Speaker Information

Opening Session

Jacqueline O’Neil

  • Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, Canada

    Congratulatory Remarks

    Jacqueline O’Neill is Canada’s first Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security. Appointed by the Prime Minister in 2019, she advises the Government of Canada on strengthening its global leadership on Women, Peace and Security and the effective implementation of the National Action Plan on WPS.

    Throughout her career, Ambassador O’Neill has supported the creation and implementation of national strategies and policy frameworks for more than 40 countries, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the United Nations. She helped establish the field of women, peace, and security and its application in governments, security forces, and multilateral organizations.

    As President of the Institute for Inclusive Security, she directly supported coalitions of women leaders in Colombia, South Sudan, Sudan, Pakistan, and beyond. Through this work, she advocated for women’s meaningful inclusion in 6th International Conference on Action with Women and Peace peace negotiations, security forces, national political dialogues, and policy making. In her role with the Institute, Ambassador O’Neill advised the Government of Canada on the country’s first (2011-2016) and second (2017-2022) national action plans on women, peace, and security.

    She worked at the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan and at Khartoum’s Ahfad University for Women. Along with former Lt. General Roméo Dallaire, she helped found the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative to eliminate the use of children during conflict. Prior to that, she was a policy advisor to Canada’s Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region. She was a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, and a member of the board of directors of the Canadian International Council.

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