Markelda Montenegro de Herrera (born 1957) is a Panamanian social scientist working on human rights and gender inequality, and has served as Minister for Women.

Early life and education

She was born on 30 January 1957 in

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

, Chiriquí Province, Panama. She has a degree in law and political science (1987) and a master's degree in education (2013), both from the

University of Panama The University of Panama ( es, Universidad de Panamá) was founded on October 7, 1935. Initially, it had 175 students learning education, commerce, natural sciences, pharmacy, pre-engineering or law. , it had 74,059 students distributed in 228 b ...

Career

Montenegro's research has focused on human rights and gender inequality, including projects such as "Keys to success for quality education, gender inequality in access to elected office" and "Factors involved in femicide in Panama, in indigenous women Ngäbe- Bugle and Afro-descendants ". She has taught at the

on topics involving law, gender and human rights, and has worked in other areas such as the country's community library program, the promotion of citizen participation, and gender training. She was a member of the commission, which redrafted Panama's criminal code to recognise femicide. Montenegro was the first director general of the Panamanian Instituto Nacional de la Mujer (National Institute for Women), elected in 2009. She is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de Ciencias Sociales (CENICS). She was elected a vice-president of the

Inter-American Commission of Women The Inter-American Commission of Women ( es, Comisión Interamericana de Mujeres, pt, Comissão Interamericana de Mulheres, french: Commission interaméricaine des femmes), abbreviated CIM, is an organization that falls within the Organization of ...

(CIM) for 2013–2015. In 2014 the

Central American Parliament The Central American Parliament ( es, Parlamento Centroamericano), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City. History ...

(PARLACEN) declared her to be an "Outstanding Woman" in recognition of her work for the women's rights in the region.

Selected publications

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References

External links

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ORCID record
1957 births Living people Women government ministers of Panama Government ministers of Panama University of Panama alumni Panamanian social scientists 21st-century Panamanian women politicians 21st-century Panamanian politicians {{Panama-politician-stub