Debora Lepre
Ambassador, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna
Debora Lepre

As a founding member of the Italian Women Diplomats Association, I have been a strong advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout my career. I am not afraid to be ambitious and I firmly believe that women can and should achieve as much as men. It is key to show the new generations that there is a different, fair and constructive way for women and men to contribute together to the transformative processes of our societies.

Through joint efforts and constant commitment, we can make it here with the Vienna-based Organisations. As an International Gender Champion, I will strongly engage to promote a credible change.

I support the IGC Panel Parity Pledge.

I support the IGC gender-based violence pledge.

Personal Commitments

Building on the achievements already made, I pledge to further strengthen the Italian Government’s support for women’s empowerment policies promoted by the Vienna-based Organizations (VBOs), advocating the crucial importance of providing both political and financial support. I remain particularly committed to fostering opportunities for talented young women, with a particular focus on promoting their participation and success in STEM fields, thereby empowering the next generation of female leaders.
Advancing the UN agenda on gender equality will remain a priority of my mandate. This commitment will be reflected into concrete actions, including: promoting gender mainstreaming across all VBOs programs; allocating sufficient human resources to gender policies within the Permanent Mission, ensuring Italy’s active participation in all the “Group of Friends of Gender”, leveraging every opportunity where Italy assumes a leading role - such as its co-chairmanship of the Group of Friends of Food Security and the outgoing presidency of the UNIDO General Conference- to advocate for gender equality.