Tonight the UW Women’s Center will host speaker Maria del Pilar Nores de Garcia, the first lady of Peru, at its fifth annual International Women Leaders Dinner in the HUB Ballroom from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Nores, who is coming from Peru just for this event, will talk mainly about her Sembrando Program, said Sutapa Basu, executive director of the Women’s Center.

Sembrando aims to improve the standard of living and productivity of Peruvians living high in the Andes — excluded from economic improvements the rest of Peru is experiencing — by improving farming, sanitation and nutrition, according to the program’s Web site. In 1985, 21 years before Sembrando’s creation, Nores founded the “Programa de Asistencia Directa,” or Direct Assistance Program, to promote women’s economic and social development.

Nores has a unique approach in that she tries to address problems on a personal level, not just at the policy level, Basu said. “She’s the first lady, yet she works on the ground,” she said. “She goes up in the mountains, I guess on a llama.”

The Peruvian first lady will give the keynote address to a slew of guests from all over the UW, including the Department of Women Studies, the Jackson School of International Studies, the Evans School of Public Affairs and the College of Education. Representatives from the Department of Global Health, which runs an international AIDS research and training program in Peru, among other countries, are also expected to attend.

Corporate sponsors State Farm Insurance, U.S. Bank, the Gates Foundation, and Dorsey & Whitney paid anywhere from $1,500 for a table of 10 people to $6,000 for two tables of 10.

Although a college student might find the cheapest ticket still a little pricey at $100, the proceeds will go to a good cause. The dinner benefits programs at the Women’s Center, including a college re-entry program, a violence prevention program and a human-trafficking research and policy development program.

Since the dinner debuted in 2003, the Center has hosted keynote speakers from Asia and Africa, but none from Latin American until this year, Basu said.

UW women studies senior, Angela Staiger, said that hearing the dinner’s 2007 keynote speaker, Pakistani Zeba A. Sathar, inspired her.

“As a women studies major minoring in human rights and [law, societies and justice], it was fascinating to hear how people are working towards the rights of women worldwide,” wrote Staiger in an e-mail.

Basu and Women’s Center Administrator Lori Duarte, worked for hours yesterday evening to finish preparations for the event. But the event isn’t just about Nores, Basu said.

“For me, it’s a wonderful experience to see all my friends and colleagues in the same room.”

Reach reporter Roselle Kingsbury at news@dailyuw.com