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REYKJAVÍK ICELAND

Women Leaders
Global Forum

womenleaders

Co-Chairs

Co-Chairs
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  • Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen

    CEO, Plan International

  • Christy Tanner

    Executive Vice-President and General Manager of CBS News Digital

  • Gita Gopinath

    Chief Economist, the IMF

  • H.E. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

    President of the Republic of Croatia

  • Katrín Jakobsdóttir

    Prime Minister of Iceland

About
the forum

The Women Leaders Global Forum is where women leaders discuss and share ideas and solutions on how to further advance society.

The Women Leaders Global Forum was launched in November, 2018, in Reykjavik, Iceland. The Forum is annually co-hosted by Women Political Leaders (WPL), and the Government and Parliament of Iceland, under the heading Power, Together.

Each year the Forum invites 450 leaders from around the globe, including Presidents and Prime Ministers and other public figures, as well as leaders from business, academia, civil society, arts, media and more who are playing a vital role in their respective fields sharing ideas, insights and experiences.

Consistently ranked as the leading country on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, Iceland is the perfect location for the most relevant Forum for women leaders. It’s the single destination that transcends both geographic and sector boundaries, creating a platform that fosters conversation between outstanding leaders.

OUR Story

Imagine Women Leaders from all continents creating significance and impact, like for example the World Economic Forum (WEF) does, but with a difference in style. When Silvana Koch-Mehrin, Founder and President of the Women Political Leaders (WPL), and Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir, Chair of the Board, experienced the WEF in January 2017, they were determined to turn “imagine?” into “we can do it!”.

They were convinced that Iceland, as the best country for women (according to the WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report) would be the perfect location for a Women Leaders Global Forum. A conference, bringing together women leaders from all sectors: politics, business, tech, science, media etc… Having convened Women Political Leaders in Iceland in November 2017, the next step was obvious: make it a tradition; WPL with the Government and the Parliament of Iceland are since annually co-hosting a multi-stakeholder Women Leaders Global Forum. The Women Leaders Global Forum had its inaugural event in November 2018 in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Past Speakers

Past Speakers
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  • Amy Weaver

    President and member of the executive committee, Salesforce

  • Ana Birchall

    Deputy Prime Minister of Romania

  • Ann Cairns

    Vice Chairman, Mastercard

  • Bineta Diop

    Founder and President of Femmes Africa Solidarité and the African Union’s Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security

  • Christy Tanner

    Executive Vice-President and General Manager of CBS News Digital

  • Clare Hutchinson

    Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security at NATO

  • Esther Mcheka-Chilenje

    First Deputy Speaker of Malawi, WPL Ambassador

  • Hiltrud Dorothea Werner

    Member of the Board of Management, Integrity and Legal affairs, Volkswagen AG

  • Jewel Taylor

    President of the Senate of Liberia, Member of the WPL Executive Board

  • José Manuel Barroso

    Non-Executive Chairman, – Goldman Sachs.; President,- EU Commission (2004-2014), Member of the WPL Global Advisory Board

  • Juliane Bogner-Strauss

    Federal Minister for Women, Families and Youth of Austria

  • Katrín Jakobsdóttir

    Prime Minister of Iceland*

  • Kevin Lu

    Chairman of Asia Partners Group

  • Mari Kiviniemi

    Deputy Secretary General OECD, former Prime Minister of Finland

  • Mats Granryd

    Director General, GSMA

  • Michele Parmelee

    Deloitte Global Chief People and Purpose Officer

  • Nurhayati Ali Assegaf

    Member of Parliament, Member of the WPL Executive Board & WPL Ambassador for the House of Representatives of Indonesia

  • Paula Cox

    Premier of Bermuda (2010-2012)

  • Saadia Zahidi

    Head of Education, Gender and Work, Member of Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum

  • Victoria Budson

    Founding Executive Director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University

ICELAND: THE GLOBAL CHAMPION OF EQUALITY BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN

The Women Leaders Global Forum takes place in Iceland. For many years Iceland has been the global champion in the WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report which examines disparities between men and women in terms of political empowerment, economic opportunity, education and health.

milestones that matter:
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1915
Women gain national suffrage and the right to hold office
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1922
The first woman elected to the Icelandic Parliament
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1961
Equal Pay Act approved by the Parliament
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1975
Women nationwide take a day off on October 24
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1976
Equality Act approved and the Equaliry Council is founded
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1980
The first nationally elected female president in the world
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1982
The Women’s Alliance runs for Parliament
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1995
Equal rights of women and men stated in the constitution
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2003
Equal rights of women and men of parental leave
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2010
Companies are obliged to have 40% women or men on board

The Women Leaders Global Forum takes place in Iceland. For many years Iceland has been the global champion in the WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report which examines disparities between men and women in terms of political empowerment, economic opportunity, education and health.

Read

4 things that made the difference

Equal Parental Leave

9 Months (3 for women, 3 for men and 3 to share). 90% of men use their right, consequently, the gender pay gap has decreased.

Equal Pay Law

On 1 January, 2018, Iceland became the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay men more than women for doing the same job.

Strong Female Role Models

40% of MP’s are women, over 30% of members in local governments are women; over 60% of university students of women; 80% of women participate in the labour market.

Consensus From Left to Right

Icelandic women have, in most cases, agreed upon the greatest gender equality steps taken, across party lines

Sustainability policy

WLGF is committed to a sustainable future and has the ultimate ambition of being carbon-neutral. Following expert advice WLGF will focus on the environmental impact of the event itself.

This is a first step on an extremely important road towards the sustainability goals that are being developed.

We value the importance of minimising the environmental impact of the event by adopting best practices wherever possible. We encourage our Conversationists, partners and suppliers to do the same and focus on environmentally friendly solutions and respectful treatment of the environment. Based on our mission and insights from our partners, we are aware that a large international event can put a strain on resources and have a negative environmental impact. But, in order to address our responsibility, Women Leaders Global Forum, using the principles of Reduce – Remove – Recycle, has identified the following areas as focus points:

  • THE USE OF ENERGY
  • APPLYING TRAVEL INITIATIVES
  • RECYCLING
  • CATERING THE EVENT
  • SUPPLY CHAIN
  • BEST PRACTICES