Wednesday 27 April, 2016
Información para la Prensa N°: 117/16
Today, at the Palacio San Martín, Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra presided over the ceremony held to join the "Campaign for Gender Parity in International Representation -GQUAL," which is aimed at promoting gender parity in international tribunals and other bodies.
By invitation of the Foreign Minister, the following eight Ministers of Cabinet attended the ceremony and signed the initiative: the Minister of Economy and Public Finance, Alfonso Prat Gay; the Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Santos; the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Jorge Alberto Triaca; the Minister of Modernization, Andres Ibarra; the Minister of Health, Jorge Lemus; the Minister of Culture, Pablo Avelluto; the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Growth, Sergio Bergman; and the Minister of Communication, Oscar Aguad. They were joined by the President of the National Council for Women of Argentina, Fabiana Tunez.
"Argentina's participation in this international campaign contributes to a reflection on female representation at the national level, both in the public and private sectors. It also demonstrates that there is a need to strengthen gender parity, which remains a pending issue. The gender issue is not a concern exclusive to women - it concerns all of us," explained Malcorra, who started her speech by noting that all her colleagues present at the ceremony were men. "However, I like seeing the glass half full, which is why I praise the members of the Cabinet for being aware that, in the 21st century, no challenge can be tackled without involving 100% of the population."
Foreign Minister Malcorra announced that "the commitment assumed by the Argentine Foreign Ministry is not only to join the campaign and ensure more egalitarian international representation and nominations, but also aims at establishing a gender focal point in our own Ministry that will promote a gender agenda and serve as a model and supervisor, ensuring that every decision includes a gender perspective, making us consider whether there is a woman who can fill the position we are deciding upon."
"The issue of making room for women is generally seen as a matter of justice, and it certainly is, since women account for more than half of the population. However, there is a more basic, economic element underlying this issue: addressing our economy from the perspective of only 50% of the market results in deficit. Measures can be much better implemented if we are able to address the entire market. Progress at the national and global levels cannot be fully achieved if part of the population remains excluded in terms of labour, market, consumption or value creation."
Finally, Malcorra recalled that: "When I was in charge of the World Food Programme and food had to be distributed, as a first step we made sure that the food was distributed to female heads of household. In this way, we made sure food reached its destination. In the most violent places, where war had destroyed everything, the last stronghold for a minimum of respect and social support were female heads of household, who ended up being the only support for their families."
For more information on GQUAL, visit:
http://www.gqualcampaign.org/home/
https://www.facebook.com/GqualCampaign/?fref=nf
