List of the first women holders of political offices

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This is a list of political offices which have been held by a woman, with details of the first woman holder of each office. It is ordered by country, by dates of appointment. Former countries, such as Yugoslavia, are also listed.

Contents

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Oceania

South America

International organizations

African Union

European Union

League of Nations

United Nations

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alva Myrdal</span> Swedish sociologist and politician

Alva Myrdal was a Swedish sociologist, diplomat and politician. She was a prominent leader of the disarmament movement. She, along with Alfonso García Robles, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982. She married Gunnar Myrdal in 1924; he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1974, making them the sixth ever married couple to have won Nobel Prizes, and the first to win independent of each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margot Wallström</span> Swedish politician

Margot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019 and Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 2016 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnar Myrdal</span> Swedish economist and sociologist (1898–1987)

Karl Gunnar Myrdal was a Swedish economist and sociologist. In 1974, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Friedrich Hayek for "their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena." When his wife, Alva Myrdal, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982, they became the fourth ever married couple to have won Nobel Prizes, and the first and only to win independent of each other. He is best known in the United States for his study of race relations, which culminated in his book An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. The study was influential in the 1954 landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decision Brown v. Board of Education. In Sweden, his work and political influence were important to the establishment of the Folkhemmet and the welfare state. Myrdal and his wife advocated for social engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma</span> South African politician

Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Congress (ANC), she currently serves as Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities and is the Chancellor of the University of Limpopo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude Mongella</span> Tanzanian politician

Gertrude Ibengwe Mongella is a Tanzanian politician who is the first president of the Pan-African Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunilla Carlsson</span> Swedish politician

Anna Gunilla Carlsson is a Swedish politician and a member of the Moderate Party. She served as Minister for International Development Cooperation from 2006 to 2013, member of the Swedish Riksdag from 2002 to 2013 and deputy chairman of her party from 2003 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Tibaijuka</span> Tanzanian politician and United Nations official

Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka is a Tanzanian politician and United Nations official. She was a Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Member of the National Assembly for Muleba South constituency during 2010 to 2020 and served as the Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Developments from 2010 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African National Congress Women's League</span> Political party

The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from being the Women's Section to the Women's League from its founding, through the exile years, and in a post-apartheid South Africa. After women were allowed to become members of the ANC in 1943, the ANCWL was created as the means by which Black South African women could contribute to the national liberation struggle by channeling Black women's political activity into the ANC by way of the ANCWL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angie Motshekga</span> Minister of Basic Education in South Africa

Matsie Angelina "Angie" Motshekga is a South African politician and educator, serving as the Minister of Basic Education since May 2009. She was also appointed as an acting president of the Republic of South Africa on 2 July 2021, as President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the state funeral of Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia. She was previously a Member of the Executive Council in the Gauteng provincial government. Motshekga is a member of the African National Congress. She is a former president of the party's women's league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Shabangu</span> South African politician

Susan Shabangu is a South African politician who has been a member of parliament representing the African National Congress since May 1994. She previously held the position of Minister of Social Development. Prior to that, she served as the inaugural Minister of Women in the Presidency, created by President Jacob Zuma in May 2014. She was the Minister of Mineral Resources from 2009 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helvi Sipilä</span>

Helvi Linnea Aleksandra Sipilä was a Finnish diplomat, lawyer and politician. She was known as a promoter of women's rights, and was the first-ever female Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations. When Sipilä was appointed Assistant-Secretary-General in 1972, 97 per cent of United Nations senior management was male. Sipilä also held a number of leadership positions in international civic organizations, including in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Zonta International and the International Council of Women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristalina Georgieva</span> Bulgarian politician and economist

Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova is a Bulgarian economist serving as the 12th managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019. She was the Chief Executive of the World Bank Group from 2017 to 2019 and served as Acting President of the World Bank Group from 1 February to 8 April 2019 following the resignation of Jim Yong Kim. She previously served as Vice-President of the European Commission under Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agda Rössel</span> Swedish politician and diplomat

Agda Viola Rössel, née Jäderström was a Swedish politician and diplomat. She was appointed Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations in 1958 and was as the first of her gender to have been permanently placed in that position among the 60 UN ambassadors that year in the United Nations organisation; she served in that position till 1964. After this assignment she was Sweden's Ambassador to many countries such as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mxolisi Sizo Nkosi</span>

Mxolisi Nkosi is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations in Geneva and Other International Organisations in Switzerland. He has served in several senior positions in the Foreign Ministry of post-Apartheid South Africa. Between February 2012 and March 2016 was the South African Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Head of Mission to the European Union. Until his appointment as South Africa’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, he was the Head of Global Governance and Continental Agenda in the South African Foreign Ministry, and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Sherpa to G7 Outreach Sessions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">41st G7 summit</span> 2015 international leaders meeting

The 41st G7 summit was held in Schloss Elmau, Krün, Bavaria, Germany on 7–8 June 2015. In March 2014 the remaining members of the G8 declared that a meaningful discussion was currently not possible with Russia, and since then meetings have continued under the G7 name.

Women Political Leaders (WPL) is a non-profit foundation that operates as a global network of female political leaders at national level, including the European Parliament, of whom there are currently around 9,000. WPL provides a platform for the exchange of ideas, experiences and best practices between female political leaders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francine Muyumba</span>

Francine Furaha Muyumba is a Congolese activist and politician serving as Senator in the Senate of Congo. Previously, she served as the president of the Panafrican Youth Union, the official youth body of the African Union from November 2015 to April 2019.

The 54th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) took place from 16 to 20 December 2017 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec, Gauteng. At the conference, the ANC elected its National Executive Committee (NEC) and other top internal leaders. Often referred to as the Nasrec Conference, it was held during the centenary of the birth of former ANC President Oliver Tambo and was convened under the theme, "Remember Tambo: Towards Unity, Renewal and Radical Socioeconomic Transformation."

Sweden became a member of the United Nations on November 19, 1946. Sweden has historically contributed with political leadership; politicians and diplomats such as Dag Hammarskjöld, Folke Bernadotte, Alva Myrdal and Margot Wallström and others have all played important roles in the development of the UN organization. Sweden is one of few member nations which meets or exceeds United Nations humanitarian aid spending target of 0.7% of GDP. In 2017, Swedish aid spending amounted to 1.4% of its GDP. The country has held a non-permanent seat in the Security Council four times, most recently between 2017 and 2018.

Jane Manganye is a South African politician who has served as a member of the South African National Assembly since May 2019, and previously from May 2009 to May 2014. She was the deputy speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature from May 2014 to May 2019. Manganye is a member of the African National Congress.

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