A Luncheon with Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde of Belgium

The Council of Women World Leaders was honored to host, in collaboration with the Belgian Embassy, Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde of Belgium for a private luncheon Monday, June 27, 2011 as a part of the Council’s Spotlight on Leadership Series. The event, which was hosted at the Belgian ambassador’s residence, was attended by many influential women leaders from the Washington, DC community and was an opportunity for Her Royal Highness and Laura Liswood, Secretary General of the Council of Women World Leaders, to speak about violence against women, gender equality and women’s leadership.

Princess Mathilde expressed her commitment to combating violence against women and girls and stressed the importance of women’s empowerment as a critical measure to decrease women’s vulnerability to acts of violence worldwide. The conversation was later opened up to all of the event’s distinguished guests for a period of discussion and questions where guests drew from their extensive experience working to improve the status of women both domestically and around the world.