The 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament drew more than 330 participants from 37 countries, including 30 Women Speakers. Organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in partnership with the Swiss Parliament, the event coincided with several key milestones in the global push for gender equality.
The Summit was an opportunity to refocus attention on gender equality as the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action — widely regarded as the blueprint for women’s rights — as well as 10 years since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals and a quarter century since the adoption of the UN’s women, peace and security agenda.
In their final declaration, the Women Speakers voiced their solidarity with all women and girls living in conflict zones and raised concerns about the disproportionate risks they face during wars.
They reaffirmed that gender equality, inclusivity and women’s leadership are essential foundations for sustainable peace and security. They also highlighted that the persistent underrepresentation of women in peace mediation, negotiation and diplomacy remains a significant obstacle to lasting peace.
The declaration called for the urgent adoption of more inclusive and gender-responsive approaches across science and diplomacy — particularly in addressing climate change, regulating emerging technologies and restoring trust in democratic institutions — all seen as vital for sustainable peace.
Citing IPU data, the Summit highlighted that women’s parliamentary representation has more than doubled over the past three decades, rising from 11.3% in 1995 to 27.2% today. The share of women leading parliaments has also doubled, growing from 10.5% to 21.2%. However, this means that women currently hold just 58 out of the 274 Speaker posts worldwide. With these statistics, the Speakers called for gender parity to become a universal norm and political standard.
The Summit declaration will help shape discussions at the upcoming Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, ensuring that gender equality and women’s empowerment remain at the forefront of the global parliamentary agenda.
The Summit follows the launch in April of the IPU’s 2025 campaign Achieving gender equality, action by action which promotes 10 key actions structured around three key thematic areas: promoting parity in parliament and politics; encouraging gender-sensitive institutions; and combating gender-based violence and discrimination.
Final Declaration
Leading for inclusive and lasting peace Monday, 28 July 2025
The 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament (15SWSP), convened by the InterParliamentary Union (IPU) in close cooperation with the Swiss Parliament, took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, 28 July 2025. 29 women Speakers of Parliament and 3 presiding officers of parliamentary assemblies and organizations, among about 330 participants from 37 countries, were in attendance. As an outcome of their deliberations, the women Speakers of Parliament adopted the following final declaration:
(1) We, women Speakers of Parliament, gathered at the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament at a critical juncture and in a year of many milestones for the women and girls of the world, marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 10- year milestone of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the 25 years of existence of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, aiming to inspire the next chapter in the pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment and leadership,
(2) Deeply concerned by the growing sense of despair and disillusionment over the state of global affairs, and the alarming disregard for democratic values and principles, universal human rights and international humanitarian law, the erosion of trust in institutions, and the spread of polarization, conflict and hostility that undermine civic cohesion and inclusive peaceful governance,
(3) Concerned that persistent negative norms and stereotypes related to masculinity and femininity, and the roles of men and women, continue to shape the conduct of politics and international relations, often reinforcing exclusion and adversarial approaches that undermine inclusive and sustainable peace,
(4) Alarmed by the toll of armed conflict on civilian populations and underscoring that armed conflicts disproportionately affect women and girls; that gender-based violence, including its use as a weapon of war, is one of the gravest threats to security, exacerbating existing inequalities, and obstructing paths to justice and sustainable peace,
(5) Expressing our solidarity with all women and girls in areas of conflicts and wars,
(6) Recognizing the importance of respecting civilizational and religious pluralism in shaping models of women’s empowerment and leadership, including those models based on religious references and national traditions,
(7) Convinced that the voices and leadership of women are integral to accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, yet continue to be excluded from decision-making roles in processes critical to mitigating risks, responding to crises and building resilience, 2
(8) Affirming that gender equality (In IPU’s Plan of action for gender-sensitive parliaments, adopted unanimously by the 127th IPU Assembly (Quebec City, October 2012), the IPU defines gender equality as follows: “Gender equality means that women and men enjoy full and equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities”.) , inclusivity and women’s leadership are critical to sustainable peace and security, as recognized in the Women, Peace and Security agenda, with clear evidence showing that inclusive, multidimensional, multilateral and participatory processes, led by women and showing due respect for international law, contribute to conflict prevention, resolution, and post-conflict recovery, and result in more durable and effective peace agreements,
(9) Concerned that the underrepresentation of women in peace mediation and negotiation remains a significant barrier to achieving lasting peace and inclusive governance,
(10)Gravely concerned by the significant underrepresentation of women in diplomatic roles, as highlighted by UN General Assembly resolution 76/269, reaffirming the critical importance of advancing women’s leadership in foreign affairs, multilateral institutions and diplomacy to strengthen inclusive global governance, and acknowledging the importance of the International Day of Women in Diplomacy in order to promote the full and equal participation of women at all levels of diplomacy,
(11)Emphasizing that science and diplomacy are linked in addressing transboundary challenges, and that the role of women diplomats and scientists is pivotal and in need of empowerment in shaping both scientific and political solutions,
