On Monday, September 24, Barnard College and the Women in Public Service Project, in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson Center, hosted “A Global Conversation: Women Leaders Respond to the United Nations General Assembly” on Barnard’s campus in Manhattan. This event, held in conjunction with the United Nations' 67th regular session of the General Assembly, featured opening remarks from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of Thailand. President Atifete Jahjaga, Kosovo’s first female and youngest president, delivered the evening's keynote address, highlighting the importance of cultivating women leaders at the highest levels of government.

President Jahjaga’s remarks were followed by a panel on post-conflict and transitional justice, moderated by Barnard President Debora Spar. Participants included Jane Harman, President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Rangita de Silva de Alwis, director of the Women in Public Service Project and Women’s Leadership Initiatives at the Wilson Center; Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children; and Farah Pandith, Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the United States Department of State. Select students from women’s colleges around the country also joined the conversation. Read their thoughts on the topics discussed.

Former Finnish President Tarja Halonen, who was also the first female to hold her nation’s highest office, and Melanne Verveer, United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues gave closing remarks.