Isabel Saint Malo

Panamanian politician

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Saint Malo, the second or maternal family name is García, and, for married women, the optional marital name is de Alvarado.

Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado

Saint Malo in 2016

Vice President of Panama
In office
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
President| Juan Carlos Varela
Preceded by| Juan Carlos Varela
Succeeded by| José Gabriel Carrizo
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama
In office
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
President| Juan Carlos Varela
Preceded by| Francisco Álvarez de Soto
Succeeded by| Alejandro Ferrer López
Personal details
Born|

Isabel Cecilia de Saint Malo García

(1968-06-27) 27 June 1968 (age 56)
Panama City, Panama
Political party| Independent
Spouse| Omar A. Alvarado D.
Children| Alberto, Carolina and Julio Raul Alvarado de Saint Malo
Alma mater| Saint Joseph's University B. A. and Nova Southeastern University M. B. A.

Isabel de Saint Malo García de Alvarado (born 27 June 1968) is a Panamanian politician and diplomat. She formerly was the vice president of Panama and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1 July 2014, to 30 June 2019. De Saint Malo ran with elected President Juan Carlos Varela, on the ticket made up of an alliance of the Panameñista Party and the People's Party. She is the first woman in Panama's history elected for this post and the first woman to be appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in Panama.[1]

Saint Malo has extensive experience on the global agenda and is a strong voice in improving human development, gender equality, eradicating poverty, and addressing social inequality. She has led teams, designed strategy and effectively managed major organizations and non-profits. She is an experienced negotiator and dialogue facilitator with capacities for reaching agreements and consensus. She has over 30 years of experience in consulting, development and implementation of public policies in Latin America. She has excelled at academic institutions globally, engaging with students and faculty. She has served on a number of private sector and non-profit boards.

## Personal life and education

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Saint Malo was born in 1968 in Panama City, Panama. She is the eldest daughter of Raul de Saint Malo Arias and Florencia de Saint Malo and has two siblings. She spent the entirety of her elementary and middle school in El Colegio de Las Esclavas del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus before going to Philadelphia's Saint Joseph's Academy to finish high school. Saint Malo went on to graduate from Saint Joseph's University in 1989, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations. She also graduated with a Master in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University, in 1995.[2]

In 1993, she married Omar A. Alvarado D., a Panamanian banker[3] and investor, and has since been married to him. They reside in Panama City, Panama and have three children: Alberto, Carolina Isabel, and Julio Raul Alvarado de Saint Malo.

## Career

[edit]

### United Nations

[edit]

Isabel Saint Malo was the Assistant Resident Representative - Program Manager, a position from where she oversaw a portfolio of more than 60 projects, a total five-year budget of $600 million, and an annual delivery of approximately $100 million. She supervised a team of 25 professionals directly and over 50 executing units; and handled strategic planning, budget, cash flow, quality assurance, and negotiations with government officials, donors, and third parties.[4]

From UNDP, one of Saint Malo's most notable works was when she led the team that designed and led the construction of the Agreements Panama 2000. This agreements served to create the legal and constitutional framework of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). This was a crucial action taken in order to maintain the Panama Canal working properly for the benefit of the country and the international community once the administration of the Canal returned to Panamanian hands after the United States' administration.[5]

### Political career

[edit]

An outsider to politics and the top echelons of government, Saint Malo––an independent––was invited by then candidate Juan Carlos Varela, to run as vice president, under the Panameñista and Popular Party tickets. After much consideration, she decided to accept the invitation due to her conviction on the importance of "not just believing in something, but fighting for what she believed in,"––a phrase that she used during her nomination-acceptance speech. Saint Malo served as a fresh face and a conciliatory figure to an electorate that was tired of the political class, hence gaining voters as they saw an accomplished woman who had never been in government engage in the political arena. Eventually, Varela and Saint Malo won the 2014 elections and were installed into Office inviting civil society leaders and independents to join the Cabinet.[6]

### Vice Presidency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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After winning election, Saint Malo was named Minister of Foreign Affairs and chair of the Social Cabinet, composed of seven ministries responsible for the coordination of health, education, environment, employment, and other social policies and programs focusing on advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's). She drove social policies centered on eradicating poverty and social inequality, including promoting the first National Poverty Multidimensional Index and the design of the first Child and Infant Multidimensional Poverty Index, in collaboration with Oxford University, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and UNICEF.[7]

Saint Maio meets with President of Israel Reuven Rivlin in 2015

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, she successfully implemented the modernization and institutional strengthening of the Ministry, with the objective of encouraging professionalism in Panamanian diplomacy.[8] Saint Malo also led Panama's agenda as a leader for humanitarian response initiatives, including the inauguration of the First Humanitarian Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, partnering with the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).[9]

Saint Malo promoted anti-corruption and transparency efforts at the national level, including legislation reform and ethics training and oversight. She also championed several gender equality initiatives: the Equal Pay Coalition led by the International Labor Organization, UN Women, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); the Gender Parity Initiative;[10] and legislation to ensure 30% female participation at boards of directors.[11]

