Women Leaders Push for Real Power and a Stronger Voice at UNGA81

The UN Women Leaders Network convened the gathering on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in partnership with the Government of Iceland, the UN Foundation and the Council of Women World Leaders.

Getting women into a room where decisions are made is only part of the challenge; having the opportunity to speak, be taken seriously and influence those decisions requires access to power that an invitation alone cannot provide. That concern shaped "The Power of Intergenerational Leadership," a high-level event held on 24 September at Scandinavia House in New York, where emerging and established women leaders examined how working across generations can open pathways into leadership and strengthen the rights of women and girls.

The UN Women Leaders Network convened the gathering on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in partnership with the Government of Iceland, the UN Foundation and the Council of Women World Leaders. Participants from politics, academia, civil society, business and youth groups explored what women need to lead, with attention to the networks, resources and institutional opportunities that remain out of reach for many despite decades of global commitments to equality.

A Seat in the Room Must Come With Influence

A fireside conversation between Charlotte Bunch, founding director of the Rutgers University Center for Women's Global Leadership, and UN Women National Gender Youth Activist Dilanaz Güler brought the relationship between generations into focus. Bunch described how earlier generations had to create spaces where women could organize and press for change, stressing that those hard-won spaces need to be shared across generations and values to prevent people from becoming isolated.

Güler challenged the assumption that inclusion automatically gives younger women influence, explaining that being present does not guarantee permission to speak or confidence that others will listen seriously. Their exchange showed why passing leadership to a new generation requires more than making introductions or offering invitations: emerging leaders need opportunities to contribute, shape discussions and have their ideas considered by those holding authority.

Solidarity Can Open Doors That Competition Keeps Closed

A panel moderated by Anika Jane Dorothy, Global Programs Delivery Lead at Girls Agency Lab and a former member of the Generation Equality Youth Task Force, examined practical commitments to expand women's leadership across regions, sectors and generations. Speakers included Aya Chebbi, founder of the Nala Feminist Collective and former African Union Special Envoy on Youth; Anino Emuwa, managing director of Avandis Consulting and founder of 100 Women @ Davos; and Tarja Halonen, Finland's president from 2000 to 2012.

Chebbi called for solidarity between generations and among young women themselves, challenging the idea that women must treat one another primarily as competitors. "I think we need to show up for each other, not just across generations, but young women showing up for young women," she said, explaining that political competition should not prevent women from supporting another young woman once she gains influence and the opportunity to lead.

Being the First Should Create Space for Others

Halonen encouraged women to enter roles where no woman had served before, drawing on her experience as a union lawyer, foreign minister and president. She acknowledged the discomfort involved in breaking those barriers, describing the experience as interesting and exciting without pretending it is easy. Her encouragement placed the personal challenge of being first within a wider discussion about expanding the opportunities available to women who follow.

The gathering came at an important moment for the multilateral system, the Beijing+30 Action Agenda and efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality. Women's continuing underrepresentation reflects barriers to resources, relationships and institutional opportunities that can build across generations, making shared leadership a matter of changing structures as well as supporting individuals. Participants called for established and emerging leaders to advance equality together through institutions that give women of every generation a meaningful role in decisions.