For Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez, providing economic opportunities to women is one of the priorities that not only the Government, but also the State, must have. In dialogue with Portfolio, the official highlighted the actions that have been promoted for this purpose, and the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the reactivation.
(Why does the Vice President believe that women manage better?).
What balance do you make of the Government’s Equality Policy for Women?
We have put on the agenda the strategic role of women as protagonists of economic reactivation. For the first time, Colombia has a gender equity policy in its Development Plan. I am convinced that women with economic autonomy are less vulnerable to domestic violence and violence of any kind in our society. Our great legacy is to consolidate Colombia as a nation of women entrepreneurs.
We have already supported more than 840,000 rural and urban entrepreneurs. We created three innovative instruments by law: the Women Emprende Fund with a capital of $56,000 million; With Colombia Compra Eficiente we achieved that in public purchases there are differential criteria to prefer women-owned companies as state suppliers, when the products are equivalent in quality and price to those of other companies; and royalty resources can be used to support female entrepreneurship. My obsession is for women to have large-scale production companies that export and create jobs.
(‘We have a commitment to peace’: Marta Lucía Ramírez before the UN).
The goal of this policy has been to generate more opportunities for all women in Colombia, and for the first time, all departments have a gender equity chapter in their development plans and there are 17 departmental women’s secretaries.
How can the inclusion of women in the labor market be promoted?
To continue closing the employment gap, for the first time a tax reform has a woman’s stamp. The Social Investment Law included incentives to maintain and create jobs. The Formal Employment Support subsidy (PAEF) is continued: 40% for men and 50% for women, thanks to which during the pandemic we managed to retain a third of formal female employment. And to generate new employment, a payroll subsidy of 25% for young people and 15% for women over 28 years of age was established, with which it is expected to generate nearly 350,000 new jobs in 2022.
How are the 22 pacts for growth and job creation progressing?
They have been fundamental in giving a break and a new breath to the productive sectors of the country. As of September 2021, 94.4% of the actions established for that year had been fulfilled, representing 81% of the total 907 commitments.
These agreements have been key to exceeding the growth goal. On average, the Pact sectors have grown 14.2%, above the average for the entire economy. These positive results translate into more jobs, more exports, more production. We continue to carry out very important coordinated work with the private sector, through our Agreements, and with this we have surpassed the production goal that we had at the beginning of this year.
What role has the Foreign Ministry played in the reactivation?
It has been key. In the first place, on the trips I made, I obtained nearly 10 million doses of vaccines. On the other hand, one of my first purposes upon reaching this position was to focus on a strategy of economic diplomacy, focused on strengthening ties with our historical trading partners, such as the United States, Latin America and Europe, which were affected after the pandemic. , but more importantly, continue to open the door to new destinations where Colombia and its goods and services are gaining prominence, such as India, Morocco, Korea, Spain, Italy, Japan, among others. I asked all the ambassadors to assign a liaison person with the private sector to support our businessmen where there are no Procolombia offices.
In addition, our efforts are also leveraged by the internationalization mission, launched in August, which precisely seeks the greater insertion of Colombia through short, medium and long-term strategies. We have an action plan with about 170 actions for this purpose.
Some citizens argue delays in the issuance of passports, how is the operation?
During the years prior to the pandemic, the different service channels for the process (consulates, governors’ offices and headquarters in Bogotá) handled more than one million passports per year. However, the normal procedure for issuing passports suffered the effects of the measures adopted to contain the spread of the virus, so that in 2020, the issuance of passports was 408,371. In 2021, the progressive return to normality generated an increase in the demand for the procedure, and currently citizens can request an appointment through the Foreign Ministry page and more than 3,700 appointments are being made available daily.
By 2022, the Ministry seeks to implement strategies that allow expanding the offer of services to normalize the procedure, among which are new service modules, extended hours and the promotion of the best use of appointments; since about 30% of the appointments granted show lack of attendance.
LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
