Event Date: September 11, 2025 - 10:00am to 11:45am
Location: FSS 5028 and via Zoom

Presented by CIPS, the Gender, Peace, and Development Research Network and the Research Network on Women, Peace and Security

This event presents the work of the LSE IDEAS Women in Diplomacy project, which aims to improve women’s representation and leadership in diplomacy by identifying both barriers and enablers to women’s leadership in national diplomatic services and international organisations. In June 2024, we published our first report Strengthening the Representation of Women in Diplomacy: Challenges and Policy Solutions. The report was a first step to understanding how to advance women’s representation in diplomacy and aimed to encourage wider discussion on gender equality in international affairs. We are currently engaging in dialogues with diplomats and practitioners in different cities around the world and based on our discussions, we will produce a second edition of the report in early 2026. In this event we will share progress and insights from our consultations.

Presenters:

Karen E Smith is Professor of International Relations at the LSE. She is the Director of the LSE IDEAS Women in Diplomacy project. Her main area of research is the ‘international relations of the European Union’, and she has written extensively on the formulation and implementation of common EU foreign policies. She has examined the EU’s pursuit of ‘ethical’ foreign policy goals such as promoting human rights and democracy, and policy-making within European states regarding genocide. For over a decade she has also analysed EU-UN relations, and more recently has extended her research to consider the role of other political and regional groups in UN diplomacy. She is now working on projects on women in foreign policy-making and diplomacy, and on the role of that emotions play in EU foreign policy-making.

Marta Kozielska is the co-founder and manager of the Women in Diplomacy Project at LSE IDEAS, where she oversees the project’s activities and vision. Formerly, Marta led research and evaluation projects for the EU, focusing on strengthening citizen engagement and inclusion in democratic processes and improving EU decision-making and funding mechanisms. Marta’s experience spans various sectors, including think tanks, consulting, and non-governmental organisations where she developed her expertise in international strategy, public policy, advocacy and strategic communications. Marta previously studied at the LSE, University of California, Berkeley and Oxford. 

Discussants:

Dr. Lilly Nicholls is a Canadian diplomat with 30 years of experience in global affairs and international development in Canada and overseas, through contributions to Government, the UN, civil society and academia. She has been Canadian Ambassador to Panama and Canada’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh. She led the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) Research Team that gathered and analyzed consultation results and evidence for the formulation of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP). She is presently a Professional in Residence at the University of Ottawa’s School of International Development and Global Studies where she is advising the School and the Dean of Social Studies on the establishment of an International Hub.

Rebecca Tiessen is Professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, co-Director of the Gender, Peace and Development Research Network at the University of Ottawa and co-Director of the national Research Network on Women, Peace and Security. Her areas of specialization include gender equality and women’s empowerment, Canadian foreign aid policy, feminist foreign policy, and global service learning. She is the 2021-2022 recipient of the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Social Science Excellence in Research Award and the 2023-2024 University of Ottawa Excellence in Education Award.