Since 2023, in possession of the President (PT), 86 women have been promoted for heads of head at MRE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). This is equivalent to the total diplomats who advanced in their careers. Value above the average female representativeness in the field.
The information was obtained exclusively by the Poder360. The complete data will be released by the Ministry on Monday (10.mar.2025), in the 4th edition of the Itamaraty Statistical Bulletin of Women’s Female Participation in the Brazilian External Service.
During the transition from the government of (PL) To (PT), 16 women headed embassies, missions or Brazilian delegations. According to MRE, the number almost doubled until the end of 2024, when there were 29 diplomats ahead of the posts.
Leading positions within the ministry are nominations made by the chancellor. As a result, they are approving the President of the Republic. The appointments are not only technical background, are influenced by confidence and affinity.
For Ambassador Vanessa Dolce de Faria, special advisor and high representative for gender themes, there is progress. The advance culminated in the appointment of Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha for the position of Secretary General of Foreign Affairs. The same goes for Maria Luiza Viotti, The head of Brazil’s embassy in Washington, in the capital of the United States. Rock On January 4, 2023, and Viotti on May 29, 2023.
“We have women today in very important spaces”, said the ambassador in an interview with Poder360. “It wasn’t always like this”.
It wasn’t always like this
On September 1, 1918, the main headlines were dedicated to the high cost of living or the imminent end of World War I. A highlight ran away from the usual in Rio newspapers: “The girl from Itamaraty”Printed the cover of the journal At night ( From the news: PDF – 6 MB).
“Maria José de Castro Rebello Mendes, in 1918, not only became the first woman diplomat, but the first civil servant in Brazil”, explains the Ambassador Dolce de Faria.
The trajectory of women in Brazilian diplomacy was marked by legal restrictions and institutional challenges. Maria José de Castro, for example, was only able to provide the contest after appealing to the court against the ban imposed by then -Chancellor Nilo Peçanha.
Decades later, in 1938, an Oswaldo Aranha decree, then Chancellor of Getúlio Vargas, vetoed women’s entry into his career. The impediment lasted 16 years and was also knocked down by a woman, Maria Sandra Cordeiro de Mello. From 1918 to 1953, only 20 women joined Itamaraty.
The revocation of the Spider Decree allowed a new generation of women to enter diplomacy. With this, Odete de Carvalho and Souza, hitherto legally stagnant, became the 1st Career Ambassador in Brazil and the World, in 1956.
Gateway
Since 1996, the Rio Branco Institute, a gateway to Brazilian diplomacy, has registered the composition, by gender, of its entering diplomat classes.
From 1996 to 2024, women never represented more than 40% of a class. At the beginning of the historical series, it was 29%.
The largest absolute number of women was in 2023, the first year of the 3rd Lula administration. There were 20 students in a class of 50 people.
In 2019, in the 1st year of the Bolsonaro government, the institute registered the smallest number of women among the approved. From the class of 27 third secretaries, only 3 were women.
“3 years ago, gender was a forbidden theme”, Said ambassador Dolce. The movement for the end of the disparity gained space during the current Lula administration.
In January 2023, Brazilian diplomats (Association of Brazilian diplomats). The group already had more than 10 years of operation. An associate of the organization told the Poder360 they didn’t have “Condition or incentive of dialogue on the subject” before the petista’s reelection.
With 258 members, the group’s goal is to promote a more egalitarian and representative Itamaraty. The main goals are parity in diplomacy and the greater participation of women in head posts. 70% of MRE diplomats are part of the organization.
Changes in the diplomatic corps
In his inauguration ceremony as secretary general, Maria Laura da Rocha stated that the MRE should reflect “The face of Brazil”. Ethnicity and gender bulletins about the diplomatic corps show that this is not the case.
Women occupy less than 25% of positions in Itamaraty. Of the 1,576 active diplomats, 366 are women, according to the 3rd edition of the Itamaraty Women’s Statistical Bulletin. THE (PDF – 2 MB) was compiled on August 29, 2024.
According to (PDF – 1,001 KB) from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), women represent more than half of the population: 51.5%. Already men, 48.5%.
In the 3rd edition of the Itamaraty Ethnic-Racial Statistical Bulletin, November 2024, 297 of the total of 366 professionals declared themselves white. 36 as brown; 18 yellow; 13 black; 2 did not inform their race. And the ministry has no active indigenous self -declared diplomats.
According to If it were possible to make a portrait of the “face of Brazil”, this face would be that of a black woman. Black women and self -declared brown are 28.3% of the population.
Affirmative measures
In an attempt to reverse this picture, the MRE launched one (PDF – 4.3 MB), in December 2024, as part of the federal program of affirmative actions. Itamaraty was the 1st ministry to publish its goals and projects.
The document establishes measures such as scholarships for indigenous people, low -income women and other minority groups. However, they are still in planning, according to the report.
Itamaraty has requested the necessary resources from the Ministry of Planning and Budget, and awaits return. Ministries, in turn, depend on the voting of the budget by Congress, which should be held on March 18, 2025.
In a note to Poder360AMDB reported being happy with the goals, but evaluates that it could be done: “The plan recognizes the need to have quota policy in the promotion mechanism, but does not commit to a specific percentage, nor details the means of implementing such a policy.”
Ambassador Dolce de Freitas stated that, in foreign ministries in other countries, gender disparity between diplomats is also a reality.
Chancellery officers escape this world trend: gender distribution is approaching parity, 48% of women and 52% men, according to MRE. Unlike diplomats, which are transferred every 3 years, these employees remain, on average, 5 years in each post.
João Filho, approved in 2024 and 1st Piauiense Official Chancellery of Brazil, said there is “more women, blacks, queers ” in the Chancellery why “It’s very difficult for a minority to focus so much in the CACD.” According to him, stability also explains the greater female participation, as it facilitates the balance between personal and professional life. “Our turnover is much smaller than that of diplomats.”
Ambassador Dolce stated that there was advancement in this MRE management, but the processes operate from medium to long term. For her, the female presence in leadership positions is a factor that directly influences future generations. “When women do not see each other in these spaces, nor do they consider that they can occupy them.”
In a note about Maria José’s approval in 1st place, the At night he wrote: “Feminist is the one who chooses his work. ” Today, March 8, the International Women’s Day is celebrated.
News about Maria José de Castro Rebello Mendes, the 1st Diplomat and Contended Woman of Brazil
This report was produced by the trainees of Poder360 Hadass Leventhal and Pedro Linguitte under the supervision of editor Jonathan Karter.
