Although they represent 52% of the electorate, women were about 15% of the total number of councilors elected in municipal elections in Brazil in 2020, pointed out activist Patrícia Zanella in the first day of debates at the Summit of Democracy, an event organized by the US government.
The meeting will be attended by leaders from 110 countries, who will give speeches on Thursday (9) and Friday (10). They will also participate in closed virtual meetings and public debates, with experts and activists.
Zanella, 25, is the only Brazilian participant at the event, apart from president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), according to the official agenda disclosed so far. She was chosen for this year’s edition of the Hurford Youth Fellowship program, aimed at young political leaders and offered by the Washington-based World Movement for Democracy initiative.
This Thursday morning, she was in a virtual debate on how to increase the presence of women in public office. “in my state [São Paulo] a candidate for the Legislative can spend R$ 2.5 million in five days of campaigning. How can a young woman without access to financial resources face these millionaires?”, she asked.
According to TSE data, 651 mayors were elected in 2020 (12.1% of the total) and 9,196 councilors (16%).
A resident of Jardim Rosa, near Horto Florestal, in the north of São Paulo, Zanella has been a member of Rede Sustentabilidade since she was 19 years old. She ran for election in 2018, running for the position of federal deputy, and in 2020, for councilor. In the first election, he got around 10 thousand votes, with intense use of social networks to campaign. She advocates more rights for women and the LGBTQIA+ population, as well as more environmental actions.
Criticizing Bolsonaro on his social networks, Zanella did not mention the president during the event. Then, in an interview with leaf, questioned his participation in the Summit. “It doesn’t make any sense for him to be there, too bad he has so much room to shame our country.”
Graduated in international relations at the Catholic University of Santos, the Brazilian said that she will continue participating in elections and that she intends to run for some position in the 2022 elections, but it still depends on the party’s definitions.
Zanella shared the Summit panel with Nelly Mutti, president of the Zambia National Assembly, and Myanmar activist May Sabe Phyu. The same session, at another table, was attended by Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, and Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative.
Andersson said that Sweden has had governments with gender parity – the same number of ministers and female ministers – since 1994, and that the country places equal opportunities for women as a priority. “It makes no sense, economically or otherwise, to leave half of the population without active participation,” said the governor.
Tai, a member of the Biden government, announced two new measures: a program to foster the political participation of women, including young people, and another to combat gender-based violence, especially in the digital environment. Both proposals must have international reach.
On Wednesday (8), the US government released more details on the agenda of the Summit of Democracy. The event will open with a speech by Biden at 8:00 am (10:00 am in Brasília). Then, there will be two hours of closed virtual meeting between country leaders, the first hour being led by Biden and the second under the command of Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission (executive arm of the European Union).
Meanwhile, videos recorded with speeches by world leaders will be shown via the internet, in which they must state their commitments to strengthen democracy. Until the publication of this report, only the list of countries that would have their videos shown on Thursday (9) had been released, and Brazil is not in it. The list of Friday (10) is still being elaborated.
Between 10:30 am and 1:45 pm (local time) on Thursday, there will be open panel discussions on how to strengthen democratic resilience, restore institutions after the pandemic and fight corruption. Discussions will be attended by some presidents, attorneys general and experts. No Brazilians were listed.
On Friday, the activities begin at 6:00 am (8:00 am in Brasília), with a speech by Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the UN. Then, there will be debates about protecting human rights, fighting authoritarianism and using technology. At 1:30 pm, Biden will have a closing speech.
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