The Diplomat
The Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and the Carlos III University of Madrid have launched the ‘Voices of Ibero-American Women’ platform, a website whose objective is to “alleviate a deficit of experts in different areas and disciplines, both Spanish and Portuguese speaking, and thus contribute to a more equal society.”
The platform “was created with the objective of increasing the visibility of women in the regional public agenda and thereby contributing to consolidating a more equal Ibero-America,” according to the OEI in a statement.
Through ‘Voices of Ibero-American Women’, she continued, “public and private institutions, as well as companies, media, universities and civil society organizations in Ibero-America will be able to access profiles of women experts in a variety of fields and disciplines of the sciences, arts or humanities.
During the presentation event, which took place yesterday at the Casa de América headquarters in Madrid, the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, assured that the objectives of the platform are aligned with the priorities of the Government of Spain in aspects such as the reduction of social gaps between women and men or the promotion of equality and freedom in the consolidation of a full democracy.
For his part, the secretary general of the OEI, Mariano Jabonero, stated that the underrepresentation of women “constitutes a setback in our society, prevents equity and enhances poverty by dispensing with the talent and intelligence of more than 50% of the population. ”. “There has been historic progress, but we are not yet in a position to affirm that we have real gender equality,” he continued. “The platform will help ensure equal decision-making in the public and private spheres,” he added.
Despite the achievements of the last 40 years, “gaps persist in all dimensions and progress in terms of recognition, redistribution and representation of women as a sexual category with the same dignity and opportunities as the category of men,” warned the OEI.
According to figures from UN Women, “at the current pace, gender equality in the highest spheres of decision-making, for example, will not be achieved for another 130 years, a panorama that initiatives such as the ‘Voices of Ibero-American Women’ platform will contribute. to reduce in the Ibero-American sphere.” “We have to generate evidence of the positive aspects of parity in aspects such as social or economic aspects,” said Irune Aguirrezabal, director of the Ibero-American Program on Human Rights, Democracy and Equality of the OEI and promoter of this platform.
The event ended with the participation of several experts, such as Natalia Rodríguez, president of Saturno Lab; Susana Malcorra, engineer, Argentine diplomat and president of GWL Voices; Cristina Monge, Spanish sociologist and political scientist, and Carmen Calvo, president of the Council of State of Spain. Carolina Marugán Cruz, vice-rector for internationalization of the Carlos III University of Madrid, and León de la Torre, general director of Casa de América, also participated in the presentation of the event.
