Q. What challenges have you faced as a female Ambassador, and how have you overcome them? Do you believe female representation in diplomacy and politics has improved globally?
As a woman and as a public servant, one of my regular activities is to read the findings of the annual WEF Global Gender Gap Index, the longest-running tracking index for closing the gender gap globally across critical areas of women's engagement and is very informative for the work that I do as a diplomat.
Some of the statistics have been encouraging but the overall picture requires all stakeholders to exert more effort to close the gap which according to the 2024 report, will take 134 years to achieve parity or about 5 generations. A tall order for any country. The Philippines is one of the best performers in the Asia-Pacific (3rd after New Zealand and Australia) and has been in the top 10, 20, and 25 globally in the past in closing the gender gap.
But there have been years where our ranking has gone down principally in the field of women's representation in politics. There are fewer women in ministerial-level positions and fewer women being elected to public office. There is a need, therefore, to improve on this and to address the factors which are pushing women away from politics. In 2024 an unprecedented number of elections took place globally and in some countries, women had lower engagements as candidates so this needs to be addressed through education, mentoring, and reforms of systems that do not encourage women's participation.
In diplomacy, however, the Philippines has the highest women to men ratio in Chiefs of Mission positions with 51 percent of women reaching the highest diplomatic rank compared to 49 percent for men. That being said, as a woman diplomat I continue to face challenges. There have been many times, for example, where I have been the only woman in the room during important meetings. However, I learned through the years that a surefire way to overcome this is to prepare well, to study hard, and to know all the issues on the agenda. I have found that if you know what you are talking about, people will listen and respect your contributions.
Q. What policies or social campaigns have been promoted in your country to improve women's rights and leadership?
The Philippines is acknowledged as among the top countries in the Asia-Pacific Region with strong gender and development policies such as the passage of a Magna Carta for Women. One specific policy which has a far-reaching impact is that Gender and Development programs (GAD) are embedded under the law in every branch of government in the Philippines. There is a GAD component for all instrumentalities of government.
Agencies and offices, including our Embassies, are required to allocate 5 percent of our total budgets to GAD programs. This serves to institutionalize GAD sensitivity, consciousness, and advocacy in the public sector and it has likewise been adopted to some degree in the private sector as well. For us at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, it allows us to implement training, learning, mentoring, and other programs on gender and development both with our Korean and international partners and our overseas community.
Q. What advice would you give young women aspiring to leadership positions, especially in international relations?
I always advise young women to study hard, prepare, be engaged and involved, to volunteer early on for advocacies they believe in for greater exposure and awareness on issues, and to interact with different stakeholders coming from diverse perspectives as this is an essential part of any work in international relations.
There is no substitute for studying issues from various angles so that they can appreciate matters more wholistically and can find responsive solutions for all. As women in the field of international relations it is important to build on the special strengths of women -- an attention to detail and empathy for those affected by their work.
Q. There are growing concerns that AI gender bias reflects both technological limitations and deep-rooted societal prejudices. Despite economic and technological advancements, what measures do you believe are necessary to bridge the gender gap both online and offline?
The statistics in terms of the growing AI gender bias and gender gap is quite alarming. In terms of representation alone only 22 percent of the global talent pool in AI is composed of women and of this number, less than 14 percent, are in positions of seniority or at a decision-making level which would have an impact on how AI can bridge the gender gap or how it can perpetuate stereotypes in this new technological field.
As with other sectors there is a need to address this disparity by working on the following critical matters, namely, ensuring greater access to technology for all regardless of gender and it must start early on in the home, in education, in the workplace; mentoring and positive representation of women and girls online, in tech, and offline; and to ensure that various institutions allow for the entry of women in the AI space at all levels so they have a say in gender representation online and offline.
For a special feature to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th, The Korea Herald met with nine female diplomatic envoys in Seoul to hear their opinions on the persistance of gender inequality, AI-driven gender biases and how women's empowerment can be fully realized. -- Ed.
