According to Anne Hidalgo, Mónica Fein, Célestine Ketcha Courtès and Ada Colau of The World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) in 2017, in an article titled "Women mayors are ready to stand up and be counted,"
The first woman mayor in the Austrian Netherlands was Catherine Malotteau, who served as mayor of Namur between 1734 and 1749.