20 Facts About Vanda Pignato

Vanda Guiomar Pignato was born on 15 February 1961 and is a Brazilian-born Salvadoran lawyer, activist, politician and former First Lady of El Salvador from 2009 until 2014.

In 2011, Vanda Pignato established Ciudad Mujer, to aid victims of violence against women, as well provide access to women's healthcare services, financial advice, and career training.

Vanda Pignato became an activist in the Workers' Party and served as an adviser to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who would later serve as President of Brazil from 2003 to 2011.

Vanda Pignato reportedly remains close to both Lula da Silva and his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.

Vanda Pignato began documenting human rights abuses in El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War, which was ended by the Chapultepec Peace Accords.

Vanda Pignato moved from Brazil to El Salvador in 1992, where she represented the Workers' Party in Central America.

Vanda Pignato became the Director of the Center for Brazilian Studies at the Embassy of Brazil in San Salvador in 1992.

Vanda Pignato later married Mauricio Funes, a Salvadoran journalist and FMLN politician, with whom she had one son, Gabriel.

Vanda Pignato has promoted women's rights and gender equality during her tenures as First Lady and Secretary of Social Inclusion.

Vanda Pignato was first appointed as Secretary on 1 June 2009, by her husband, President Mauricio Funes.

Vanda Pignato was reappointed to the post in 2014 by President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, who asked her to stay on as his Secretary of Social Inclusion.

Vanda Pignato has acknowledged the challenges facing Salvadoran women, who have higher high school dropout rates and lower literacy rates than men.

Vanda Pignato overcame opposition against the plan from several sectors of Salvadoran society, which included politicians, evangelical Christian groups, and the Roman Catholic Church, to launch Ciudad Mujer.

Vanda Pignato simultaneously served as the Salvadorian Institute for Women Development.

Vanda Pignato met with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former US President Bill Clinton, the Salvadoran American community and representatives for the corporate sector.

In July 2015, Secretary Vanda Pignato announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

Vanda Pignato took a temporary leave of absence from the Department of Social Inclusion to undergo treatment for the disease.

Vanda Pignato is part of the case against Funes for the crimes of embezzlement, and money and asset laundering.

Jorge Cortez, head of the Financial Unit of the Attorney General of the Republic, explained that they had requested that Vanda Pignato only pay a bond to be processed in freedom as a consideration for her health condition.

However, the judge decided to issue a warrant for her arrest since he believes Vanda Pignato poses a flight risk.