Michelle Bachelet's appointment to the head of UN Women is the culmination of what was started in Mexico in 1975

 
Mexican Senator Rosario Green served as Foreign Affairs Minister and was the Secretary General of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). She also held the post of United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and was a member of Mr. Boutros-Boutros Ghali's cabinet.

Q : How would you say the situation of women throughout the world has evolved over the years?
R.G. It is interesting to see how women's issues have evolved throughout my political career. I was working as a consultant at the Foreign Affairs Ministry when the first World Conference on Women took place in Mexico in 1975. I was able to attend two major events: the conference and forum of non-governmental organizations that brought together eminent persons such as Susan Sontag. That first Women's Conference and those that followed made it possible for women's issues to be introduced into official UN and government documentation. They led to an awareness that translated into the incorporation of gender issues into all activities. Then came the Beijing Conference, where I would probably have been the keynote speaker as I was at the time UN Assistant Secretary-General and a member of Mr. Boutros-Boutros Ghali's cabinet if I hadn't broken my foot just before. After my recovery, I became Mr. Boutros-Ghali's spokesperson for women's issues.

Q : What is left of that pioneering era?
R.G. The fact that in several countries the question - What impact does that action have on women? - is automatically asked speaks volumes. For example, it is easier today to mobilize men and women against stoning or female genital mutilation. I am very pleased that a Latin American woman, the former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, is at the helm of the new UN Women. A person with such a high political profile will make it possible to tread on areas formerly considered impenetrable. It is the culmination of what was started in Mexico in 1975.

Q : What is the status of women in Mexico?
R.G. In some ways, their status has improved slightly, but that does not hold true across the board. It pains me to see that there are so few women parliamentarians in spite of the fact that the internal rules of political parties clearly stipulate that at least one third of candidates on party lists must be made up of women. Women were elected to the Senate, but once they took up their seats, they applied for leave to be replaced by their substitutes, generally a man. We protested against that move. The alternates of women MPs should be women too to avoid upsetting the gender balance. Moreover, we do not represent even a third of elected officials. It is one thing to include 30% women on party lists, but it is quite another for them to actually be elected. Another humbug is the fact that the bureaux of both chambers still remain very much a men's club. There are no women in decision-making positions and the leaders of the parliamentary groups are always men. They make up the political executive in parliament, where the decisions are taken. The Senate President and Speaker of the House are usually men too. In the Senate, there is not a single woman in an executive post.

Q : Where is progress being made?
R.G. In the family. I believe there is greater equality in the distribution of household responsibilities among young couples. I see that in my son and his generation of 35-year-olds. They change nappies, warm the baby's bottle, feed and take the little ones out for a stroll. That is where change can start. Women in Mexico outnumber men, yet we are not represented in the highest echelons of the executive, legislature or judiciary, or in the economic sphere for that matter, since all of the top CEOs are men. That has nothing to do with laws. Mexico has a very advanced legislation that provides for gender equality. It has to do with old traditions and this absurd machismo that is out of touch with reality. Nowadays, middle-class women work as much as men, many women are heads of household and single mothers are quite commonplace.  

Q : What expectations do you have of political parties?
R.G. I was Secretary General of the PRI, a party where, if the president is a man, the secretary general must be a woman. That rule is respected, but that's about it. Goodwill is just not enough. I demand quotas and I don't agree that quotas put women under pressure because otherwise they couldn't be elected. That is the most macho thing I have ever heard!

Q : Do you think women have a different way of doing politics?
R.G. Yes, from a young age we are used to using our assets to achieve our objectives: our energy, intelligence, intuition, talent, beauty, charm and time management skills. I am not from the political elite, any network or the upper class; I am from the educated class. To succeed, I made good use of the resources I was given through my education, along with an inherent strong character and acquired self-confidence.

Q : What would you say to young women wanting to enter politics?
R.G. Never give up! Have confidence in yourself, believe in your ability to learn and solve problems. Finish your studies, and try to improve yourself in every way. Nobody would believe that I am shy because I have managed to hold very high positions, but each new stage means a complete upheaval for me inside. I put myself to the test. That means acknowledging that I am alone and vulnerable. There is no manual to teach us how to get ahead, that depends on the stuff each of us is made of. You should not be afraid to take up challenges, you should face them head-on. After bumping my head and pulling myself up again, I tell myself it's not so difficult after all.

Q : Yet another challenge: you preside over the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians …
R.G. It was quite daunting in the beginning. None of the Committee's working languages - English and French - is my mother tongue. I decided not to use Spanish because I wanted to take up the challenge of feeling at ease in a language that was not my own and find the best way to express myself. It was a challenge, especially filling the shoes of a powerful and no-nonsense woman like Canadian Senator Sharon Carstairs. I am a Latin American and the Committee examines lots of cases that affect Latin American MPs. Keeping a serious face when talking about cases that break my heart is a tremendous challenge. I have to try and reach out to the emotions of members of an inter-parliamentary assembly on cases of torture, enforced disappearances, assassinations, men and women thrown in jail for no reason at all, cases to which one cannot remain indifferent. To make the IPU Assembly share this concern is a major challenge because I know that if I do, I will win over another ally to my side to champion the cause.

Q : Let's talk about violence against women, in particular in Ciudad Juarez.
R.G. Violence in Mexico is ruthless and mainly linked to drug-trafficking, but also to domestic violence. We have an anti-violence law but the law alone is not the solution. Women are considered so unimportant that they can be punished by death and life goes on and it's considered just as another event. Although it has been proved that a number of deaths in Ciudad Juarez were linked to domestic violence, I am still not satisfied because justice has not been served since the perpetrators are not behind bars.