National Women's Service (Chile)

The National Women's Service (Spanish: Servicio Nacional de la Mujer; SERNAM) is a public service in Chile, a functionally decentralized organization, with its own funding, which is part of the cabinet-level Ministry of Planning and Cooperation under the President of Chile, created January 3, 1991 by the Law N° 19,023, with the goal of promoting the equality of men and women.

National Women's Service
Servicio Nacional de la Mujer
AbbreviationSERNAM
Formation1991
FounderSoledad Alvear
TypeGO
Legal statusService
PurposePromoting the equality of men and women.
Professional title
Servicio Nacional de la Mujer
Location
Region served
Chile

SERNAM's founding mission was to collaborate with the executive in the study and proposal of general plans and measures in order that women may enjoy equality of rights and opportunities with men, in the process of political, social, economic, and cultural development of Chile.

Organization

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The upper-level direction, technical and administrative, of SERNAM is charged to the Director of Service, who has the rank of Minister of State, like an Interior Minister or Finance Minister. Its first Director was Soledad Alvear.

In each of the regions in which Chile is divided a Regional Directorship of the National Women's Service exists with its headquarters in the capital city of each respective region. There are 13 regional directorships.

Minister Directors

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Minister-Director Party Period President
Soledad Alvear Valenzuela DC 3 January 1991 Patricio Aylwin Azócar
Josefina Bilbao Ind 11 March 1994 Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Adriana Delpiano Puelma PPD 11 March 2000 Ricardo Lagos Escobar
Cecilia Pérez Díaz Ind 11 March 2003 Ricardo Lagos Escobar
Laura Albornoz Pollman DC 11 March 2006 Michelle Bachelet Jeria
Carmen Andrade Lara PS 20 October 2009 Michelle Bachelet Jeria
Carolina Schmidt Zaldívar Ind 11 March 2010 Sebastián Piñera Echenique
Loreto Seguel King Ind 22 April 2013 Sebastián Piñera Echenique
Claudia Pascual PC 11 March 2014 Michelle Bachelet Jeria

References

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Further reading

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  • Todaro, Rosalba C (1996). Equal opportunities plan for Chilean women: 1994 - 1999. Chile: Servicio Nacional de la Mujer (SERNAM).
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