The RE-WIRING project is proud to share that its coordinator, Prof. Linda Senden, Professor of European Law at Utrecht University, has been nominated by the Women’s Council Netherlands to serve as the UN Women’s Representative for 2026. With this nomination, she will join the Kingdom of the Netherlands Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in September/October 2026.
The Women’s Council Netherlands is the umbrella organisation representing groups committed to strengthening the position of women across the country. Prof. Senden’s nomination reflects her longstanding expertise in European gender equality law and her national and international engagement in promoting structural change for women’s rights.
A vision aligned with the global agenda
For years, Prof. Senden has focused on legal protection and enforcement in the field of gender equality, advocating for a broader and more systemic approach. She argues that legal mechanisms often place a disproportionate burden on individual women and girls experiencing discrimination, inequality, or violence, while insufficiently recognising or addressing the patriarchal power structures that underpin such experiences.
This perspective aligns closely with the upcoming priority theme of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), to be held from 9–20 March 2026 in New York: “Strengthening access to justice for all women and girls.”
Message to global leaders
In her statement to the UN General Assembly, Prof. Senden will emphasise the need for a fundamental shift: moving from a system that relies heavily on individual claims to one in which governments bear greater collective responsibility. She will call for states to proactively combat structural discrimination and gender-based violence by fully meeting their constitutional and international obligations to achieve equality.
Grounding global advocacy in local realities
In preparation for her UN statement, Prof. Senden is engaging in conversations with women’s organisations, women’s centres, and other civil society groups throughout the Netherlands. These dialogues aim to gather concrete examples of barriers to justice, which will form the foundation of her advocacy at the United Nations.
About Linda Senden
Prof. Linda Senden is Professor of European Law at Utrecht University and a leading expert in European gender equality law. She is the research leader of the Horizon Europe RE-WIRING project and co-coordinates both the gender wing of the European Equality Law Network and the Gender, Diversity and Global Justice Platform at Utrecht University.
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