11.3.2026 New York: 20th International Helvi Sipilä Seminar

The registration for in-person attendance is now open via this link. The seminar recording will be made available afterwards. Thank you for your patience.

PROGRAM

Time: 11 March 2026 at 16.00 – 17.30 (New York time), followed by a reception
Venue: Ukrainian Institute in America, 2 E 79th Street, New York, NY 10075

Moderator: Silvia Modig, Chair of the National Council of Women of Finland

16.00 Opening words
Ms. Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Minister for Equality in Finland

16.10 Keynote: Women’s access to political decision-making is a crucial question for all humankind. What can we learn from Helvi Sipilä and her pioneering work?
Ms. Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships of UN Women

16.20 Panel Discussion: Women’s leadership in difficult times. What can we learn from these times of growing uncertainty, pushback of women’s rights and global conflicts?

Panelists:
Ms. Yuliya Kusher, Founder and CEO of Solo for Diamonds, Ukraine
Ms. Lushomo Thebe, YWCA Leadership cohort, YWCA Aotearoa New Zealand
Third panelist TBA

17.20 Closing remarks
Ms. Elina Kalkku, Finland’s Ambassador to the UN

17.30 Drinks reception

18.30 Event ends

The event will be recorded, and the recording will be distributed widely through the organizing NGOs.

REGISTRATION

The registration for in-person attendance is now open at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScldYnkKmCb1kombpdYCJJMomZckKOVLnejLsXbsmxxzvwrWA/viewform. The seminar recording will be made available afterwards.

ORGANIZERS

The event is organized by the Finnish Federation of Graduate Women, the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Association NYTKIS, the National Council of Women of Finland, UN Women Finland and YWCA Finland, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute in America.

VENUE DETAILS

The seminar takes place at the Ukrainian Institute of America (2 E 79th Street, New York, NY 10075).
The event takes place on the 2nd floor ballroom, with a staircase leading to the area. There is a small elevator in the building. Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access to the building.

BACKGROUND TO THE SEMINAR THEME

UN Women’s recent publication, Women Political leaders 2025 from June 2025 reveals that women’s political leadership in executive positions has not only stalled – it is declining. The continued underrepresentation of women leaders in state or government leadership and in key ministerial positions is a testament to widespread barriers and insufficient and uneven commitment to gender equality in political leadership. As representatives of Finnish civil society we strongly believe that this backlash has to be tackled together locally, nationally and globally.

INTERNATIONAL HELVI SIPILÄ SEMINAR AT THE CSW SINCE 2006

Helvi Sipilä (1915 – 2009) was a Finnish lawyer, diplomat and world’s first woman Assistant Secretary-General of the UN in 1972. Thanks to her, 1975 was declared the International Year of Women, and the first UN World Conference on Women was held under Sipilä’s leadership in Mexico.

The International Women’s Decade Voluntary Fund started in 1977 on Sipilä’s initiative and later became the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Helvi Sipilä thought that every woman should have a profession and a job. The driving force behind her ambition was that everyone should think about what they could do to support women.

Despite society’s outcry, she ran her own law firm for 30 years. She also led several associations, including the International Federation of Women Lawyers and the International Council of Women.

To honor her tireless work for women’s rights, the first international Helvi Sipilä Seminar was organized at the CSW50 in 2006 by the Finnish Federation of University Women (FFUW) and four other Finnish Women’s organizations. The Helvi Sipilä seminars continue her legacy by addressing challenging issues that affect women locally and globally.

To learn more about the CSW, please visit UN Women’s website: https://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women/csw70-2026

The page was last updated 18.2.2026