Thirty-sixth session of ECLAC

Paola Bustamante Suárez is a Peruvian lawyer and has been Peru’s Minister of Development and Social Inclusion since 2014.

She has had a long career as an adviser to high-level executives in the public sector and in international negotiations, as well as in the design and implementation of social programmes and projects.

As a public servant, she began her career at the Ministry for Women and Human Development in 1997. She has also served as an adviser to the Deputy Minister for the Promotion of Employment and Micro and Small Enterprises at the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion.

She has also acted as an adviser to the Vice-Ministry for Social Development of the Ministry for Women and Social Development (now the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Populations), and between 2008 and 2011 was Director of Management and International Negotiations for the Peruvian Agency of International Cooperation (APCI).

Between 2012 and 2013 she was the Executive Director of the National Food Assistance Programme (PRONAA) and headed the special commission responsible for closing down this programme.

Before becoming Minister for Development and Social Inclusion, she was the Deputy Minister for Social Benefits, responsible mainly for the social programmes run by this ministry.

She graduated in Law from San Martín de Porres University and has a master’s degree in Public Administration and Management from Spain’s National Institute of Public Administration and Alcalá de Henares University.