Women diplomats criticize government for few appointments to consulates abroad

The Association of Brazilian Women Diplomats (AMDB) criticized, this week, the most recent appointments made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Brazilian consulates in other countries, which had no female representative chosen for the posts. In a note released last Wednesday (21), the organization states that women occupy only 12.7% of designations for leadership in the current management of Itamaraty.

The new appointments were made to consular missions in Barcelona, ​​Canton, Buenos Aires and Tokyo.

According to the association, Itamaraty has appointed only six women since the beginning of the year, against 41 men for Brazilian missions abroad. The index is lower than that registered until last year, of 14.2%. The organization claims that, with this week’s nominations, the index will have risen to just 15.2%, still below expectations.

“The Board of AMDB goes public to express its deep frustration with the lack of commitment of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) with the promotion of an institutionalized gender policy within the body, in particular with regard to the occupation of leadership positions in Brazil and abroad”, says the association (see in full).

The AMDB claims that the appointments go against the grain of what Minister Mauro Vieira promised at the beginning of the year when he took office, that a policy of diversity and inclusion would be implemented at Itamaraty – more specifically the expansion of the presence of women in leadership positions.

The association says that the act contradicts Vieira’s own speech in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he would have reiterated the “commitment to the promotion of diversity, in order to reverse the logic of inequalities, historically reproduced by Brazilian society”.

“The appointments made by the current management of the MRE for leadership positions abroad and even at the State Secretariat in Brasilia reflect a clear mismatch between words and actions. After almost six months of management, the women diplomats are still waiting for measures that reveal an effective commitment to promoting gender equality and, above all, respect for the professionalism and dedication of women in the Brazilian diplomatic career”, completes the note.

A study carried out by the AMDB itself points out that there is a kind of “glass ceiling” at Itamaraty that prevents women from advancing in the hierarchy, stating that 2/3 of them end their careers at intermediate levels.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the group’s criticisms until the close of the report.