Minerva Bernardino

Minerva Bernardino (1907 – August 29, 1998) was a diplomat from the Dominican Republic who promoted women's rights internationally, and is best known as one of the four women to sign the original charter of the United Nations. Minerva Bernardino championed gender inclusive language in the Charter.

Biography Bernardino was born in El Seibo in 1907 to an "unusually liberal" family. —Latin American women pursuing education beyond primary school—and began a career in the Dominican Republic's civil service. Bernardino's attention was drawn to issues of inequality and women's rights when she received a promotion within the civil service but no increase in pay because the government refused to pay any woman more than it paid her male co-workers. In her autobiography, she says "fue éste el impacto que me lanzó a la lucha por los derechos de la mujer." This background in the civil service which launched Bernardino's fight for women's rights distinguishes her from many of the feminists of her time: she was not a member of the elite or professional class, but a single woman who had worked part-time jobs, and would continue to work similar jobs even as she became more involved in activism and diplomacy.

At the end of her life, Bernardino reflected on her fight for the rights of women with some satisfaction, but admitted to having wanted more change more rapidly: "Fue una época, que parece que no se va repetir. Pero me siento contenta, porque se avanzó bastante; sembré buena semilla, y ha ido dando sus frutos, aunque no con la celeridad que me hubiera gustado."

Key ideas and contributions Bernardino worked mainly to advance political rights, and especially to improve women's suffrage in Latin American states. Her achievements include the 1954 Convention on the Political Rights of Women, Bernardino also supported international law that would ensure the equality of women in marriage and divorce, such as the Montevideo Convention on the Nationality of Married Women of 1933.

Of all her contributions, Bernardino is best known for arguing in favor of gender-inclusive language in the early stages of the UN's development. At the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization, although she was technically a delegate of the Dominican Republic—sent by dictator Rafael Trujillo as a "low-risk opportunity to appear progressive" Bernardino and her colleague Berta Lutz were acknowledged as "instrumental" in the inclusion of the phrases "equal rights of men and women," "faith in fundamental human rights" and "the dignity and worth of the human person" in the preamble to the UN's charter. She is also credited with the wording "equal rights of men and women" in the preamble for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—she believed that omitting "and women" would have seemed intentional and invited discrimination.

Bernardino was also involved in creating and later chairing the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which was established in 1946. Although subordinate to the Commission on Human Rights, the CSW was known for exercising independence and initiative. This commission's accomplishments include the gender-inclusive language in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the creation of the 1967 Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. The Commission also promoted women's rights through studies of the treatment of women, and used their findings to call for more change.

Positions Bernardino began her fight for women's rights as one of the leaders of Acción Feminista Dominicana, an organization she became involved in while she was still living in the Dominican Republic. By the 1940s, she was serving as the nation's official representative to the IACW, becoming vice chair and then chair of the commission. Later, Bernardino extended the scope of her work to include giving lectures at universities, writing a biographical archive of influential American women, and creating the Fundación Bernardino which would continue the fight for women's rights in the Dominican Republic after her death.