Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform achievements in 2024

Over the past year, the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform achieved significant progress, continuing its mission and advancing toward its goal of addressing global challenges to improve people’s lives.

In 2024, the Global Platform initiative held the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, launched two communication campaigns, and forged new ties with international organisations, among other things.

Without a doubt, the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, held in Kyiv on 12 September 2024, became the main event of the year for the Platform. This high-level meeting gathered 18 First Ladies and Gentlemen from across the globe, as well as over 500 guests and over 40 speakers, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Dr. Francis Fukuyama, Political scientist, philosopher, professor of Stanford University, Michael Douglas, Award-winning Actor, Producer, and UN Messenger of Peace, and many others.

The theme of the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen was ‘Protecting Childhood: Ensuring a Safe Future’. The issue of child protection was addressed in several dimensions such as ‘Child Safety During the War’, ‘Child Safety in the Family’, ‘Child Safety at School’, ‘Child Safety in Cyberspace’ and ‘Safe Environment for Children’. A significant outcome of the event was the creation and adoption of the joint declaration of the participants.

Also, 9 First Ladies and Gentlemen appeared together on the cover of ELLE Ukraine magazine for the first time in media history.

Earlier this year, in February 2024, the First Ladies and Gentlemen panel discussion during the Global Soft Power Summit under the umbrella of Global Platform took place in London. In particular, this year’s Summit focused on the global economy’s future and Soft Power’s influence in attracting investment, trade, talent, and tourism.

In July 2024, the Global Platform of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen took part in the Second Global First Ladies Academy, organised by the Global First Ladies Alliance, where a new collaboration was started. Another important event titled ‘Ensuring a Future for Children: New Challenges for Soft Power’ was held at the UN headquarters in New York, USA, during the Summit of the Future and the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2024. 

Furthermore, in November 2024, the visit of the First Ladies to the Vatican to commemorate 1,000 days of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine took place. Within the event, the Spouse of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Anna Hakobyan, the First Lady of Lithuania, Diana Nausėdienė, the First Lady of Serbia, Tamara Vučić, and the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, attended a private mass at Rome’s Santa Maria in Trastevere.

At the end of the year, the annual online meeting of First Ladies and Gentlemen, active participants in the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform, took place.

Over this year, the Global Platform also conducted two large-scale communications campaigns. The first one, in May 2024, was dedicated to Mental Health Awareness Month, involving ten First Ladies and Gentlemen, as well as representatives from the partner countries. The second one focused on International Child Day in November 2024 and involved 8 First Ladies and Gentlemen. In both cases First Ladies and Gentlemen recorded video messages discussing the problems related to the topic, as well as proposing certain solutions. You can watch them on our official Instagram account.

One more big achievement for the Platform in 2024 became two researchers presented within the initiative. Among them were:

• The study, ‘Protection of Childhood: Security Dimensions for Children and Adolescents,’ which was conducted specifically for the Fourth Summit. This comprehensive research highlighted key global threats to children’s well-being, ranging from domestic violence, bullying, and the impacts of war to issues related to digital spaces and environmental crises.
• The Study of the Global Platform for First Ladies and Gentlemen in collaboration with the consulting company Brand Finance: ‘First Ladies and Gentlemen’s Impact on Soft Power‘. The research showed the components of soft power, the ranking of the most influential countries, and the factors influencing the countries’ images. In the study, Brand Finance experts also shared how the actions of First Ladies and Gentlemen affect the country’s reputation and economy, as well as demonstrated case studies.

In addition, last year’s research on mental health was showcased in four countries at various international events.

As for main priorities for the upcoming 2025, the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform plans to expand the initiative’s geographical influence, integrate the Platform into different international high-level events throughout the year, and, of course, organise the Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in Kyiv on September 2025.

You can also watch the video about the Global Platform’s main achievements in 2024 on our official YouTube channel by following the link.