On Thursday, August 26, through the Zoom platform, was the inauguration of the cycle of webinars Gender Equality: Progress and Challenges, of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the Mercosur and Associated Countries (EFSUR). This first meeting was called “Women and Leadership: Challenges for Equal Participation,” with the participation of the highest authorities of the SAIs of the region, and was attended 371 people from all over Latin America.

It was highlighted by the attendance of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Paraguay and president of EFSUR, Dr. Camilo Benítez Aldana; the Auditor General of the Nation of Argentina in charge of the Executive Secretariat of EFSUR, Mr. Graciela de la Rosa; and the Comptroller General of the Republic of Peru and president of OLACEFS, Econ. Nelson Shack Yalta. Also attending, Minister Ana Arraes, president of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU-Brazil); Comptroller Susana Diaz, president of the Court of Accounts of Uruguay; Comptroller Diana Marcos, Minister of the Court of Accounts of Uruguay, and the Deputy Comptroller General of the State of Ecuador, Eng. Sonia Sierra.

During the opening of the event, the Comptroller of Paraguay, Dr. Camilo Benítez Aldana stated: “We are convinced that women and girls are no longer willing to be left behind in participating in these issues.” In addition, he highlighted the commitment to promote the cause of reducing the gender gap as a cross-cutting goal of the 2030 Agenda. On the other hand, the Comptroller General of Peru, Econ. Nelson Shack Yalta, stressed the importance of achieving equality between men and women in all auditing entities’ positions, which will allow leading by example and advancing in the fulfillment of SDG 5 on Gender Equality.

Then, the panel presentations began, where the first to speak was Minister Ana Arraes, president of the TCU of Brazil, on the topic “The role of women in politics.” Minister Arraes realized the importance of protecting and accompanying women with laws, so that they can prosper in their professional and political training and in turn, seek to end family and economic violence, two of the most common causes of inequality suffered by women.

Meanwhile, in panel 2 “Women and the Pandemic” Controller Susana Diaz, president of the Court of Accounts of Uruguay, said that the pandemic revealed the need to implement public policies that assist the women most vulnerable to inequality. It was followed by Controller Diana Marcos, Minister of the Court of Accounts of Uruguay, who presented the results of a survey carried out in Uruguay, with the support of UNDP, on the pandemic’s differential impact between men and women. Next, in panel 3 “Audit and Gender,” Eng. Sonia Sierra from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Ecuador referred to the important commitment to have more and more women occupy decision-making positions, which will represent the path to excellence and professionalism.

At the close of the event, the Argentine auditor Ms. De La Rosa stated that “gender equality is a fundamental premise for audit institutions.” And she argued that one of the fundamental challenges faced by EFSUR is to audit the feminization of poverty as a historical axis that affects all women throughout Latin America, through the coordinated audit on SDG 1 End of poverty from a gender perspective.

The cycle of webinars Gender Equality: Progress and Challenges will have a second meeting on September 30, which will address the 2030 Agenda and the gender perspective through the different control experiences in the SAIs of the region. More information at efsur.org