Bridging the Leadership Gap: Women in Local and Regional Governments

Local women leaders translate global commitments into lived realities—yet women remain significantly underrepresented in local and regional governments, particularly in executive decision-making roles. Across Latin America and globally, mayoralties, governorships, and other subnational executive offices continue to be dominated by men, despite decades of international commitments to gender equality, democratic governance, and inclusive development. This gap matters: local governments are where policies are implemented, services are delivered, and trust in institutions is either built or eroded.

In response and on the sidelines of CSW70, GWL Voices under its Women in Politics (WIP) Initiative, culminated a two-year research effort with the report Bridging the Leadership Gap: Women in Local Governments in Latin America. Covering six countries—Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Panama—the study provides new, systematically compiled data on women’s participation in local and subnational executive leadership. It identifies persistent structural barriers, from gender norms and gaps in parity frameworks to violence against women in politics and unpaid care burdens, and calls for policy and institutional reforms to accelerate parity and strengthen democratic governance from the local level up.

The event will convene a high-level, multi-stakeholder panel reflecting global leadership, multilateral policy expertise, and lived experience from women holding local executive office:

• Moderated by: Susana Malcorra, President and Co-founder of GWL Voices; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina; Former Chief of Staff to the United Nations Secretary-General
• Panelists:
• Bibiana Aído, Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, UN Women
• Michelle Bachelet (TBC), GWL Voices Member and Vice President of the Club de Madrid; Former President of Chile; Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Former Executive Director of UN Women
• Epsy Campbell Barr (TBC), GWL Voices Member; Former Vice President of Costa Rica; Former Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
• Ana Redondo García (TBC), Minister of Equality of Spain
• Emilia Saiz, Secretary-General, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

• Final Remarks by: Roberta Zambrano Ortiz (TBC), Prefect of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, and Vice President of Consortium of Provincial Governments of Ecuador (CONGOPE)

• Key Findings by: Claudia Briones Smith, Coordinator of the Women in Politics Initiative, GWL Voices; Lead researcher and author of the report

If you are student and planning to attend, apply here to our Open Call for exclusive conversations with GWL Voices members and more