countries, regions and the world.
I will continue to be involved in the Council of Women World Leaders and look forward to seeing the Council grow and continue to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment under the leadership of the new Chair, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
Warmest regards,
H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė,
Chair Emerita, Council of Women World Leaders
President of the Republic of Lithuania
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New Members (January 2018-March 2019)
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is an economist, professor, and politician, who was Peru’s Prime Minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2017 to 2018. She is the third woman to hold the position. Prior to taking office, Aráoz held three ministerial positions: Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism (2006-2009), Minister of Production (2009), and Minister of Economy and Finance (2010). Since the 2016 election, Aráoz has served as Peru’s Second Vice President (2016-2018), Prime Minister (2017-2018), and most recently, the First Vice President (2018-Present).
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is the current Prime Minister of Iceland, elected in November 2017. Jakobsdóttir has been a Member of Parliament since 2007, where she served as the Minister of Education, Science, and Culture (2009-2013), as well as the Minister for Nordic Cooperation (2009-2013). She became deputy Chairperson of the Left-Green Movement in 2003 and has been their Chairwoman of her party since 2013.
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is the first woman in Latvia to serve as the head of government when she became Prime Minister on January 22, 2014. She held the position until February 11, 2016. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Straujuma spent much of her career with the Ministry of Agriculture, serving as the Secretary of State of the Minister of Agriculture (2000-2006), Secretary of State of the Ministry for Regional Development and Local Government (2007-2010), and the Minister of Agriculture (2011-2014).
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was elected to serve as the first female President of Ethiopia on October 25, 2018, and is currently the only woman head of state in Africa. Prior to the Presidency, she served as Ethiopia’s ambassador in France, Djibouti, Senegal, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. In 2011 President Zewde became the head of the United Nations Integrated Peace-building Office in the Central African Republic. In 2018 she was appointed Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union at the level of Under-Secretary-General.
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became the first female Prime Minister of Romania on January 29, 2018. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Dăncilă was a member of the European Parliament for Romania from 2009 to 2018 and an active member of the Social Democratic Party. Dăncilă also served as the President of the Social Democratic Women’s Organization, playing an instrumental role in securing a 30% quota of female candidates on the party lists during elections.
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is the Former Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Finance of São Tomé and Príncipe, holding both positions concurrently from June 2005 to April 2006. Silveira spent much of her career in the banking sector, studying economics at the University of Ukraine and leading the São Tomé and Príncipe Central Bank as the third governor (1999-2005). In 2011 Silveira became the sixth governor of São Tomé and Príncipe’s Central Bank.
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was appointed as the second female President of Trinidad and Tobago on March 19, 2019. Prior to her Presidency, she worked in the Office of Public Prosecutions at State Council (1982-1993). She then went into private law practice until 1996 when she was appointed Judge at the Criminal Division of Trinidad’s High Court. She was the fifth female judge elevated to the position. Weekes was appointed Judge on the nation’s Appeal Court (2005-2016). She briefly acted as Chief Justice of the Trinidad and Tobago Supreme Court in August of 2012 and was then invited to join the appellate Branch of the Judiciary of Turks and Caicos.
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assumed office in December 2018 as the first female President of Georgia. Prior to the Presidency she was the Ambassador to France (2003-2004) and was then appointed as the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs (2004-2005). Zourabichvili was an Associate Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, France (2006-2015). At the same time, she led the United Nations Security Council monitoring group on sanctions against Iran (2010-2015).
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