Sharjah: Following recent meetings with publishers in Bogota and Buenos Aires, Bodour Al Qasimi, the International Publishers Association (IPA) president, continued her Latin America engagements with a visit to Sao Paulo where she participated in a day-long event marking the launch of the Brazilian edition of PublisHer — a platform designed to foster greater gender diversity, solidarity and equality of opportunity in the publishing sector.
Building on the success of the initiative worldwide, PublisHer was launched in Brazil to empower female publishers to be part of a larger community, to inspire new ideas, partnerships and initiatives addressing diversity and inclusion in the industry.
Career mobility and gender pay-gap challenges
In a fireside chat held during the launch, the IPA president stated that the network would help address the many gender-based inequities and inclusion challenges, including career mobility and gender pay gap.
Another key engagement during her time in Brazil was to meet the region’s publishing stakeholders at the Brazilian publisher’s conference, which took place ahead of the Sao Paulo International Book Fair.
The IPA president hailed the spirit of collaboration in Brazil’s publishing industry in her address at the 3rd Professional Journey. She outlined how the InSPIRe programme came into being as an industry-wide catalyst for change, which addresses significant challenges and opportunities induced by the pandemic. The IPA president called on publishers and booksellers to stand in solidarity, remain focused and apply a diversity of skills to drive their success.
Enhancing visibility of Brazilian publishers
The IPA president also met members of the three publishing associations in Brazil — CBL, SNEL and Abrelivros — to discuss how the IPA can support them. She stressed the importance of capitalising on the opportunities presented by having Brazilian Karine Pansa as the incoming president of IPA in enhancing the visibility of Brazilian publishers globally.
Infusing new vision and fresh strategy
Following these engagements, Bodour attended the Sao Paulo International Book Fair and participated in several important discussions.
At a roundtable hosted at the book fair titled ‘New Libraries, New Readers’, Bodour joined panellists from Colombia and Brazil in a dynamic exchange of ideas during which she shared the UAE’s experience of infusing new vision and fresh strategy to develop the House of Wisdom into a modern gateway to knowledge, culture and learning. The IPA president also touched upon the vital role of libraries in connecting communities, especially in developing countries and crisis environments.
