UN Women and Boliviana de Aviación flight for gender equality
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On July 12, seven passengers aboard an American Airlines airplane, travelling to Buenos Aires (Argentina), decided to leave the aircraft on the moment they learned that the pilot and co-pilot of the flight were women.
Despite the prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes that still prevail around gender and labour skills, Boliviana de Aviación (BoA) reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality and joined on July 16 the HeForShe Campaign, promoted by UN Women.
For the signing ceremony, a hundred women were flown on a domestic flight to Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) by Commander Paola Velasco and her female crew.
The General Manager of BoA, engineer Ronald Casso, said the company joined the HeForShe global movement, to make visible women who every day are gaining more space for their qualifications. He said that "the flight was an inspiration to assume the commitment in taking action to help eliminate violence and discrimination against women and girls".
The flight departed at 11:10 a.m. from El Alto International Airport bound for Santa Cruz de la Sierra, with a hundred women, leaders from different fields, among them entrepreneurs, activists, authorities, technicians, pilots, mechanics, students and journalists.
On board the ship a special act of recognition was made to the women passengers, who contribute to the development of the country by working on their activities. The aircraft arrived to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, trough the presidential terminal, where a press conference was held.