Fall 2012: The View From CPD

Public diplomacy has increasingly addressed issues of particular interest to women, ranging from personal safety to economic empowerment. Throughout much of the world, harsh gender-based disparities damage the lives of individuals and nations, underscoring the importance of public diplomacy programs that respond to women’s needs. In this issue of PDiN Monitor, we have asked two of the world’s top diplomats, Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile and current director of UN Women, and Melanne Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, to evaluate women’s roles as practitioners of public diplomacy and to comment on the impact of public diplomacy projects on women’s lives. Clearly, considerable progress has been made by public diplomacy in this field, but just as clearly, much more needs to be done. We hope that this issue of PDiN Monitor stimulates renewed consideration of these matters.