TOKYO & ONLINE: On 30 July, UNU will host a BIG IDEAS Dialogue with Melba Pría, Ambassador of Mexico to Japan.

Time

30 Jul 2024, 18:00 – 19:00 Asia/Tokyo

On 30 July 2024, UNU will host “The SDGs, Inclusion and Gender Equality in Mexico”, a BIG IDEAS Dialogue with Melba Pría, Ambassador of Mexico to Japan. This hybrid event (online and in-person) will start at 18:00 on Zoom and in the 1F Annex Space at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.

Mexico has made efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a particular emphasis on equality and well-being, while emphasizing inclusion of all and leaving no one behind.

As part of these efforts, Mexico has not only institutionalized the achievement of the SDGs at the national, local and municipal levels, but has implemented an innovative approach to convey the relevance of the 2030 Agenda and achieve its compliance as a collaborative task by multiple stakeholders. This is making the fulfilment of these international commitments a shared responsibility and is widely democratizing knowledge about the SDGs.

In doing so, Mexico has achieved notable progress on several SDGs through public policies and the implementation of key programmes with a gender perspective between communities, civil society, the private sector and the government. These programmes have positively impacted youth job training, and entrepreneurial, craft and agricultural sectors.

Ambassador Melba Pría will join UNU Senior Vice-Rector Sawako Shirahase to explore how these programmes are helping to ensure women have equal participation in decision-making processes, greater economic autonomy, equal access to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) opportunities, and increased control over productive resources, particularly in indigenous communities.

About the Speaker

Melba Pría has been Ambassador of Mexico to Japan since June 2019.

Previously, she served as Ambassador of Mexico to India (2015–2019) and Indonesia (2007–2015).

Ambassador Melba Pría is a professional public servant who has served in Mexico’s public and private sectors for 40 years. The main themes of her work are embracing political and developmental objectives that address issues relating to poverty, identity, tolerance, and marginalized and ethnically-differentiated communities. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she has worked in areas that promote the inclusion of different stakeholders in international affairs; the development of the Ministry’s relationship with civil society at home and abroad; and with issues relating to the Mexican diaspora’s rights in their countries of reception.

Ambassador Melba Pría was born in Mexico City, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, two Masters Degrees in Public Policy and International Studies and a postgraduate degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. She has studied both in Mexico and abroad. She has published books and publications on issues of diversity and public policy.