More than 100 political leaders of the Americas will meet at the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank on Nov. 13 to seek creative solutions to the major economic and social problems of Latin America and the Caribbean and to analyze the implications of new women’s leadership in promoting democracy and governance in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The event will take place beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Bank’s Andrés Bello Auditorium on the 9th floor of IDB headquarters at 1300 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
The conference, titled "Politics Matters: A Dialogue of Women Political Leaders," is sponsored by the IDB in collaboration with the Inter-American Dialogue, the International Center for Research on Women, and the Women’s Leadership Conference of the Americas (WLCA). Among those attending will be cabinet ministers, legislators, and leaders representing a broad political spectrum of the Western Hemisphere.
The meeting will be inaugurated by IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias and by Lourdes Flores Nano, representing the WLCA. Ana Milena Gaviria, WLCA coordinator, will present the agenda for debate, which will include economic and political policies, risks and opportunities for democracy, and governance.
The leaders of two of the largest cities in Latin America, Rosario Robles, mayor of Mexico City, and Marta Suplicy, the recently elected mayor of São Paulo, will participate in the dialogue, along with Billie Miller, deputy prime minister of Barbados; Dulce María Sauri, president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party of Mexico; and legislators Elisa María Carrió of Argentina and Yeda Crusius of Brazil.
Also participating will be Chilean Planning Minister Alejandra Krauss; Guatemala's Culture Minister Otilia Lux de Coti; former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan; former Colombian Foreign Minister María Emma Mejía; and Ecuadorian legislator and indigenous leader Nina Pacari.
The women leaders will discuss such themes as fighting poverty, inequity, and corruption and will explore ways to sustain economic growth.
In the afternoon session, Mayra Buvinic, chief of the IDB Social Development Division, will present for debate results of a Gallup poll on public attitudes toward women in positions of power. The data – gathered in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, San Salvador and São Paulo --will show trends and identify opportunities to broaden the role of women political leaders in the region.
On Nov. 14 a press conference on the meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the headquarters of the Inter-American Dialogue, 1211 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 510, Washington, D.C., to discuss the results of the Gallup poll. The press conference will be opened by IDB Executive Vice President K. Bruke Dillon and will be attended by prominent women political leaders, including Billie Miller, Marta Suplicy, and Rebeca Grynspan.