Diplomats Share Stories of Resilience at 'Sashakt Nari' Forum

By: WE Staff | Friday, 27 February 2026

• International diplomats spoke about their experiences of resilience at the "Sashakt Nari, Viksit Bharat" forum in Delhi
• The discussion centered around women empowerment and their contribution towards developing India by 2047

Chintan Research Foundation hosted the "Sashakt Nari, Viksit Bharat" forum where ambassadors and high commissioners from across the world came together to learn more about each other's experiences of resilience and how they have overcome barriers.

Participants at this Forum were all Women Leaders who were able to discuss how important women's empowerment is to the overall growth of India by 2047.

The session entitled "Diplomacy Through Her Eyes: A Celebration of Women Global Leaders" was attended by 30+ ambassadors and high commissioners currently in India, who celebrated their global contributions to the advancement of women.

Many of the diplomats shared testimonials describing how they have used their experience to overcome barriers as a result of determination and tenacity to succeed.

Ambassador Diana Mickeviciene of Lithuania to India spoke about the historical dominance of men in the field of diplomacy; however, she believes that women are continuing to grow their presence in the area.

In Lithuania at present, 60 percent of the diplomats are women and there are fewer female ambassadors Colonne stated that while Sri Lankan women are represented in both Parliament and the Foreign Service, they are still underrepresented in mission positions.

She noted that while the public supports greater female representation, many administrative concerns do not reflect the public's support and that there are very few formal reservations for female representation.

Mary M. Mutuku, the Deputy Chief of the Kenyan Mission to India, related to cultural norms on the African continent where historically men have been at the forefront of leadership roles for both men and women, resulting in women having to work harder to demonstrate the same abilities as men, due to the inability of both genders to often acknowledge those abilities to each other, leading to increased hardship for women to ascend to leadership roles.

Estonia's Ambassador Marje Luup stated that in Estonia, the emphasis is less about gender and more about the potential for women to be successful in the area of digital and information technology (IT) leadership. She pointed out that many of Estonia's digital successes are discussed in India versus discussions on gender related issues.

However, she mentioned that Estonia has an active effort to increase the number of women that pursue careers in the IT field as the number of women currently employed in the IT field is significantly lower than the number of men that work in this field.