Vanda Pignato

Vanda Guiomar Pignato (born 15 February 1961) is a Brazilian-born Salvadoran lawyer, activist, politician and former First Lady of El Salvador from 2009 until 2014. Pignato became First Lady of El Salvador on 1 June 2009, the same day that her husband, President Mauricio Funes, appointed her as the country's Secretary of Social Inclusion from 2009 to 2014. The appointment made Pignato the first sitting First Lady in El Salvador's history to hold a political position. Funes's successor, President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, reappointed Pignato as Secretary of Social Inclusion when he took office in June 2014.

In 2011, Pignato established Ciudad Mujer (Women City), to aid victims of violence against women, as well provide access to women's healthcare services, financial advice, and career training. The five Ciudad Mujer centers, located throughout the country, offer services from 15 Salvadoran government agencies in one location. These include job training and financial loans to offer a chance for economic independence. Ciudad Mujer also provides healthcare services, including forensic laboratories and legal aid for victims of sexual assault, reproductive services, neonatal care and breast cancer prevention. An estimated 603,000 women have utilized Ciudad Mujer, as of November 2014.

Pignato's Ciudad Mujer initiative has received international support and recognition, including from the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations. In January 2015, the Brazilian government announced plans to launch its own "Women's House" project, modeled on Pignato's Ciudad Mujer program in El Salvador. The first "Women's House" in Pignato's native Brazil is slated for Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico have also expressed interest in implementing Pignato's programs.

Biography Pignato was born in São Paulo, Brazil. She became an activist in the Workers' Party (PT) and served as an adviser to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who would later serve as President of Brazil from 2003 to 2011. She reportedly remains close to both Lula da Silva and his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.

She began documenting human rights abuses in El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War, which was ended by the Chapultepec Peace Accords. Pignato moved from Brazil to El Salvador in 1992, where she represented the Workers' Party in Central America. She also became the Director of the Center for Brazilian Studies at the Embassy of Brazil in San Salvador in 1992. She was reappointed to the post in 2014 by President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, who asked her to stay on as his Secretary of Social Inclusion.

Pignato has acknowledged the challenges facing Salvadoran women, who have higher high school dropout rates and lower literacy rates than men. They tend to be economically dependent on male partners or family members, making it more difficult to leave an abusive relationship.

On 12 May 2017, Joao Santana, a Brazilian marketing consultant reveleaded under oath the money applied to Funes first presidential campaign was financed by Brazilian company Odebrecht with dirt money, the command to Odebrecht to give money to Funes campaign committee came from former Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

A Warrant has been issued for Vanda Pignato arrest. This was decided on the afternoon of Monday, 12 June 2018 by the Fifth Peace Court of San Salvador.

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 (FGR), explained that they had requested that 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 Pignato poses a flight risk.