History of the Summit
The history of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform began in 2021 with the First Summit of the First Ladies and Gentlemen, initiated by Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine. This event gathered spouses of the world’s top leaders to share experiences and create joint social projects to improve people’s lives.
In 2023, after holding three such Summits and demonstrating their effectiveness, the initiative was transformed into the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform. It now also includes other international events and projects involving the world’s First Ladies and Gentlemen. The Global Platform conducts studies, creates social initiatives, and gathers its members to participate in international events, showing the soft power of First Ladies and Gentlemen as a powerful tool for developing the well-being of people worldwide.
First Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen
The event's focus was 'Soft Power in the New Reality'
The Summit resulted in the adoption of a joint declaration on international cooperation and assistance in resolving pressing humanitarian issues and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
After conducting the First Summit and seeing its effectiveness, the initiative became an annual event that addresses important and relevant societal issues while seeking solutions to overcome and resolve them.
Second Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen
The event's theme was 'Ukraine and the World: The Future We (Re) Build Together'
The Summit was conducted as a teleconference between five countries. The main studio was in Kyiv, with four others in Warsaw, Brussels, Washington, and London. Before the Summit, at the initiative of Olena Zelenska, a fundraising campaign was launched to acquire emergency ambulances for Ukraine. As a result, $6.4 million was raised to purchase 92 ambulances.
Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen
The theme was 'Mental Health: Fragility and Resilience of the Future'
The event also presented the results of an international sociological survey conducted by the British company Alligators Digital on mental health and attitudes toward it worldwide. Additionally, memorandums of medical partnership were signed, as a result of which Ukrainian hospitals gained partners from various parts of the world for cooperation and exchange of experience. As of October 2024, there are already 50 such partnerships, with efforts ongoing to identify and establish new ones.
Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen
The theme 'Protecting Childhood: Ensuring a Safe Future'
he Summit programme discusses the problem of children’s safety in five key dimensions: ‘Child safety during the war’, ‘Child safety in the family’, ‘Child safety at school’, ‘Child safety in cyberspace’, and ‘Safe environment for children’. As a part of the event, the results of the international study ‘Protection of Childhood: Security Dimensions for Children and Adolescents’ were presented. This study was conducted in 15 countries from all the regions by the international research consultancy company Catalyse Research together with BRAND UKRAINE with the support of UNICEF.
Securing the Future for Children: Addressing New Challenges to Soft Power
A little later, on 23 September 2024, on the sidelines of the Summit of the Future held in New York during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, the Global Platform hosted an event titled ‘Securing the Future for Children: Addressing New Challenges to Soft Power’. This event continued the theme raised at the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen.
First Lady of Belize Rossana Briceño; First Lady of Estonia Sirje Karis; First Lady of Finland Suzanne Elizabeth Innes-Stubb; First Lady of Guatemala Lucrecia Peinado; First Lady of Malawi Monica Chakwera;
First Lady of Suriname Mellisa Santokhi-Seenacherry; First Lady of the USA Jill Biden; as well as spouse of the European Council President Amélie Derbaudrenghien shared their comments in the course of the discussion. First Lady of Albania Linda Rama; First Lady of Cyprus Philippa Karsera Christodoulides; First Lady of Czechia Eva Pavlová; First Lady of Fiji Filomena Katonivere; First Lady of Mozambique Isaura Gonçalo Ferrão Nyusi; First Lady of Seychelles Lina Ramkalawan; First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska; Partner of the Prime Minister of Slovenia Tina Gaber; and spouse of the Prime Minister of Armenia Anna Hakobyan visited the event.
Learn more
To learn more about other projects and initiatives of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform, please visit
What we do
In July 2024, the Global Platform of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen partnered with the Global First Ladies Academy, an initiative of the Global First Ladies Alliance.
The meeting brought together First Ladies from Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. During the event, research conducted specifically for the Global Platform of the Summit was presented: First Ladies and Gentlemen’s Impact on Soft Power.
You can find the full list of the participants and guests of the Global Platform’s events here.
Around 40 First Ladies and Gentlemen from different countries across the globe have joined Global Platform’s activities.
The Platform’s events were attended by First Ladies and Gentlemen from Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the USA.
We also place great emphasis on collaboration and partnerships with Ukrainian and international organisations and companies, including:
