Thirty-sixth session of ECLAC

Luiza Carvalho, from Brazil, has been the Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) since November 2014.

The promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women has been a constant theme in her extensive career in the United Nations system, the public sector and academia. Before joining UN-Women, she served as Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in the Philippines (2012-2014), a position from which she directed the response of the humanitarian system to Typhoon Haiyan, the most destructive ever recorded.

Between 2008 and 2012, she was Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Costa Rica, where she worked with the government on the formulation of national policy on public safety, ensuring that it incorporated a strong gender perspective to guarantee the rights of women and girls, and particularly the right to a life free of violence. Previously, she was UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (2005-2008) and Coordinator of the Sector Policy Unit (2002-2005) and Programme Officer (1999-2001) of UNDP in Brazil.

Before joining the United Nations, she worked in the government of the Federal District of Brazil for over 15 years, promoting social development in suburban areas of the Brazilian capital, conducting fieldwork and later acting as Programme Supervisor and Adviser to the Planning Department of the Federal District government.

In the academic sphere, she has a track record as a teacher and researcher at the Norte Fluminense State University (1996-1999) and the University of Brasilia (2000-2003). She is the author of a number of publications dealing with gender, female-headed households and social policies. She holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Essex (United Kingdom) and a master’s degree in Planning and Social Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom). She graduated in Administration of Public Policies for Employment Generation from the University of Campinas (Brazil) and in Planning and Administration from the University of Brasilia.