The National Women's Service , or SERNAM is a public service in Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, a functionally decentralized organization, with its own funding, which is part of the cabinet-level Ministry of Planning and Cooperation under the President of Chile

President of Chile

The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...

, created January 3, 1991 by the Law N° 19,023, with the goal of promoting the equality of men and women.

SERNAM's founding mission was to collaborate with the executive in the study and proposal of general plans and measures in order that women may enjoy equality of rights and opportunities with men, in the process of political, social, economic, and cultural development of Chile. Its acting Minister-Director is María Carolina Schmidt Zaldívar.

Organization

The upper-level direction, technical and administrative, of SERNAM is charged to the Director of Service, who has the rank of Minister of State, like an Interior Minister or Finance Minister. Its first Director was Soledad Alvear

Soledad Alvear

María Soledad Alvear Valenzuela , is a Chilean lawyer and Christian Democrat politician, who was a cabinet member of the Aylwin, Frei and Lagos administrations. She was president of the Christian Democrat Party from 2006-2008...

.

In each of the regions in which Chile is divided a Regional Directorship of the National Women's Service exists with its headquarters in the capital city of each respective region. There are 13 regional directorships.

Minister Directors

Minister-Director	Party	Period	President
Soledad Alvear Valenzuela Soledad Alvear María Soledad Alvear Valenzuela , is a Chilean lawyer and Christian Democrat politician, who was a cabinet member of the Aylwin, Frei and Lagos administrations. She was president of the Christian Democrat Party from 2006-2008...	DC	01.03.1991	Patricio Aylwin Azócar
Josefina Bilbao	Ind	03.11.1994	Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who was President of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He is currently Senator for Los Ríos and was President of the Senate from 2006 to 2008. He attempted a comeback as the candidate of the ruling Concertación...
Adriana Delpiano Puelma Adriana Delpiano Adriana Delpiano Puelma is a Chilean politician and former Intendant of the Santiago Metropolitan Region...	PPD	03.11.2000	Ricardo Lagos Escobar
Cecilia Pérez Díaz	Ind	11.03.2003	Ricardo Lagos Escobar
Laura Albornoz Pollman	DC	03.11.2006	Michelle Bachelet Jeria
Carmen Andrade Lara	PS	10.20.2009	Michelle Bachelet Jeria
Carolina Schmidt Zaldívar	Ind	03.11..2010	Sebastián Piñera Echenique

• DC: Christian Democrat Party of Chile
  Christian Democrat Party of Chile
  The Christian Democratic Party is a political party in Chile and governs as part of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. In the 2009 election it won 19 congress seats and 9 senate seats....
  
  
• PPD: Party for Democracy
  Party for Democracy
  The Party for Democracy is a political party in Chile; it is social democratic in its political orientation. It was founded in December 1987 by Ricardo Lagos, who aimed at forming a legal social democratic party . The party continued to function after the defeat of Pinochet...
  
  
• PS: Socialist Party of Chile
  Socialist Party of Chile
  The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...
  
  
• Ind: Independent