Sara Nyanti leads dialogue at WPL 2023 Summit

Liberia’s Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Deputy Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General in South Sudan will join thousands of Women Political Leaders (WPL) from around the world in Brussels, Belgium for this year’s Women Political Leaders Summit.

Madam Nyanti who is also the UN’s Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan will be shaping the conversations around global leadership and the role of women.

The annual WPL Summit is the largest worldwide gathering of women politicians, including some of the most powerful women leaders on the planet. It convenes and gives a platform to leaders whose influence inspires women to enter and rise in politics.

The WPL Summit 2023 is being held under the theme Representation Matters. It’s aimed at working to increase the number and influence of women in political leadership positions.

Madam Nyanti, currently Liberia’s highest-ranking international public servant will serve as Lead Facilitator of an international dialogue on women’s participation.

This follows a successful convening of a women’s conference in South Sudan that saw 500 women from 15 countries gather to lift the women of South Sudan.

The WPL Summit 2023 is being held at the European Parliament in Brussels on June 7 and at the Belgian Federal Parliament in Brussels on June 8.

The WPL 2023, which comes 10 years after the first WPL Summit was held at the European Parliament will this time discuss peace, security, and why “Representation Matters”.

According to the Summit’s documents, throughout the past years, the WPL Summit has been co-hosted by parliamentary and governmental bodies in every major region of the world. This year, The European Parliament and the Belgian Federal Parliament are the official co-hosts of the #WPLSummit2023. Fitting, as for the first time, all three legislative bodies are simultaneously presided over by women.

WPL has emerged as a global force, committed to increasing both the number and the influence of women in political leadership positions. The summit provides women leaders with a platform to contribute to global discourse from their perspective as women political leaders.  Madam Nyanti will also be presenting trailblazers awards to the current President of Ethiopia and others as per the program.

Meanwhile, Day 1 of the Summit which will be held at the European Parliament will focus on Women Peace & Security. This is an area that Madam Nyanti leads in South Sudan, and it was the theme of the conference which she convened in South Sudan.

However, the question that needs to be asked is why Madam Nyanti has not done the same type of meeting in Liberia. Credited for her role in getting Senatorial aspirant Magdalene Harris of Grand Bassa County involved in this meeting, we must ask what of the large number of women in Liberia who do not have access?

The summit will also co-host a session with the World Bank Group to discuss the launch of their Gender Strategy as leaders will be invited to share insights that will help inform the World Bank Group’s work on gender.

Liberia still has underrepresentation of women. The Senate still only has 2 women while the House of Representatives only has 9 women. Madam Nyanti might need to consider this going forward to get more Liberian women involved in leadership.

Speaking to this paper via WhatApp from Brussels, Madam Magdalene Harris expressed excitement and optimism about the summit.

“I feel blessed to be a part of this summit and I want to thank Madam Sara Nyanti for her role in getting me to participate because in today’s world, you need a woman of power to lift other women and that is what she has done,” the Grand Bassa County Senatorial aspirant said.

She further explained that the gathering consists of women of power from around the world, and she expects to build networks, something that will shape her own political career.

However, she remained grateful to Madam Nyanti who is at such height and has brought her along. She said she looks forward to the theme Women Representation Matters and will explore networks.