- 22 hours ago
Dr. Sibylle von Heydebrand Recognised as Icons of Change SDG 5 Ambassador for Switzerland
Advancing Women's Rights, Gender Equality and Inclusive International Decision-Making
Icons of Change International Awards 2026
The Icons of Change International Awards 2026 recognises Dr. Sibylle von Heydebrand for her professional contributions to women's rights, gender equality and international representation, acknowledging her engagement across international organisations, education and research.
Dr. von Heydebrand serves as Icons of Change SDG 5 Ambassador for Switzerland, bringing her experience in international advocacy, institutional representation and education to the advancement of Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
Her international responsibilities include serving as Executive Vice President of the International Alliance of Women, Main Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Representative to UNESCO and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Through these roles, she contributes to international dialogue and institutional engagement on issues concerning women's rights, equal opportunities and women's participation in decision-making processes.
Her work reflects the importance of sustained institutional engagement and international cooperation in addressing barriers to equality and strengthening women's representation across public, professional and international spheres.
Beyond her international responsibilities, Dr. von Heydebrand is a lecturer at IBZ Schulen AG, where her educational work represents another dimension of her professional engagement. Her academic and intellectual interests are also reflected in her published works, which address historical, political and institutional subjects.
Her publications include:
Die Ermitage in Arlesheim. Ein Paradies im Grünen (Schwabe Verlag, Basel / Berlin, May 2025).
Stimmrecht und kantonale Autonomie: Allgemeines und gleiches Stimmrecht am Beispiel der Nordwestschweizer Kantone (Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, Basel, April 2019).
Her publication on voting rights and cantonal autonomy examines questions surrounding universal and equal suffrage through the example of the cantons of Northwestern Switzerland, contributing to wider discussions on democratic participation and institutional development.
___
Advancing Sustainable Development Goal 5
Sustainable Development Goal 5 calls for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Its objectives extend beyond the formal recognition of equal rights to include meaningful participation, equal opportunities, leadership representation and the removal of structural barriers.
Dr. von Heydebrand's international responsibilities and professional engagements align with these broader objectives, particularly the importance of women's representation in international institutions and inclusive participation in decision-making.
Advancing Women's Rights, Gender Equality and Inclusive International Decision-Making
Icons of Change International Awards 2026
The Icons of Change International Awards 2026 recognises Dr. Sibylle von Heydebrand for her professional contributions to women's rights, gender equality and international representation, acknowledging her engagement across international organisations, education and research.
Dr. von Heydebrand serves as Icons of Change SDG 5 Ambassador for Switzerland, bringing her experience in international advocacy, institutional representation and education to the advancement of Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
Her international responsibilities include serving as Executive Vice President of the International Alliance of Women, Main Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Representative to UNESCO and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Through these roles, she contributes to international dialogue and institutional engagement on issues concerning women's rights, equal opportunities and women's participation in decision-making processes.
Her work reflects the importance of sustained institutional engagement and international cooperation in addressing barriers to equality and strengthening women's representation across public, professional and international spheres.
Beyond her international responsibilities, Dr. von Heydebrand is a lecturer at IBZ Schulen AG, where her educational work represents another dimension of her professional engagement. Her academic and intellectual interests are also reflected in her published works, which address historical, political and institutional subjects.
Her publications include:
Die Ermitage in Arlesheim. Ein Paradies im Grünen (Schwabe Verlag, Basel / Berlin, May 2025).
Stimmrecht und kantonale Autonomie: Allgemeines und gleiches Stimmrecht am Beispiel der Nordwestschweizer Kantone (Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, Basel, April 2019).
Her publication on voting rights and cantonal autonomy examines questions surrounding universal and equal suffrage through the example of the cantons of Northwestern Switzerland, contributing to wider discussions on democratic participation and institutional development.
___
Advancing Sustainable Development Goal 5
Sustainable Development Goal 5 calls for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Its objectives extend beyond the formal recognition of equal rights to include meaningful participation, equal opportunities, leadership representation and the removal of structural barriers.
Dr. von Heydebrand's international responsibilities and professional engagements align with these broader objectives, particularly the importance of women's representation in international institutions and inclusive participation in decision-making.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:04Distinguished guests, fellow awardees, ladies and gentlemen, it's a great honor to address
00:11you today as part of the Icons of Change International Awards 2026.
00:17As a lawyer and legal scholar with a particular focus on political rights and as an advocate
00:24for women's rights, I have spent much of my professional life thinking about rights.
00:30Who has rights? And perhaps most importantly, who has the power to turn rights on paper into rights
00:39in real life? A girl may have a right to education, but what does the right mean if she cannot
00:47go to
00:47school? A woman may have the right to vote, but what does that mean if women remain underrepresented
00:57where political decisions are made? Rights are the foundation. Participation gives them a voice
01:06and implementation gives them meaning. This is at the heart of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its
01:1517 Sustainable Development Goals. And particularly, Sustainable Development Goal 5. Achieve
01:24gender equality and empower all women and girls. If we want to change the lives of women tomorrow,
01:32we must look at the lives of girls today. And we must take seriously one of the central
01:39promises of the 2030 Agenda. Leave no one behind. There has been progress.
