On the occasion of the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, on 24 June 2026, a gathering of prominent women from the worlds of diplomacy, public administration, civil society and the business sector was organised in Belgrade.
The hosts of the initial gathering marking Women in Diplomacy Day were the Embassy of Israel in Serbia and H.E. Avivit Bar-Ilan, and the WMG Foundation through its women’s initiative SpOna, represented by Ana Aleksić, President of the Board of Directors of the WMG Foundation and member of the Management Board of Wireless Media Group (WMG), and Irena Petrović, Director of the WMG Foundation.
The event was attended by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Nevena Jovanović, Acting Assistant Minister for Bilateral Cooperation Tamara Rastovac Siamašvili, ambassadors of key partner countries in Serbia: Florence Ferrari (Embassy of the French Republic), Maria Levanti (Embassy of the Hellenic Republic), Kristin Melsom (Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway), Michelle Cameron (Embassy of Canada), Pernille Dahler Kardel (Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark) and Maria Clara De Abreu Rada (Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil), as well as leaders from the non-governmental and private sectors.
Brankica Janković, former Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Violeta Jovanović, Executive Director of NALED, Indira Popadić, founder of the Osnažene platform, Aleksandra Đaković, co-founder of the 100 Women Winery, and Jelena Avramović, Project Manager of the WMG Foundation, also took an active part in the discussion.
Empowerment
Israeli Ambassador Avivit Bar-Ilan highlighted the importance of 24 June and the commitment to empowering women’s leadership globally:
“When women are equally involved in decision-making processes, space opens up for better-quality conversations and for seeing the bigger picture. Diversity at the negotiating table encourages creativity and innovation and contributes to more effective responses to the complex challenges of modern society.”
On behalf of the WMG Foundation, Director Irena Petrović presented the mission of the SpOna initiative, highlighting the vision of creating a fairer, more resilient and more promising society in which women in Serbia and the region have more opportunities, more support and more space to influence the decisions that shape our common future. During the discussion, the ambassadors reflected on their personal career paths, turning points and the obstacles they had overcome, with a particular focus on the importance of mentoring and providing support to younger female colleagues who are only just entering the world of international relations and diplomacy.
The participants considered concrete steps this network could take and how it could provide direct support to programmes for the economic and social empowerment of women in Serbia.
Dialogue
This meeting successfully laid the foundations for a tradition of marking the International Day of Women in Diplomacy in Serbia.
The participants agreed that dialogue, cross-border connection and the exchange of experiences are key to building a more equal society. In that spirit, the WMG Foundation, in cooperation with international and local partners, will strive in the coming period to continue organizing such meetings and to expand them further, creating long-term bonds for women’s leadership and networking.