In June 2017, Ms. Saint Malo was responsible for breaking diplomatic relations with Taiwan, formally the Republic of China, and establishing diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China. Such a transition was a long-awaited step in Panamanian diplomacy due to China's role and importance in the global economy.[12]

### Post-Politics Career

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Upon the end of her mandate as vice president, Saint Malo was invited and selected by Harvard University for a fellowship at the Institute of Politics of the Kennedy School of Government for the 2019 Fall Semester. At Harvard, she led a study group on foreign affairs, immersing on issues of the Global Development Agenda, including sustainable development goals, peace and foreign policy with a concentration on Latin America. She also served as a mentor for students and engaged with faculty members on these issues.[13]

## Awards and recognitions

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For her contributions in building national consensus over two decades, Isabel Saint Malo received the Woman of the Year award in 2012, given by the Panamanian Business Executives Association, APEDE.[14] She was also the first Latin American to be distinguished by the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace of the Hebrew University of Israel, for the role played by the Government of the Republic of Panama preparing the stage for the historic meeting between the presidents of Cuba and the United States, during the VII Summit of the Americas in April 2015.[15] She was honored by the Council of the Americas with the Bravo Award for Innovative Leader of the Year in 2018.[16] Ranked by Forbes Magazine among Latin America's most powerful women.[17]

The former vice president has been a member of different boards of directors including Banco BBVA and Fundación Democracia y Libertad. She was a founding member of Women Corporate Directors Association of Panama; the Global Shapers hub of Panama City––an initiative of the World Economic Forum to develop the potential of young leaders;[18] and was appointed as an expert to the Global Agenda Council on Transparency (2014).[19]

Ms. Saint Malo is a fellow of the Central American Leadership Initiative (CALI) and the Aspen Institute.[20] She is also a member of Global Women Leader Voices for Change and Inclusion, of the advisory board of Women Political Leaders, of the editorial board of Americas Quarterly.[21]

## See also

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* List of foreign ministers in 2017
* List of current foreign ministers

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Isabel de Saint Malo: La vicepresidenta". La Prensa. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
2. ^ "SJU Hosts Vice President of Panama Isabel Saint Malo de Alvarado". Saint Joseph's University. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
3. ^ Sims, Calvin (3 November 1994). "Panama Chief Seeks to Prod The Economy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
4. ^ "De Saint Malo: "No creía en las cuotas de género, ahora soy una convencida"". www.efe.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
5. ^ VILLALOBOS, Tania (5 May 2016). "Isabel de Saint-Malo de Alvarado". Trigésimo sexto período de sessões da CEPAL (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.[permanent dead link]
6. ^ Panamá, GESE-La Estrella de. "Efecto Saint Malo empieza a sentirse en campaña panameñista". La Estrella de Panamá (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
7. ^ "Panamá presenta su primer Índice de Pobreza Multidimensional y adopta la medición anual | MPPN". mppn.org. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
8. ^ "Vicepresidenta Saint Malo de Alvarado considera que Panamá se vio fortalecida por gestión de la Cancillería". ElCapitalFinanciero.com - Noticias Financieras de Panamá (in Spanish). 25 June 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
9. ^ "Inauguración de un centro humanitario en Panamá". UNOPS. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
10. ^ "Transfer of Technical Secretary of the National Council for Gender Parity to CdS". Ciudad del Saber. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
11. ^ "Panamá ya es ley que el 30% de las juntas directivas sean representadas por mujeres". anpanama.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
12. ^ Carrera, Mitizia (15 June 2017). "VICEPRESIDENTA PANAMEÑA CULMINA AGENDA OFICIAL EN BEIJING, CHINA". Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
13. ^ "H.E. Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado". The Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
14. ^ "APEDE entrega Premio a la Mujer Destacada del año a Rachel Perterson – APEDE – Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresa" (in Spanish). 9 June 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
15. ^ "Isabel de Saint Malo". The Dialogue. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
16. ^ "Council Of The Americas Concederá A Vicepresidenta Isabel De Saint Malo Premio Bravo Como Líder Innovadora Del Año". AS/COA. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
17. ^ Solís, Alma (19 March 2018). "Isabel de Saint Malo: Contar con mujeres líderes es un buen negocio". SNIP Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.[permanent dead link]
18. ^ "Panama City Hub". Global Shapers. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
19. ^ Rivera, Diamantina (5 November 2014). "VICEPRESIDENTA Y CANCILLER PARTICIPA EN CONSEJO DE TRANSPARENCIA DEL FORO ECONÓMICO MUNDIAL". Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
20. ^ "Isabel Saint Malo de Alvarado". CALI. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
21. ^ "Editorial Board". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Isabel Saint Malo.

* Isabel Saint Malo de Alvarado, Vicepresidenta de Juan Carlos Varela (Spanish)
* Mujeres en la Vicepresidencia Archived 11 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine (Spanish)

Political offices

Preceded by

Fernando Núñez Fábrega

|  Minister of Foreign Relations
2014–2019  | Succeeded by

Alejandro Ferrer López

Preceded by

Juan Carlos Varela

|  Vice President of Panama
2014–2019  | Succeeded by

José Gabriel Carrizo