After the controversy that has arisen over the book that the First Lady and the General Archive of the Nation seek to publish, which, according to the wife of President Iván Duque, would be about the work of the first ladies that the country has had and not a autobiography, the opposition congressman David Racero proposed that the figure of the First Lady in Colombia disappear.
“I consider that this figure should disappear, it is not useful and it does generate a lot of expenses for the country,” tweeted the representative. After that, she added that “not a woman, because she is the life partner of a president or a mayor, should give up her professional life to assume a role that -by the way- does not exist constitutionally; nor should the country allocate resources to meet their expenses,” he said on the same social network.
Thus, the question arises what is the role of first ladies and how much do they earn?
The first first lady of the Republic is the work traditionally performed by the wife of the president of Colombia. The figure of the first lady of the Nation began to be used in Colombia since 1934.
This role is not an elective position, nor does it have official duties, nor is it remunerated.
However, the first lady of the Nation attends official ceremonies and State receptions together with the president.
Can you have a job? In 1994, the Constitutional Court determined that although traditionally the first lady does not perform any other employment outside of her official duties, it is possible for a First Lady to hold public positions that are not directly appointed by the president, his ministers, department heads, managers or directors of decentralized entities.
Likewise, the Court indicated that the First Lady may have initiative in matters of social assistance and charitable work or similar activities.
“The role played by the first lady is merely private vis-à-vis the public administration, with which she is not empowered to carry out any type of hiring, supervision or management of personnel, since as provided in the cited jurisprudence, in her capacity as spouse of the mayor of a Municipality, may accompany him in the performance of protocol tasks, or have initiative in matters of social assistance, in public charity work, or in similar activities”, warns the concept 015491 of 2020 of Public Function.
In this way, the First Lady as a social manager does not hold a public position, nor does she have the quality of a public servant.
In 1999, the Network of Social Managers was created as an instrument to organize and channel the potential for social mobilization and convocation that the spouses of national, departmental and municipal governors have, from their volunteer work, in their role as program managers. that facilitate processes and promote the development of public policies for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations.
In 2003, through decree 519, they created the Presidential Council for Special Programs with the aim of supporting the National Government in its objectives and the Network of Social Managers is incorporated as one of its programs, framed in the area of social mobilization and community participation.
As of that year, the objective of the Network of Social Managers was expanded to achieve an articulation of local institutions and Civil Society, with the conviction that the work of the Network has to do with coordination, management, cooperation, call, socialization and dissemination of the social offer that our country has.
This Ministry was later divided into various ministries.
Maria Juliana Ruiz Sandoval is currently in office, since August 7, 2018, when President Ivan Duque Marquez took office.
Ruiz is a lawyer, graduated in Bogotá, then went to Paris to study at the Institut Catholique. He later moved to Washington, earning a Master of Laws with an Emphasis in International Business from American University.
There he worked for more than a decade in the Organization of American States -OAS-, and worked hand in hand with the Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General, leading projects and commissions of the organization.
After her experience in the United States, she returned to Colombia to join the Shaio Clinic as General Secretary, and in 2018 she became the First Lady of the Nation.
