Brazilian diplomacy wants to end the male, white and father-to-son label

In an attempt to more representatively reflect the reality of one of the most heterogeneous countries in the world, Brazilian diplomacy began to make a series of moves to expand the diversity of its staff. The distance between the objective and the reality, however, is still long.

The predominant profile in the career, according to experts consulted by the Sheet, is that of the white, upper-middle-class man who, in large part, already has some prior knowledge when he takes the public exam, inherited, in part, from a relative who works in the area. This has been going on since the time of the Baron of Rio Branco (1845-1912), patron of diplomacy.

​ Rafaela Seixas, 35, from Salvador, a woman, black and with no family relationship with the sector, is an exception in her career, in which the female presence represents only 23.1%. In April 2022, the staff of 1,540 Brazilian diplomats is divided between 356 women and 1,184 men, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The number is more balanced in other positions.

Currently, Rafaela works as second secretary in Brasília. She started her career in 2016 through the Affirmative Action Program of the Rio Branco Institute, in which she won one of the scholarships offered annually to black and brown candidates.

She studied in private schools in Salvador on a scholarship and ended up opting for law to enter a public university, as her mother, Bernardete, 72, did not have the money to pay for a foreign affairs college. In the course, a professor in the field of international relations later signed a letter of recommendation for an exchange scholarship in Paris.

“I saved money for three years to pay for my stay. I even sold sururu broth on the beach, while studying French in a self-taught way.” Today, Rafaela speaks four languages ​​and studies German and Arabic.

She says she wants to see the number of black women increase. But there is no official register of employees based on criteria that go beyond gender. In a note, Itamaraty reported that “Brazilian legislation prohibits public bodies from requiring that civil servants share information about race, ethnicity, color or sexual orientation.”

But data from the ministry show that 56 candidates who identified themselves as black entered the diplomatic career between 2002 and 2021. The figure adds up to the 20 scholarship holders of the affirmative action program, implemented in 2002 during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB) administration, and the 36 approved since the beginning of the quota law, conceived in 2015 in the government of Dilma Rousseff (PT), which reserves 20% of the occupations offered to black candidates at all stages of the contest.

The genre in Itamaraty (April 2022)

Source: Itamaraty

Diplomat profile

Due to lack of empirical data, a study commissioned by the ADB (Association of Brazilian Diplomats) at the end of 2021, which should be ready at the end of this year, aims to map the diversity in the country’s diplomatic career in aspects such as gender, race and sexual orientation.

​”It is not possible to say if there is diversity without information. The objective of this mega-study is to make course corrections, since without data we are talking about the ‘chutometer'”, says ambassador Maria Celina Azevedo, president of ADB. “Diversity should be a reflection of society.”

Even acknowledging a notable recent advance, she sees the number of women, especially black women, still below the ideal – according to the IGBE, 56.2% of the population declared themselves to be black or brown in 2019.

Diversity, in the ambassador’s view, would even have the benefit of keeping the peace. “Everything that enriches an exchange of experiences contributes to representing your country more accurately. It is an exchange for society. Diversity makes it possible to expand dialogue and, consequently, have fewer wars.”

Daughter of Ambassador Jayme Azevedo Rodrigues, Maria Celina followed in her father’s footsteps in the early 1970s. But the then diplomat, who was offering classes to a student trying to get into the profession, lectured his own daughter when he learned of the decision. “He explained to me that this is a sexist world. I said I was sure of the choice, and he spent the weekend telling me about his career.”

Women were prohibited from acting in these positions from 1938 onwards, due to a decree by Getúlio Vargas. The measure was abolished following a lawsuit by candidate Maria Sandra Cordeiro de Mello in 1953, who obtained the right to serve as a diplomat. Since 1954, the contest has been open to all Brazilians, regardless of gender – which initially did not represent more diversity.

According to diplomat Audo Faleiro, the Itamaraty staff has upper-middle class professionals, most of them due to the requirements to enter the career, which demands investment in preparatory courses and study materials. “People from humbler backgrounds find it more difficult to compete on an equal footing [com candidatos de escolas particulares, por exemplo] in a competition that has proof of foreign languages, history, geography and notions of law.”

He highlights the importance of actions such as the granting of scholarships and the quota law to increase diversity and states that, in the case of gender, even if the competition is balanced in the contest, only about 25% of women are approved at the entrance. “It is necessary to understand this bottleneck. There has been improvement, but it is not possible to know how much, because there is no census of this yet.”

Gender in Diplomacy (April 2022)

free mentorship

When she took a course in Brasília to attend the Rio Branco Institute, Rafaela didn’t have the money to rent an apartment near the school or buy a car. “I went to live 10 kilometers from school and bought a cheap bike and went everywhere. I still do that.”

To help people in the same situation, she created the Mentoria Mônica de Menezes Campos collective, which provides free guidance to black women and men who want to enter a diplomatic career. Today, she says that the work is being improved by several hands, as it has 35 volunteer diplomats. Since October 2021, there are already 50 students, 35 of whom are women.

According to Rafaela, the collective obtained R$ 150,000 in scholarships, including language, economics and law classes. Third secretary Fernanda Machry, 31, is one of the volunteers. “The idea is to complement existing programs and boost the approval of black women and men in Itamaraty.”