International Day of Women in Diplomacy: UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls visit to Geneva

On 24 June 2025, I travelled to Geneva to mark International Day of Women in Diplomacy, celebrating the important role women have played – and will continue playing – in building peace, fostering international co-operation and addressing global challenges.

Diplomacy used to be a men-only profession, a profession that excluded women and missed out on the talent of half the population. At this time of both global threat and opportunity, more than ever we need the brightest and the best to engage in the crucial work of diplomacy.

In Geneva, I spoke at a photo exhibition showcasing the powerful contributions of women in diplomacy. Women like Dame Margaret Anstee, born in 1926, who excelled in the UK Foreign Office but had to leave, as women did, when they got married. But she went on to break new ground as the first woman to lead a United Nations peacekeeping mission and reach the rank of Under-Secretary-General at the UN, serving with courage and brilliance in conflict zones, and leading complex negotiations.

Women’s rights are human rights

I spoke at a reception in support of the UK’s candidacy for re-election to the UN Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council is one of the most important mechanisms we have to advance, and protect existing progress, on the rights of women and girls. I reflected on the challenges we still face, and the urgent need to protect and advance women’s rights in the face of growing global misogyny.

Women in peace processes

I delivered a UK statement at the Human Rights Council, highlighting the vital role of women in peacebuilding. I reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to women’s participation in peace processes and called for an end to all efforts to silence, threaten or exclude women from conflict resolution and political dialogue.

During a meeting with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, we discussed the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls. In particular, sexual violence against women and girls in conflict remains a grossly under-reported crime, used to terrorise, displace, and destroy entire communities.

Resetting the argument for women’s advance

During my time in Geneva, I met representatives from over 30 countries, several Heads of UN Agencies, and visited the Inter-Parliamentary Union headquarters. We all agreed that we must work together, women and our male allies, to promote and defend women’s and girls’ rights and actively resist the misogynist insurgency which seeks to roll back women’s hard-won advances.

The UK Foreign Secretary and FCDO ministers are committed to working with me in this endeavour and to delivering on the things that matter most to women and girls around the world:

• to be free from violence
• to be able to make an equal contribution to their household budget and to their economy
• to be able to make the decisions that affect their lives and have an equal share in decisions that affect their communities and their country