“We need tangible progress on the WPS agenda. Using the individual peace operations mandates seems to be the most promising approach. Rather than anchoring resolutions in the general WPS framework, it would be better to focus on ensuring a central role for women in the context of specific countries or peacekeeping efforts, where the discussion can be on practical, concrete steps, as well as on accountability for implementation.”
Ms. Cristina Gallach is Secretary of the Board of Directors of GWL Voices. She served as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information (2015– 2017). She served the Spanish Government from 2018 to 2024 as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Ibero-America and the Caribbean, Commissioner for the EU Next Generation Funds on AI and Language Technologies, and High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda.
Before her public service in the Spanish Government, she was a senior official of the European Union, holding the positions of Director of Communication for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Head of Public Relations for the Council of the European Union (1999–2014).
Prior to this, she was Communications Advisor to the Secretary General of NATO (1996–1999). Before her career in regional and international institutions, she was a journalist and international correspondent in Moscow and Brussels for several Spanish media outlets (1979–1995).
She holds a degree in Information Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), a Master’s in International Relations from Columbia University, and an Honorary Doctorate from the UAB.