María Emma Mejía Vélez

Ambassador María Emma Mejía addressing the Second Commanders of the Colombian Armed Forces for the entering into force of the Agreement between Colombia and the United Nations to become Troops Contributing Country for Peacekeeping Operations. New York, April, 2018.
María Emma Mejía Vélez
Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations
In office
18 February 2014 – 1 October 2018
Preceded by Néstor Osorio
Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)
In office
9 May 2011 – 11 June 2012
Preceded by Néstor Kirchner
Succeeded by Alí Rodríguez Araque
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia
In office
July 1996 – 25 March 1998
President Ernesto Samper Pizano
Preceded by Rodrigo Pardo García-Peña
Succeeded by Camilo Reyes Rodríguez
Minister of National Education of Colombia
In office
July 1995 – July 1996
President Ernesto Samper Pizano
Preceded by Arturo Sarabia Bette
Succeeded by Olga Duque de Ospina
Colombia Ambassador to Spain
In office
May 1993 – May 1995
President César Gaviria Trujillo
Preceded by Ernesto Samper Pizano
Succeeded by Humberto de la Calle Lombana
Personal details
Born (1953-09-27) 27 September 1953
Medellín
Spouse(s) Alberto Casas Santamaría
Children Pedro Lucas Caballero Mejía
Residence Bogotá

María Emma Mejía Vélez (born 27 September 1953) is a Colombian politician, diplomat, and journalist. She was the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations to the United Nations in New York. She served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations -UNASUR, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Education, and Ambassador of Colombia to Spain. She has been a member of the Foreign Affairs Advisory Commission of Colombia since 1999. Mejía Vélez also ran for Vice-President and Mayor of Bogotá.

Biography

After graduating from Universidad del Valle and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana as a journalist, Mejía Vélez enrolled in cinematography and television studies at the BBC in London, where she later worked in the Latin American Radio Broadcast Service. Her first public post was as the Director the Cinematographic Company (FOCINE) where she successfully achieved greater State support for the Colombian film industry.

In 1990, former President César Gaviria Trujillo named her as the Head of the Presidential Advisory Office for Medellín, where she gained national recognition for her social work in the most violent territories under the control of the drug cartel of Medellín.

In 1993, Mejía Vélez became the first woman to be the Ambassador of Colombia to Spain. In 1995, as the Minister of Education, she designed and implemented the first Colombian Ten-Year Education Plan and issued the Manual of the Child written by the Nobel Prize- winning Gabriel García Marquez. As Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1998, she was also the first woman to be designated as the Minister in Charge of the duties of the Office of the President. In 1999 she took part in the peace process with FARC and in the special commission for the ELN guerrilla groups.

From 2003 to 2011, Mejía Vélez worked as Executive President of Barefoot Foundation, a charity founded by the Colombian singer Shakira and was part of its Board of Director until 2014, when she was appointed by former President Juan Manuel Santos Ambassador to the United Nations in New York. In 2011, she was appointed Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), where she led institutional strengthening through the creation of twelve sectorial committees, including the South American Defense Council, to address the most relevant issues among its Member States.

Mejía Vélez served as Chief of the Organization of American States (OAS) Electoral Observation Mission in Paraguay in 2009 and Costa Rica in 2010. In the United Nations she was Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the vice-presidents of the 70th session of the General Assembly and also the Chairperson of the 71st session of the Third Committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural affairs.[1] Additionally, she co-chaired, along with Vladimir Drobnjak, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia, the Ad-Hoc Working Group for the Revitalization of the General Assembly.[2]

Permanent Representative of the Colombian Mission to the United Nations in New York

María Emma Mejía addressing a debate on gender parity at the United Nations in New York

Mejía Vélez was appointed by former President Juan Manuel Santos as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotenciary and Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations in February 2014. She finalized her term in October 1, 2018[3] During the course of her more than four years before the diplomatic post, she was activielty involved with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals SDG, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (Addis Ababa Action Agenda)[4], the reform of the selection and appointment process criteria of the United Nations Secretary-General, the establishment of a first Special Political Mission in Colombia[5], as a result of the Peace Agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP), among many other achievements in a context of a very active cycle of reforms of the Organization.

