- 30 years have passed since the Beijing Declaration, the major international agreement that marked a turning point in the fight for gender equality.
- Public and private sector representatives reflect on the Beijing Declaration’s legacy and two fisherwomen entrepreneurs share their experiences at the event: “Mujeres al timón: tres décadas de progreso y desafíos en la igualdad de género” (Women at the helm: three decades of progress and challenges in gender equality).
- Female entrepreneurship is growing in Spain: at 20%, it stands slightly above the European average of 17% (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, GEM). Latin America is the most entrepreneurial region in the world, with a 21% rate of business creation by women, according to the same study.
- More than half of the women in Spain who have chosen to become entrepreneurs had to “make a living” (National Office of Entrepreneurship, ONE).
The flames devoured everything and Dania Riquelme, a fisherwoman from Punta Lavapié, Chile, lost her business and her home two years ago. Today, Dania is not only back to fishing, but she has also started an online shop where she employs local women: ‘At the beginning I didn’t understand much about the Internet or social networks, but I trained myself and lost my fear of it. If I could do it, everyone can’, says this entrepreneur who was one of the protagonists of the event “Mujeres al timón: tres décadas de progreso y desafíos en la igualdad de género” (Women at the helm: three decades of progress and challenges in gender equality), organised by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF), in Madrid.
Dania shared the stage with Verónica Cazorla, a Galician fisherwoman, who also fought for her space in a sector that is still highly masculine. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: in the last 10 years, between 85% and 90% of jobs in fisheries nationally have been held by men. But this did not hinder Verónica who, through hard work, has become one of the few female skippers in the Vigo estuary. Like Dania, she has never given up in the face of adversity. A few months ago a health problem took her away from the sea, but while she recovers, she has opened a chiropractic clinic in the port of her city to help sailors treat the injuries caused by their work: “While I can’t go out to sea, at least I want to help those who can”, she explains. Like her, more than half of the women in Spain have chosen entrepreneurship to “earn a living”, according to the National Office of Entrepreneurship (ONE).
Entrepreneurship is key to women’s economic empowerment. However, the United Nations reminds us that there is still a lot to be done: 51% of countries still have laws that prevent women from accessing certain jobs; in Latin America one of every two women is still outside the labour market and in Spain there is still a long way to go as the percentage of male-led initiatives with a seed capital of more than 100,000 euros doubles that of women, according to ONE. This is a worrying reality: the gender gap in access to finance. “Women need access to finance, skills training and support networks to be successful entrepreneurs and to succeed. At BBVAMF, 7 out of 10 entrepreneurs who rose out of poverty in 2024 were women. We support them with financial and non-financial services designed especially for them, with a gender lens”, says Laura Fernández Lord, Head of Sustainability, Equality and Inclusion at BBVAMF. The Foundation serves 1.7 million vulnerable women entrepreneurs in five Latin American countries. Some of its initiatives were presented in a panel of experts that took place at the same event. Representatives from the public and private sectors also reflected on the legacy of the Beijing Declaration, the major international agreement signed by almost 200 countries 30 years ago, which marked a turning point in the fight for gender equality.
Thirty years of progress… and a gap that is yet to be bridged
Data show that although the progress made in three decades has been significant, it is still not enough: 119 million girls are still out of school, 10% of women in the world live in extreme poverty and if nothing changes, it will take 137 years to close the gender gap, according to UN Women.
“It is essential to strengthen public policies that promote decent employment and access to financing, as well as others aimed at increasing their participation in political and business decision-making bodies. Substantive equality remains a historical debt. Beijing+30 reminds us that it is not only a pending objective, but an indispensable requirement for the fair and sustainable development of our societies”, said Andrés Allamand, Ibero-American Secretary General.
For his part, the Director of AECID, Antón Leis, also reminded about the importance of continuing to promote women’s empowerment: “The protection and promotion women’s and girls’ rights is a priority for AECID and Spanish Cooperation, which defines itself as feminist cooperation. The political, economic and social empowerment of women is not only a matter of justice for 50% of humanity, but also a powerful engine for development, prosperity and well-being for all.”
The event concluded with a speech by Ana Mª Alonso, Ambassador-at-Large for Feminist Foreign Policy, who underlined Spain’s key role in international cooperation for equality and highlighted the importance of listening to the testimonies of women like Dania and Verónica.
The waves of inequality still hit hard, but women like them are fearlessly rowing towards a fairer future.
