Events

Women in diplomacy

Hosted by the Department of International Relations

Old Theatre, Old Building

Speakers

Kirtbir Chahal

Kirtbir Chahal

Head of Infrastructure Partnerships - Africa and Middle East, Department for Business and Trade

Katharina Rauscher

Katharina Rauscher

Deputy Ambassador of Austria to the UK

Nadia Theodore

Nadia Theodore

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the WTO

Chair

Karen E Smith

Karen E Smith

Professor of International Relations, LSE

Join us to explore the implications of women’s under-representation in diplomacy and discuss possible steps to strengthen their representation. 

Listen to the podcast (90 minutes)

Read the student blogger report

Women make up only one-fifth of the world’s ambassadors and are poorly represented in negotiations on many of the world’s most pressing problems, from peace to climate change. A panel of experienced diplomats will address the barriers and opportunities facing women in this field, and reveal how women operate within the gendered context of international diplomacy and the policy changes they may make as leaders.

Meet our speakers and chair:

Kirtbir Chahal is Head of Infrastructure Partnerships - Africa and Middle East, Department for Business and Trade.

Katharina Rauscher is Deputy Ambassador of Austria to the UK.

Nadia Theodore is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the World Trade Organization and other International Organizations in Geneva.

Karen E Smith is Professor of International Relations at LSE. She is working on projects on women in foreign policy-making and diplomacy, and on the role of that emotions play in EU foreign policy-making.

More about this event

The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) at LSE is now in its 97th year, and is one of the oldest as well as largest IR departments in the world, with a truly international reputation. The Department is ranked 2nd in the UK and 5th in the world in the QS World University Ranking by Subject 2024 tables for Politics and International Studies.

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