News & Analysis Event Summaries

First Woman President of Latvia Receives GIWPS Trailblazer Award

September 25, 2025

• Alexandra Gopin 

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As the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) high-level week came to a close, a group of extraordinary leaders gathered at the Harvard Club for a ceremony hosted by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) to discuss challenges facing multilateralism and to honor President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, the first woman President of Latvia.

In the grand red-walled dining hall, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga received the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security’s Trailblazer Award for her leadership and commitment to gender equality and social justice. 

“She rose from having to flee from her country as a child during the Soviet occupation only to return years later to become Latvia’s President,” said GIWPS Executive Director Ambassador Melanne Verveer, as she presented the award. 

“Sometimes referred to as the iron lady of the Baltic, she wasn’t hesitant about confronting challenges or challengers. She was determined to keep Latvia’s foreign policy on a western-oriented course and became an exceptionally active global leader,” added Verveer. 

President Vīķe-Freiberga served as President of Latvia for two terms, from 1999 to 2007, becoming the country’s first and only female head of state to date. During her leadership, she was instrumental in securing Latvia’s NATO and EU membership. Today, she remains a powerful advocate for gender equality and social justice, and a global symbol of women’s empowerment.

“Women still have a ways to go,” President Vīķe-Freiberga reminded the audience as she accepted the award. “Just recently, Afghanistan banned all books written by women authors. I think that is the extreme to which a country can go in a retrograde way. Instead of advancing the status of women, they have a medieval attitude toward the ‘inferior sex’ as they see it.” 

This year’s UNGA—focused on peace, development, and human rights—ran parallel to the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, a landmark global commitment to gender equality. This backdrop served as a powerful reminder that despite escalating wars and an upending of the international order as we know it, women continue to lead, and their achievements must be recognized and celebrated.

Ambassador Verveer recalled a compelling speech by President Vīķe-Freiberga during a meeting of women leaders from both sides of the former Iron Curtain: “She underscored that true democracy can only exist if equal opportunity and equal rights are accorded to women and men alike.” 

The ceremony concluded with a well-deserved round of applause. 

GIWPS’ Trailblazer Award was created to honor individuals who are building a more peaceful, equitable, and safe world. Through their leadership, they demonstrate that women are not just participants in history—they are agents of change.