Jacqueline Pitanguy

Jacqueline Pitanguy, Brazil "A sociologist and political scientist, Jacqueline Pitanguy held the Laurie New Jersey Chair in Women´s Studies at Rutgers University in 1991-92 and currently coordinates the course Saber Medico, Corpo e Sociedade at the Medical School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. From 1986 to 1989, she held a cabinet position as President of the National Council for Women's Rights (CNDM), designing and implementing public policies to improve women's conditions in Brazil. CNDM played a key role in assuring women's rights in the new Brazilian Constitution and in developing programs in the areas of reproductive health, violence, legislation, labor rights, culture and education, black and rural women's rights.

"In 1990, she founded CEPIA - Cidadania Estudo Pesquisa Informação Ação - a nongovernmental organization based in Rio de Janeiro, and has served as its director since then. CEPIA conducts research on gender relations and advocacy work mainly on violence against women, access to justice, and reproductive health. Since 1997 CEPIA has been the co-secretariat of the Civil Society Forum in the Americas, which aims to strengthen civil society, building common strategies among NGOs with different agendas.

"Ms. Pitanguy is a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Commission on Citizenship and Reproduction, based in Sao Paulo. She is a member of the Boards of the Inter-American Dialogue, the Society for International Development, and the Women's Learning Partnership, and is currently the Chair of the Boards of the Global Fund for Women, and of CARE-Brazil, where she recently assumed the presidency. She was also a member of the International Human Rights Council, headed by former President Jimmy Carter, of the International Advisory Group of the MacArthur Foundation, and of the Institute for Education of UNESCO.

"Ms. Pitanguy has published extensively and is frequently interviewed by the national and international media on issues related to women's rights, and participates in numerous national and international conferences. She is fluent in French, Spanish and English. Portuguese is her native language." 


 * Steering Committee, World Movement for Democracy