Address by the Secretary-Gerneral, Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha, at luncheon with women ambassadors resident in Brasília - Brasília, January 26, 2023

Your Excellency the Ambassador of Sweden in Brasilia, Karin Wallensteen, dear host,

Honourable Ambassadors, Colleagues and Friends,

It is with great honour that I speak to you today as the Secretary-General of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil. Following President Lula's guidelines, the Brazilian foreign policy for the next four years will be, above all, a policy that seeks to reinsert Brazil in its region and in the world. A policy that will show a country ready and willing to make its contribution to overcome global and regional challenges, using its relationship with other actors and international organizations to pursue its goals of peace, stability, sustainable development, prosperity, social justice and full respect for human rights throughout the world.

Brazil is ready to rebuild bridges with countries and major international forums, starting with its own South American region and in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, the country will set in motion a new dynamic in the relationship with Africa, Asia and with partners such as Europe, the United States, China and the other members of the BRICS.

Brazilian diplomacy will once again reflect Brazil's position as a large developing country with the largest tropical forest in the world, seeking to contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as part of a development strategy that guarantees income, quality jobs and better living conditions for its people.

We will also renew our commitment to multilateral organizations and try to contribute with solutions to common human challenges: from the fight against hunger to climate change; from assistance to refugees and displaced people to the promotion of human rights; from new threats to peace and security to pandemics and catastrophes; from the risks posed by nuclear weapons to geopolitical tensions between great powers; from trade protectionism against developing countries to the disruption of global supply chains.

Brazil will once again be a voice in favor of the democratic reform of international organizations, starting with the UN Security Council; as well as of an international order based on the rule of law and amicable resolution of conflicts.

Dear colleagues,  

I am very happy to be here today as the first woman appointed as Secretary-General of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. In Brazil, 57% of higher education students and 55% of master's students are women, yet we are only less than one quarter of the workforce in Itamaraty.

As I affirmed in my inauguration speech, I will spare no efforts to show what the Brazilian Foreign Policy gains in multiple dimensions, valuing its female employees and the diversity of its staff. My goal will be to mainstream a gender perspective in all decisions of the Ministry.

We strive for a Foreign Ministry that truly reflects Brazilian society – in gender, ethnicity and regional diversity – so that indigenous and Black women and men from all over the country might realize that yes, they can become diplomats. In our most recent group of diplomats in training, 41% of the class is formed by women, a record for our ministry. Among them, we have women from the five regions of Brazil, including three from the Amazon region. Moreover, eight of the fifteen women approved in the exams are Black. Now, we must work hard to ensure that the 2022 Class of the Rio Branco Institute becomes the rule, not the exception.

Brazil is ready to join forces with other countries in this endeavour to raise awareness that true peace and prosperity cannot be achieved unless it encompasses all people and genders; that women and girls must be able to enjoy human rights fully; that sustainable development requires the participation of all; and that women and men must have the same power to be at the forefront of policymaking, to shape society and their own lives.

Dear Ambassadors,  

As I move towards a conclusion, I would like to thank Ambassador Wallensteen for organizing this luncheon. Being herself a former State Secretary, she has made a major contribution to her country's foreign policy and is, as you all are, an example of how women can and should hold senior leadership positions in government and discuss issues from security and defence to regional integration, from agriculture to labour policies, from human rights to sustainable development. In less than a year in Brasília, Ambassador Wallensteen has also made significant contributions to the positive and strategic relations between Brazil and Sweden, such as the recent signing of the bilateral Protocol in Defence Related Export Controls. We hope we can continue this fruitful relationship in the following years.

On this note, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere desire to work together with all of you to strengthen our countries respective bilateral relations, as well as our cooperation at the regional and multilateral forums.

Thank you very much.