Benedicta Lasi elected first African woman Secretary General of the Socialist International

A lawyer, Ms Benedicta Lasi, has been elected Secretary General of the Socialist International at the 26th Congress of the Socialist International (SI) last Friday

Ms Lasi, a notable member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) succeed Luis Ayala from Chile.

By the election, she had set a remarkable three-pronged record as the first woman, first African and youngest person to be elected to lead the 132 member organisation, at age 35.

She would be leading the organisation with the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, who has been elected to serve as President of the Socialist International.

Delegates from over 100 member parties across the world participated in the election in Madrid, Spain, as part of the 26th Congress of the organisation.

Prior to the election, the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, expressed his confidence in the candidacy of Benedicta Lasi for her portfolio during his address to the Women’s Congress.

Furthermore, Ms Lasi joined the Spanish Prime Minister during interactions with members of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party and the Presidium of the International Union of Socialist Youth, where she previously served as Vice President from 2016 – 2021.

 With these relations, both leaders have demonstrated their mutual commitment to duty and good prospects of fruitful working relations for the years ahead.

The Socialist International is a worldwide organisation of political parties, which seeks to establish democratic socialism and realise the ideals of socio-economic solidarity, environmental and socio-cultural justice across the world.

It was formed in 1951 to replace the Labour and Socialist International and currently includes 132 member parties and organisations from over 100 countries across the world, which identify with social democracy, socialism, democratic socialism or labour-centred politics.

Ms Lasi would be succeeding Luis Ayala from Chile to serve a full four-year term as Secretary General while Pedro Sanchez would succeed former Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou as President of the organisation.

Notably, the current Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres served as President of the organisation from November 1999 to June 2005.

The SI has its headquarters in London in the United Kingdom (UK).

She has a Master’s in Economic Policy Management from the University of Ghana and a Master’s in Conflict, Peace and Security from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.

As an astute lawyer within the party, she is the Chair of the NDC’s Eastern Regional Legal Team.

BY TIMES REPORTER

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