Woman of the Decade

Rosalía Arteaga, former president of Ecuador, president of the Foundation for the Integration and Development of Latin America and honorary academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors-Barcelona 1914 (RAED), has been recognized with the title of Woman of the Decade in the Women’s Economic Forum held in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) last August for her social work and their outstanding step in Ecuadorian and Latin American politics. The winner gave the conference “Mujeres en la política y la administración pública” (Women in politics and public administration), which took as axis the status of being the first female president and constitutional vicepresident of Ecuador and minister of Education. In addition, she made a wake-up call for the governments of the region to invest in the training of their citizens and guarantee equal opportunities.

The academician took advantage of her participation in this international meeting to motivate young people to continue strengthening their leadership through ethics and good business practices and shared with the attendees her experience as the main mentor of the Leadership School of the Foundation for Integration and the Development of Latin America, in which young people are trained to become agents of change with democratic values for five years. The Foundation is a non-governmental organization that works for national and international development in terms of cooperation. It also works to improve the national and international education system through the empowerment, training and recognition of teachers in initial, basic and high school education.

The Women’s Economic Forum was attended by more than 1,300 women from different latitudes to discuss women’s empowerment in different sectors of the economy and their inclusion in all aspects of life. “It has been an excellent opportunity to develop networking, build alliances, plan things together”, Arteaga said after its conclusion. The event is the only regional forum focused on the economy of women and has been held for the first time in Latin America. It has more than 500 regional chapters, 150 participating countries and a global chamber made up of 50,000 members. This meeting, held annually in New Delhi, seeks to support and pursue initiatives for the economic progress of women and was born as an initiative of a young Indian woman, Harbeen Arora.

Doctor in Jurisprudence and Anthropology, Arteaga adds to her dedication to politics her passion for education and a vast career as an essayist and poet who has been recognized internationally. The honorary academician of the RAED actively participates in multiple forums and courses on both shores of the Atlantic and she is an international benchmark in the fields of education and sustainable development. She has participated in the main activities organized by the Royal Academy since she was named honorary academician in 2016.