(12)Certain that today’s most urgent global challenges, including climate change, technological transformation, the erosion of human rights and entrenched gender inequality, are reshaping the prospects for peace, and require strong, coordinated and gender-sensitive leadership and action in partnership between men and women,
(13)Worried that women are persistently underrepresented in climate decision-making and recognizing that climate change intensifies precarity and drives instability, particularly in fragile contexts, with impact on women and girls,
(14)Recognizing that emerging technologies are transforming societies and governance, bringing both opportunities and serious risks, and concerned by the lack of gender-inclusive political dialogue on the governance of artificial intelligence,
(15)Stressing the imperative of women’s leadership in the development, governance and regulation of emerging technologies, to ensure these systems are inclusive, free from bias and supportive of social cohesion and gender equality,
(16)Welcoming progress in women’s representation in national parliaments, which has more than doubled over the past 30 years, growing from 11.3% in 1995 to 27.2% in 2025, noting that the implementation of gender quotas, or other initiatives and supports that increase women’s participation in politics, remains a crucial driver of these gains, welcoming progress in women’s leadership of parliaments from 10.5% 30 years ago to 23.7% today, and calling for continued commitment and accelerated action in partnership between men and women towards parity in participation and leadership,
(17)Affirming that gender parity is fundamental to the legitimacy, resilience and effectiveness of democratic institutions across all areas of life, and convinced that achieving gender parity in parliaments and decision-making spaces is more urgent than ever to effectively address global challenges and to build inclusive and sustainable peace,
(18)Reaffirming our unequivocal commitment to achieving gender parity, as enshrined in the plan of action for gender parity in parliament adopted at the IPU Global Conference of Women Parliamentarians in March 2025 in Mexico, which was a decisive call to make parity a universal political standard, in line with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s General Recommendation No. 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems,
We commit to:
• Engage within and beyond our parliaments to raise awareness of the importance of multilateralism and inclusive interparliamentary dialogue as a fundamental trust-building mechanism for effective international cooperation and sustainable peace.
• Call for full respect of international humanitarian and human rights law, working through our parliaments to promote peaceful, negotiated settlements in place of a growing reliance on violence and war, and addressing their gender-related consequences, and reaffirm the urgency of gender-sensitive diplomacy and inclusive peace processes as the only sustainable path to lasting peace.
• Support women’s leadership in diplomacy and foreign affairs by strengthening genderbalanced representation across all levels of diplomatic service and supporting inclusive foreign policy institutions that reflect and drive systemic change in global governance.
• Encourage all institutions, governments and organizations engaged in mediation and negotiation to adopt gender-inclusive policies and ensure the meaningful participation of women at all stages of these processes; and to further urge the allocation of adequate resources, training and support to empower women mediators and negotiators, particularly at the grassroots and community levels.
• Promote greater awareness in our parliaments of sustainable and inclusive peace as a multidimensional process by placing gender equality at its core.
• Lead a paradigm shift in politics by transforming our parliaments into gender-sensitive institutions while confronting harmful gender norms through inclusive procedures, sustained capacity-building and structural reforms.
• Step up efforts to rebuild trust in democratic institutions by fostering inclusive leadership and addressing the root causes of disengagement, particularly among younger generations, to bridge the widening generational divide.
• Reiterate our commitment to making parity the norm within and beyond our parliaments, while actively supporting global advocacy to encourage and enable all parliaments to adopt gender sensitive practices and structures.
• Strengthen the response of our parliaments to address all forms of violence against women and gender-based violence within and beyond parliaments, by adopting and upholding zero tolerance laws and policies, reinforcing accountability and treating this issue as a fundamental challenge to democracy.
• Take urgent action to ensure women’s full participation in climate change responses and recognize that gender-responsive strategies are essential to building resilience, enabling adaptation and driving a just, equitable transition.
• Strengthen institutional knowledge and parliamentary capacities to oversee emerging technologies, ensuring their governance is inclusive, gender-sensitive and free from bias, with women equally represented with men in the design, development and oversight of these systems.
• Promote science diplomacy by championing gender-balanced representation of women diplomats and scientists in multilateral scientific forums, and foster clear pathways for girls and young women to enter and thrive in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) — building on successful models such as the Women in Science (WINS) programme and encouraging their deployment worldwide.
• Leverage the milestone anniversaries in 2025 of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Women, Peace and Security agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the 40th anniversary of the IPU Forum of Women Parliamentarians to accelerate implementation and renew commitments to gender equality and inclusive peacebuilding.
• Join the IPU Achieving gender equality, action by action campaign, promote the campaign in our parliaments, and implement the 10 most transformative and urgent actions that it calls on us to take.
We will ensure that this outcome document informs the proceedings of the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, with a view to prioritizing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls on the agenda of all parliaments.
(NB. It is recognized that due to their constitutional positions or other factors, certain Speakers cannot directly associate themselves with substantive political statements, and therefore should not be seen as indicating specific support for all sections. Nonetheless, on behalf of their chambers, they recognize the importance of the issues raised and the intentions of their colleagues in proposing particular ways forward.)
