Take Five: “So many women before me fought their way into the room, which is why I could simply walk in”

Sanjolli Kumari Padhy is a human rights lawyer and youth advocate from India working with The YP Foundation – a feminist youth-led organization advancing health equity and gender justice in India that is a Commitment Maker for the Feminist Movements and Leadership Action Coalition under the Generation Equality Forum. Padhy joined the first-ever Women’s Assembly on 23 June 2026, hosted under the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)’s World Congress and Summit of Local and Regional Leaders in Tangier, Morocco. Supported by WYDE Women’s Leadership, the Women’s Assembly created a space for women leaders across generations and regions to collectively shape a more inclusive political future.

What inspired you at the first-ever Women’s Assembly?

What inspired me is the radical hope and the resistance that women are really fighting towards. And the power they brought into the room. I’m getting goosebumps even speaking about that, because today there was political representation from so many countries and cities that I had never heard of. So, I think it’s beautiful to see so much power and so much diversity in one space. But now the main issue is: from representation to participation!

How do women’s leadership and participation impact governance?

Nothing about us without us, right?

When you have not lived my life, nor had my experiences, so how do you get to decide what policies and laws will govern me, what public local services would impact my life and the quality of life I have, and the generations after me?

I come from India, which is why I speak about social norms. But now that I am here in this space, I see that every woman around the world faces similar barriers, and even more so for gender-diverse people.

So yes, women and gender-diverse people need to be in power, because they can actually understand the lived experiences and then produce policies and programmes that respond to their specific needs.

How can we make sure women and gender-diverse persons participate in decision-making?

I would say the key word here is meaningful participation. Do we need more people in the room who are just going to be very tokenistic in their participation? Or do we need more intentional participation from young people or from women in the room who have the skills to occupy space and add to the policy conversations that are happening?

When people are empowered through skills-building, empowered through opportunities, they go back to their communities and cities and they challenge norms. And when they are in power, they share it.

What role do intergenerational solidarity and mentorship play in advancing young women’s leadership?

The reason I’m standing here is also because of that. So many women before me fought their way into the room, which is why I could simply walk in.

So, I think it’s the cornerstone of our movement to know that there are different people with different experiences, but we bring everyone together and we share power. We share resources.

That is what leads feminist municipal movements and feminist movements and leadership as a whole.

What would you say to other young women who aspire to leadership?

Do it, even if you are scared! I was so nervous because this space is fairly new to me. I’m almost 8,000 kilometres away from home, so it was overwhelming. I almost felt like I couldn’t do it, but I did it – scared – anyway.

So, every time you're scared, every time you feel you're out of place, you’re not alone! I’m with you and many other young women are with you. We got this, and we will do this together.

The Women’s Assembly was organized by UCLG, an implementing partner of WYDE | Women’s Leadership, an initiative funded by the European Union and led by UN Women. WYDE | Women’s Leadership is a collaborative global effort aimed at advancing women’s full and effective political participation and decision-making at all levels, especially those most often left furthest behind.