Today the National Women's Commission, along with the Mexican Embassy, hosted a presentation and discussion on Mexico's Feminist Foreign Policy. The presentation was delivered by the Mexican Ambassador to Belize, Ana Luisa Vallejo Barba, and highlighted how feminist foreign policy can advance gender equality and the meaningful participation of women in leadership.
Following the discussion, we spoke with Ambassador Barba:
Ana Luisa Vallejo Barba, Mexican Ambassador to Belize
"We want to work in transactional, intersectional topics, the gender has to be everywhere in every topic and that's the way that we are proposing to talk about trade and women in trade, conflicts, we talk about the involvement of women in all those areas and I think it's very important to be aware that we are more than half of the population of the world, we need to be really talking about us and the role that we are playing."
Ana Luisa Vallejo Barba
"In practice, as I said in the presentation, we have been working in special quarters for Mexican women getting into the foreign policy career and also in every step of the career we are getting more spaces for women. In the highest level, we are trying also to get some kind of equality because the difference is huge, is one of the main objectives to get some better numbers on that."
Rossana Briceno, Special Envoy for Families and Children
"I think it's very important at this point because Belize has done a lot of work when it comes to including women, working against violence, eliminating domestic violence so with a foreign policy that Mexico already has in place for feminism that's a whole next level that I know that we are ready for that, I believe we are. Yes we need to put everything in place but I honestly feel that Belize is ready for that."
Rossana Briceno
"I think we've been doing a lot of that, it's just not on paper, it's just not in policy but I think that's why the Women's Commission is working on policy because that's what they're supposed to be doing, putting policy in place, advocating for policy, but a lot of the things like being inclusive, opening up Parliament for example. We are at 12.5% we still have a way to go, Mexico has 18.5% I believe but that's a big gap but we're in there, we're stepping in there, we're making ourselves known. It's not that we're, I hate to use the word fighting, but we have to push ourselves in there and we are making strides so can we do more? Yes we can."
