THE Ministry of Women led, on Thursday (24), in Brasilia, the Ministerial Meeting of Women of BRICSgroup of developing economies countries, which also had the participation of representatives of civil society.
At the event, the following topics were discussed: women, development and entrepreneurship, digital governance: misogyny and disinformation and empowerment of women, climate action and sustainable development.
In making an initial balance of the meeting, the coordinator of the Ministerial Group, the Minister of Women of Brazil, Cida Gonçalves, said that the issues raised by the countries at the table focused on the participation of women in economic development, the inclusion of women in the political, financial and, effectively, public policies of gender equality.
“Brics today represents a significant force for building a new multipolar world order, where global southern voices can be effectively heard. And we women have a key role in this transformation,” said the minister.
Cida Gonçalves added that the expansion of the BRICS group in August 2023 represents the opportunity to strengthen women’s collective voices in international forums and to promote a development agenda that puts them at the center of public policy. “
We believe that the exchange of good practices and the strengthening of strategic partnerships can accelerate progress towards gender equality in all its dimensions. ”
Ministerial Meeting of BRICS Women at Itamaraty Palace – Antônio Cruz/Agência Brasil
Voices
During the opening of the event, the Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC), Macaé Evaristo, defended the strengthening of the agenda of democracy, human rights and multilateralism as a tool of pacification, in view of what she classified as moments of uncertainty and insistence on brute force.
“In this meeting, may we move forward and think as if strategically the BRICS, the areas that are responsible for thinking economic development, south-south strengthening, so that we can advance with a firm presence of women, that we can unite and cease all form of misogyny, violence against women, especially against girls, which we need to be careful.”
In the Itamaraty Palace, Racial Equality Minister Anielle Franco cited UN Women, the United Nations organ for gender equality and women’s empowerment, to state that one in ten women in the world lives in extreme poverty.
During the meeting, Macaé Evaristo defended the strengthening of the agenda of democracy,- Antônio Cruz/Agência Brasil
Anielle argued that the search for solutions for sustainable development and confrontation to various types of violence should be done collectively by countries. “In the world, we are the ones who carry the domestic, family and territorial organization and management. But unfortunately, with more precarious trajectories by the accumulation of oppressions that add up to our bodies, such as racism, machismo and territorial discrimination.”
Brazilian sociologist and first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, recalled speech by Pope Francis, dead on Monday (21), about women, in February this year. “A society that eliminates women from public life impoverishes. Equality of law, yes, but also equal opportunities, equal possibility of progress, because, otherwise, it impoverishes,” the former Catholic Church leader paraphrased.
BRICS
Brazil chairs BRICS in 2025 and adopted the theme by strengthening the cooperation of the global south for a more inclusive and sustainable governance. Composed of 11 countries, the bloc acts as a space for political-diplomatic articulation to promote cooperation in various areas.
The block brings together the original members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and the countries incorporated during the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg (South Africa) in August 2023: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran. the group in 2024.
