Dr. Eng. Boryana Manolova presented the initiatives of the CWBB and announced the Global Forum of Women Leaders 2018 

“Bulgaria is Europe’s number one among women working in the field of information and communication technologies”. This was emphasized by the Chairwoman of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria (CWBB) and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Bulgaria, Dr. Eng. Boryana Manolova, at the Fostering Women’s Empowerment and Leadership: Soft Power, organized by UNESCO. 

A delegation of CWBB was invited to attend the event on 30 June 2017 in Paris. The Forum united nearly 50 prominent personalities and experts from around the world and aimed to become a platform for identifying the most effective ways to empower women and promote them as leaders, building on UNESCO achievements to date.

In her speech at the opening of the conference, the UNESCO Director-General and honorary member of the Council Mrs. Irina Bokova welcomed the Bulgarian delegation. 

Dr. Eng. Boryana Manolova participated in the panel “Women in Business and the Future of Women Leaders”. A great interest among the participants in the international conference caused the presentation of the initiative of the Council – Leadership Academy, as well as the Global Women Leaders Forum, held in May 2016 in Sofia. From the rostrum of Fostering Women’s Empowerment and Leadership: Soft Power Dr. Eng. Manolova announced the next edition of the event in June 2018 and invited the participants to join it.

Lidiya Shuleva – member of the Council and representative of the Bulgarian delegation in the forum, was part of the panel on “Women in politics”. She shared her experience in the field of politics as a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Labor and Social Policy in Bulgaria and was invited to join the Global Women’s Organization – political leaders. 

Part of the ladies who participated in the UNESCO Forum – former Senegal Prime Minister Amina Toure, Dr. Rangita de Silva – Dean of International Affairs at Pennsylvania Law University, Baroness Bihan Kidron, Ambassador Carmen Moreno, and President of the Geneva Call Elizabeth Decry-Warner, were also guests at the Global Women’s Leaders Forum in Sofia last year.

Participants in Fostering Women’s Empowerment and Leadership: Soft Power united in support of the UNESCO Action Plan, which puts gender equality as a high priority.