From 10–12 September, parliamentary leaders from the G7 countries, alongside the Presidents of the European and Ukrainian Parliaments, gathered in Paris for the 24th G7 Speakers’ Summit, hosted by Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the French National Assembly. The summit focused on strengthening democratic institutions, building citizen trust and participation, the role of parliaments in foreign and defence policy, and the challenges artificial intelligence presents to legislatures.
The gathering also offered a visible example of women exercising leadership within some of the world’s most influential parliamentary institutions. Braun-Pivet chaired the summit, while Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, and Julia Klöckner, President of the German Bundestag, were among the women leading discussions.
The summit was also notable for the number of women occupying the room’s most senior parliamentary positions. With women such as Braun-Pivet, Metsola and Klöckner leading major legislative institutions, the summit offered a visible snapshot of women’s growing presence at the highest levels of parliamentary leadership. Their presence is notable in a global context where women remain significantly underrepresented in parliamentary leadership: according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) report on Women in Parliament, as of January 2026, women held just 19.9% of parliamentary Speaker positions worldwide, with 54 women serving as Speakers. This year, their participation was not a side conversation: women were among those setting the agenda, chairing the discussions and shaping the conclusions of the meeting.