01:48Globally, girls have made remarkable gains in education. But global progress can hide deep
01:54regional inequalities. In sub-Saharan Africa, girls are still more likely than boys to be out of school
02:02at every level. And behind these global realities are individual lives. A girl with a name,
02:11a girl with abilities, a girl with hopes, a girl with a future. Empowerment begins in childhood,
02:21with education, with the knowledge that your body belongs to you, and with the confidence that your voice
02:28needs matters. Let me tell you about a girl named Olipa. Olipa is a grade 7 student in Zambia.
02:38When she has her period, attending school can become difficult. Her school lacks adequate toilets and
02:46washing facilities, there is no running water, and menstruation remains surrounded by taboo.
02:54Girls in her situation may miss up to six days of school every month because they fear embarrassment,
03:02mocking, or bullying. It is not menstruation itself that keeps a girl at home. It is the barriers around
03:13menstruation that keep her at home. International Lines of Women, an umbrella organization with member
03:20organizations on five continents, developed the grassroots project Water and Paths for Schoolgirls,
03:28addressing barriers faced by schoolgirls in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,
03:35including the persistent taboo surrounding menstruation. The project provides age-appropriate
03:43education on menstruation, hygiene and sexual health increasingly involving boys as well as girls.
03:52We must change the environment around them, break the taboos, involve boys, support teachers,
04:01and enable girls to remain in school. Her education and ultimately her economic independence is at stake.
04:11Water is also at the heart of another established initiative in which International Lines of Women is involved. The Hydrology
04:21training project for Africa in cooperation with UNESCO. International Lines of Women currently coordinates the
04:31Mauritanian component together with local partner organizations. Think now of a woman in Mauritania.
04:40Through specialized training in hydrology, she can acquire practical technical skills in water management.
04:50Knowledge that strengthens local expertise and supports sustainable access to water in her community.
04:58Education creates knowledge. Knowledge builds capacity.
05:04And capacity enables people and communities to shape their own future.
05:12Education and knowledge can empower women and girls, but empowerment also requires rights.
05:19And rights require law. Legal frameworks can secure voting rights, equal access to education,
05:27and protection against discrimination and violence.
05:31But rights on paper are not enough. Women and girls must be able to exercise them in real life.
05:40As a lawyer, I have worked extensively on political rights and democratic participation.
05:47Democracy did not automatically include women. Women had to claim their place in democracy.
05:56Political participation today is about more than the right to vote.
06:00Who sits in parliament? Who speaks? And who is missing when decisions are made?
06:08This is why good practices matter. What works?
06:13Participatory budgeting can bring more women into local decision-making by giving them a direct voice in how public money
06:22is spent.
06:23Electoral quotas can give women a real chance of being elected.
06:28And when fathers take a meaningful share of parental leave, care becomes more equally shared.
06:37Identify the barrier. Remove the barrier. And participation becomes possible.
06:44This brings me to the third element I consider essential.
06:51Inclusive international decision-making.
06:54Inclusion is about more than who is sitting in the room.
06:58It is about whose experiences reach the room.
07:02Whose voice is heard in the room.
07:05And whose perspective influences the decisions that leave the room.
07:11International Alliance of Women was founded in 1904,
07:17originally as the International Women's Suffrage Alliance.
07:22Political participation is therefore part of our DNA.
07:26Today, our member organizations work at the grassroots level across continents.
07:33While our representatives bring civil society perspectives into international institutions.
07:40We connect the local with the global.
07:45A girl like Olipa, missing school because of the taboo surrounding menstruation.
07:50Or a woman in Mauritania gaining the knowledge to manage water in her community may never sit in a United
08:00Nations conference room.
08:02But their experiences belong in that room.
08:06For me, that is what inclusive international decision-making means.
08:11For me, that is what is in the United Nations, connecting voices with influence,
08:15rights with participation and international commitments with the realities of people's lives.
08:22gender equality is not a special interest
08:27it is a human rights issue
08:30it is a democracy issue
08:32it is a justice issue
08:35and it's a peace issue
08:39my credo is simple
08:41what unites us, not what divides us
08:45we may come from different countries
08:49and political traditions
08:50we may disagree about many things
08:53but surely we can agree that a girl should be educated
08:59that she should not be married as a child
09:02or subjected to violence
09:05and that her voice should be heard
09:07when decisions about her future are made
09:10this is what leave no one behind
09:13must mean in practice
09:15a responsibility
09:19change does not always begin with something spectacular
09:23sometimes it begins with a law
09:27sometimes it is a vote
09:29sometimes it is a seat at the table
09:32and sometimes it begins with a girl like Olipa
09:36we are simply able to stay in school
09:39that is how women's rights become reality
09:42that is how gender equality becomes possible
09:46that is how participation becomes influence
09:50and that is how inclusive decision making creates
09:55lasting change
09:57what unites us
09:59not what divides us
10:01thank you
10:02thank you