August 5, 2022.- On August 5, 2022, the First Ministerial Meeting on Empowerment and Economic Autonomy of Women of the Pacific Alliance was held.
The opening was in charge of Mexico as pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance, in which the Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economy, Luz María de la Mora, and the President of the National Institute for Women, Nadine Gasman Zylbermann gave the welcome highlighting the importance of women’s empowerment and gender equity within the Pacific Alliance.
The meeting was divided into 3 blocks. The first one included the participation of Diana Miloslavich Tupac, Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations of Peru, Gheidy Gallo Santos, Presidential Adviser for Women’s Equity of Colombia, Luz Pascuala Vidal Huiriqueo, Undersecretary of Women and Gender Equity Chile, and Luz María de la Mora, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of Mexico, as well as the moderation of Nicole Bidegain, ECLAC Social Affairs Officer. During this segment, the ministers and deputy ministers highlighted the progress of their countries in promoting gender in economic and commercial matters, and pointed out the challenges that still persist to expand the participation of rural and indigenous women in trade.
The meeting was divided into 3 blocks. The first included the participation of Diana Miloslavich Tupac, Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations of Peru, Gheidy Gallo Santos, Presidential Adviser for Women’s Equity of Colombia, Luz Pascuala Vidal Huiriqueo, Undersecretary of Women and Gender Equity Chile, and Luz María de la Mora, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of Mexico, as well as the moderation of Nicole Bidegain, ECLAC Social Affairs Officer. During this segment, the ministers and deputy ministers highlighted the progress of their countries in promoting gender in economic and commercial matters, and pointed out the challenges that still persist to expand the participation of rural and indigenous women in trade.
Officials from the World Bank, CAF, ECLAC and the OECD participated in the second block, and it was moderated by the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of UN Women, María Noel Vaeza. During this segment, the panelists pointed out the importance of betting on economic and foreign trade policies with a gender approach; and exposed the need to take ambitious actions to close gender gaps. During their presentations, the panelists highlighted that only 11% of women in Latin America export and the importance of increasing this number, pointing out that the participation of women generates a positive impact on exports, on the quality of goods and services, in the quality of work and contracts. Likewise, the urgency of promoting access to digitalization was pointed out, as this is what really allows women to face the world out there world with their enterprises.
For its part, in block 3 there was a dialogue with different rural entrepreneurs from the Pacific Alliance countries. In this segment, attendees had the opportunity to participate and delve into the success stories of the businesswomen present.
At the closing ceremony, the Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs of Colombia highlighted the work of the Technical Gender Group of the Pacific Alliance based on the 2022 Bahía Málaga Declaration to promote greater participation of companies led by women in production chains, with special emphasis on rural women’s enterprises. Additionally, all the countries of the Pacific Alliance were urged to work to create a favorable business ecosystem for women, promoting cooperation between the private and public sectors and collaboration and coordinated work at all levels.
