Gabriela Cuevas Barron
Co-Chair of UHC2030, Honorary President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and former Senator in the Mexican Congress (Mexico)
Gabriela Cuevas Barron studied Political Science at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), in addition to having participated in numerous programs and diplomas related to public administration.
She was elected Federal Member of Parliament for the first time when she was 21 years old. Since then, she has been three times Federal Member of Parliament (2001 – 2003, 2009 – 2012, 2018 – currently), as well as Local Member of Parliament (2003 –2006), and a Constituent Member of Parliament in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City (2016 – 2017) where she presided the Commission of Mayors; Additionally, she was elected Mayor of the Miguel Hidalgo Delegation (2006 – 2009) becoming the only woman in charge of a demarcation during that period. She also chaired the Foreign Relations Commission when she served as Senator of the Republic (2012 – 2018).
Ms. Cuevas has also collaborated in the Euro-Lat Parliamentary Assembly proposing resolutions about migration, development, and economic crisis. Furthermore, she writes in El Universal newspaper and supports multiple civil society organizations. She has also made contributions to both national and international media outlets.
She has been actively involved in UN initiatives. As IPU President, she, along with a consortium with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Women Political Leaders (WPL), is part of a Generation Equality Action Coalition on Feminist movements and leadership. Ms. Cuevas is also a member of the UHC Movement Political Advisory Panel to UHC2030. In addition, she is a Member of the High-Level Steering Group of Every Woman, Every Child.
The principles that have guided her efforts have been transparency, citizen participation, combating corruption and protection of human rights. She obtained the Recognition for Innovations in Transparency from the Institute of Access to Public Information of Mexico City in 2009 and was decorated with the grade of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the Government of France in 2017. She also received the Cavaliere di Gran Croce, Ordine Equestre di Saint’ Agata on behalf of the Government of the Republic of San Marino in 2019.
In 2017 Gabriela Cuevas Barron became the youngest and the second woman President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The IPU was founded in 1889, in an era when there were no established means for governments to work together internationally. Today, IPU is the oldest multilateral political organization, and it is also the only one made up of national parliaments from all around the globe. For the last 130 years, its main objective has been to promote democracy, human rights, and the sustainable development agenda by empowering decision makers from 179 countries.
As President, her achievements include, but are not limited to: the creation of the P-20, which includes the Speakers of Parliaments from the 20 leading economies of the world; the hosting of the Executive Education Parliamentary Leadership Seminar which built capacities, strengthened democratic values, and instilled respect to human rights in parliamentarians; and the commemoration of the International Day of Parliamentarism in the United Nations. Gabriela’s main commitment has been to strengthen the links between the member nations and the Presidency, listen to their concerns and promote collaborative dialogue.