Power of Women strengthens engagement through CSW70 and recent meetings in Germany
- Editorial Team SDG16
- May 20
- 3 min read
Published on 20 May 2026 at 07:08 GMT
By Editorial Team SDG16
Power of Women continues to expand its profile as an initiative focused on female leadership, inclusion and the development of collaborative networks through music and media. The organisation defines its mission as uplifting and uniting women leaders and girls, while fostering a global community able to act collectively in support of peace and well-being.
In this context, Power of Women presents a vision in which women and girls are given the opportunity to step fully into leadership, and in which their contributions are recognised and represented more fairly across society. Its work is shaped by values such as reflection, recognition, respect and collaboration, which the organisation identifies as central to its approach.
According to its institutional information, Power of Women carries out its work through projects and initiatives that use music, storytelling and media as tools to educate, inspire and amplify female voices across different fields. The organisation also states that it was launched on 22 February 2022 under the leadership of Shenali Rajaratnam, alongside Burchin Kurkcuoglu and Ashley Portillo, as an initiative of We Are The Hope.
This work has recently gained further visibility through the organisation’s participation in CSW70. The official NGO CSW70 Forum presents this edition as a global gathering for gender equality, held in New York from 9 to 20 March 2026. Among its principal areas of focus were access to justice for all women and girls, including the promotion of inclusive and equitable legal systems, the removal of discriminatory laws and practices, and the need to address structural barriers.
The forum also maintained a review theme centred on women’s full and effective participation in public life and decision-making, together with the importance of eliminating violence as a condition for advancing equality and empowerment. In this setting, Power of Women’s presence appears consistent with its broader commitment to female leadership, cultural transformation and digital inclusion on the international stage.
Its 2025 programme further reflects this direction. Presented as an effort to advance female leadership and digital inclusion globally through technology, storytelling, music and digital media, the initiative places particular emphasis on peace, prosperity and sustainability, while also seeking to create wider spaces for participation and dialogue.
Alongside this international engagement, Shenali Rajaratnam recently visited the Global Society Institute at the Wälderhaus in Germany, following an earlier visit to the Institute’s location in Tarifa, Spain. During her time there, she met with Rüdiger Kruse, Barbara Makowka, Beatrix Palt and Christoph Geisler to discuss how future European engagement around Power of Women could be further developed and supported through stronger networks.
According to the information provided about the visit, the meetings addressed concrete next steps, follow-up discussions and possible future events. They also led to agreements aimed at strengthening collaboration with the Global Society Institute in both Hamburg and Tarifa.
The visit therefore marked a further step in building a basis for international cooperation between the two sides, with particular attention given to dialogue, leadership and the development of broader European engagement for Power of Women.
This recent exchange also comes at a time of growing international coordination. In this context, Shenali Rajaratnam and Christoph Alexander Geisler have also confirmed their collaboration in coordinating the preparatory process for the civil society component of the G20 Summit in the United States in 2026. That partnership reflects a shared intention to support international dialogue, strengthen civil society engagement and contribute to a broader exchange of ideas and initiatives ahead of the summit cycle.
Taken together, Power of Women’s participation in CSW70 and Shenali Rajaratnam’s recent visit to the Global Society Institute point to a period of steady development for the organisation. Through its combination of cultural engagement, female leadership, media work and international cooperation, Power of Women continues to shape a wider role within contemporary conversations on equality, representation and global civil society.
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