Group of Friends in Favor of a Woman Candidate for Secretary-General of the United Nations

The Group of Friends in Favor of a Woman Candidate for Secretary-General of the United Nations was a cross-regional initiative consisting of 56 United Nations Member States promoting the idea that the time for a woman to hold the highest position at the United Nations had come.

Mejía Vélez, in her capacity as Permanent Representative of Colombia, led in the spring of 2015 a group of like-minded countries to form a "group of friends" who would pursue to update the terms of reference for the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General. This goal was achieved through negotiations within the Ad Hoc Working Group for the Revitalization of the General Assembly and its landmark resolution 69/321 "Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly."[6] Adopted by consensus on 11 September 2015, operatives paragraphs 32 and 38 modified the seventy-years old language to explicitly call for "Member States to consider presenting women as candidates for the position of Secretary-General."[7]

In late 2016, the Group transitioned[8] into a new and expanded phase for women leadership at senior level positions in the United Nations, for which it changed its name to Group of Friends for Gender Parity.

Group of Friends for Gender Parity in the United Nations

In Spring 2015, the Group of Friends in Favor of a Woman Candidate for Secretary-General was established with the intent of promoting qualified female candidates for the role of United Nations Secretary-General.

The collective efforts, voice, and commitment of the Group decisively shaped the process of selecting the new Secretary-General. A historic number of women candidates were nominated, and for the first time, the race for Secretary-General featured more women than men.

The Group looked for building on the momentum created by the campaign leading to the appointment of the new Secretary-General in 2014 by using its visible platform, unique and expansive networks, to shine a light where current gender imbalances within the United Nations existed, and where the representation of women could be improved.

As a result, Secretary-General António Guterres, from the moment he took office, expressed his commitment to “present a road map for gender parity at all levels, with clear benchmarks and timeframes within the next mandate, giving priority to senior staff selection.”

To reflect the new advocacy agenda, the Group chamged its me accordingly to the [[Group of Friends for Gender Parity[[. The Group was mindful of the strategy and commitments made towards achieving gender parity, particularly in senior positions, laid out in the vision statement and during the Informal Dialogues by the Secretary-General Guterres. The Group stood ready to support and work with Mr. Guterres to promote women’s participation and advance women’s leadership across the UN system[9]. In order to achieve it, the Group fostered open discussions on the necessary steps required to realize this goal. The Group also emphasized the required steps needed to be taken towards achieving gender parity, with the ultimate goal of improving the current imbalance of women in senior leadership and comply with the extensive legal basis within the UN Mandate on Gender Parity[10] in United Nations Leadership to do so. The UN’s Membership has a crucial responsibility in promoting this noble principle for the advancement of women in our Organization. Realizing gender parity in the UN system remains the fundamental goal of the Group, and a challenge that the UN can achieve through.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.un.org/en/ga/third/
  2. ↑ http://webtv.un.org/%C2%BB/watch/ad-hoc-working-group-on-the-revitalization-of-the-work-of-the-general-assembly-during-the-72nd-session-thematic-debate-selection-process/5771966122001/?term=?term&lan=english
  3. ↑ http://es.presidencia.gov.co/normativa/decretos-2018/decretos-agosto-2018
  4. ↑ https://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AAAA_Outcome.pdf
  5. ↑ https://unmc.unmissions.org/en
  6. ↑ https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/69/321
  7. ↑ http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2015-09/in_hindsight_the_process_of_selecting_a_un_secretary-general.php
  8. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/10/world/americas/united-nations-gender-equality.html
  9. ↑ https://www.un.org/gender/content/strategy
  10. ↑ https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sgsm18363.doc.htm
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