The international community celebrates the International Day of Women in Diplomacy on 24 June, recognizing the invaluable contributions of women to multilateral governance, international cooperation, conflict resolution, human rights and more.
However, according to the United Nations, women remain underrepresented among Heads of States and governments worldwide, as well as in diplomatic roles and decision-making processes.
The current Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority has broken the proverbial glass ceiling by becoming the first women ever to lead the ISA since its establishment in 1994. To mark the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, Ms. Leticia Carvalho shares a personal account of the journey that brought her here.
“To be a woman with a career in diplomacy at this moment in history is a challenge – the institutions we are serving are being tested in real time. It can be a lot to carry. But I want to be authentic here and share my own story on this special day. For that, we need to go back in time.
I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and I remember being a five-year-old little girl at the beach, admiring the ocean and its immensity. I was so curious – the ocean was full of things that I could not understand at the time. However, I was never scared of it. I was intrigued by it.
The ocean taught me the first valuable lesson: to always pull towards something bigger than myself. That little girl did not grow up knowing she would one day be the person governing the seabed beneath that water. 54% of the ocean’s vast expanse. The first woman to do it. The first oceanographer. The first Latin American. The first person from the Global South.
I did not have a plan for any of that. But I became an oceanographer and built my career step by step. During the early years, I spent more time at sea than many naval officers mapping the Brazilian continental shelf to define the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone from Uruguay to the Amazon.
Beyond curiosity, I always had a deep sense of responsibility and confidence in my values – values that I learned never to compromise. These leaps of faith eventually took me to the Environment Ministry of Brazil, into the role as lead negotiator for numerous international agreements, then to leading the ocean and freshwater work at United Nations Environment Programme.
In 2024, I was encouraged to run for Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority. I must confess I did not feel ready. But I understood what the job was. The legal complexity, politics, science, the weight of representing 171 Member States and the European Union.
I understood the responsibility of governing a space that, by international law, belongs to all of humanity. Not to the richest countries. Not to the most powerful. To all of us.
This idea, the Common Heritage of Humankind (officially, UNCLOS refers to mankind), is what the International Seabed Authority exists to protect. I understood all of this when I decided to run. And I also understood something else: that there are moments in life where the question is not whether you are ready. The question is whether it is the right thing to do.
I believed that a woman needed to be in that room. That someone from the Global South needed to be at that table. That a Brazilian, a scientist, someone who had actually looked at the ocean and dedicated her life to understanding it, belonged in that position.
I believed all this strongly enough to put my name forward. And we won. A landslide that genuinely surprised many people, including some who had worked very hard to make sure it did not happen.
And this is exactly the kind of moment that tests whether the principles we build together will actually hold. Whether the Common Heritage of Humankind is a living commitment or simply a phrase that powerful actors invoke when it suits them and ignore when it does not.
As soon as my mandate started, on 1 January 2025, I, together with my team, stated that the aim for the ISA was to evolve into an organization that prioritizes transparency, accountability , and inclusivity.
Being ready to stand for your principles and building trust is core diplomacy. It´s a skill and an anchor.
The decisions being made right now, this year, at the ISA, will shape the deep sea for generations. This is what I work on every day.
The frameworks being negotiated today will determine who benefits from these resources and who does not. And how the deep sea is protected and used for peaceful purposes. The principles being debated will decide whether the Common Heritage of Humankind remains a living, enforceable idea or becomes a historical footnote that powerful nations point to while doing whatever they want.
When my time ends, the work will continue. I am deeply conscious of that, which is why I approach every decision I make with the utmost integrity.
I hope my story inspires other women in diplomacy, especially young women who are considering this path, regardless of the organization they serve or the region of the world they come from. But I also hope that it inspires those fantastic young men who also support women in the pursuit higher order goals. There are countless great men who have supported me along the way, my fantastic husband and son included.
My story is one of showing up before always feeling ready. It is a story of building clarity in the middle of chaos. But above all, it is a story of choosing, time and again, to stay the course due to the belief that we all have a critical role to play in ensuring equity, fairness and accountability as part of humanity’s development journey.”
