For the first time, a woman has been elected PACE Secretary-General

For the first time in the 72-year history of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a woman has been elected Secretary-General.

According to the PACE official website, as a result of the January 26 election, Despina Chatsivasilu-Tsovilis will henceforth hold that post. She will take office on March 1 and is elected to that position for a five-year term, replacing Polish politician Wojciech Sawicki.

As a result of electronic voting, 96.46% of the voters, or 240 out of 300 participants voted for the female candidate. Her only rival was the incumbent secretary, for whom 60 deputies voted.

 After her election, Despina Catsivasilu-Jovilis thanked the members of the Assembly for their support.

According to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the Secretary-General ensures the proper functioning of the PACE, implements its decisions, and coordinates the work of the committees. She heads about 90 staff secretariats, assists the President  Assembly members in carrying out their work, and ensures the proper conduct of parliamentary processes.

Despina Catsivasilu-Jovilis has been working in the Parliamentary Assembly for 21 years, she has chaired the Monitoring and Political Affairs Committees. She started her career in 1993 in the European Council, in the European Commission of Human Rights.

She holds a Ph.D. in Law and received her degree from the European Institute of Human Rights in Florence, Italy.

Despina Chatsivasilou-Tsovilis was born on February 28, 1967, in Athens, Greece. She is married and has two children.

It should be noted that today four of the 17 PACE Vice-Presidents are women from the Czech Republic, France, Lithuania, and Greece. There have been precedents when the female representatives of the Armenian delegation were elected PACE Vice President. In 2017, Arpine Hovhannisyan was elected, and before that Hermine Naghdalyan was elected to the same position.

Today, two of the eight members of the Armenian delegation to the PACE are women: Naira Zohrabyan (Prosperous Armenia) and Tatevik Hayrapetyan (My Step). The head of the delegation is Ruben Rubinyan.

Full text in Armenian