WUNRN
OAS - ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
HEMISPHERIC WOMEN’S COMMISSION EXECUTIVE MEETING
HIGHLIGHTS GENDER EQUITY ISSUES
April 20, 2007
With gender equality, gender-based
violence and the problem of poverty prominent on its agenda, the Inter-American
Commission of Women (CIM) opened a meeting of its 2006-2008 Executive Committee
at the Organization of American States (OAS). Assistant Secretary General Albert
R. Ramdin called for an “inter-American partnership on gender issues” that would
facilitate the creation of effective regional strategies.
Ambassador
Ramdin urged the delegates—led by CIM President Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, of Antigua
and Barbuda—to strengthen collaboration with OAS and inter-American
institutions, in order “to create wider synergies” with such bodies as the Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Inter-American Institute for
Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
“The voice of the CIM challenges us to
address the glaring deficits in gender balance and forces us to acknowledge that
genuine partnership is the key ingredient for any real and lasting societal
transformation,” Ambassador Ramdin asserted. “No sustainable partnership can
occur if women and men remain compartmentalized,” he stressed, adding that youth
and women are disproportionately represented in terms of inequality within the
hemisphere. He assured the delegates that the OAS will continue to offer its
full support so that gender equity is “situated at the heart of the hemispheric
multilateral agenda of democracy, security and development.”
Ramdin
commended the CIM’s “visionary” initiatives in bringing a gender approach to
issues of conflict and peace-building, adding that the OAS specialized agency
has shown excellent results in the Andean and Central American regions in
particular. He also noted efforts to address gender considerations related to
natural-disaster mitigation and response, urging that a gender perspective be
incorporated into the work of the Inter-American Committee on Natural Disasters.
He also repeated his call for a new approach to development that is “more
holistic, more human and more pragmatic.”
The Assistant Secretary
General also referred to Convention of Belém do Pará—which seeks to prevent,
punish and eradicate violence against women—and expressed confidence that its
Follow-up Mechanism, developed by the CIM, will become a formidable tool to
measure national and hemispheric progress in implementing that treaty.
In
her remarks, Dr. Quinn-Leandro, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Labor, Public
Administration and Empowerment with Responsibility for Gender Affairs, stressed
that “gender-based violence must not be allowed to thrive with impunity in any
of our communities.” She outlined a three-pronged strategy against the problem,
based on uncompromising legislation; effective widespread sensitization
programs; and available, adequate support services. “We can ill afford the
social and economic costs of allowing gender concerns to languish on the
periphery, and so we must redouble our efforts at mainstreaming gender into all
sectors of our respective member states,” she told the delegates.
Quinn-Leandro argued that the CIM alone cannot be responsible for gender
mainstreaming and for implementing comprehensive programs. “These mainstreaming
efforts will only be successful with the active and ongoing engagement of all
the partners and member states, in conjunction with the deep and abiding
commitment of the OAS as an institution,” she declared. She stressed the need
for men and women to collaborate to help attain the goals of gender equality,
and dispelled misconceptions that gender mainstreaming “conflates with
female-only policies.”
Minister Quinn-Leandro further explained that
policies, programs and projects affect men and women differently, and said that
if these “gendered differentials” are not addressed, “the results of the efforts
to improve the lives of men and women are more likely to wither on the vine.”
The CIM President also drew attention to the need for the agency to be
adequately funded to carry out its “exponentially growing mandates.”
CIM
Executive Secretary Carmen Lomellin welcomed the delegates yesterday to the
two-day meeting of the 2006-2008 Executive Committee, which is examining, among
other issues, the agency’s work program for that biennium. Initiatives include a
focus on the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Human Rights and
Gender Equity and Equality; the elimination of violence against women; and
presentations on other related issues such as fighting the crime of trafficking
in persons, especially women, children and adolescents.
_________________________________________________________________________
July 18, 2007 -- The Secretary General of the Organization of American States
(OAS), José Miguel Insulza, urged the region's governments to implement more
effective measures to address the issue of violence against women because "this
constitutes the most flagrant demonstration of the existing inequality between
man and women and a form of discrimination."
Insulza, together with the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Jorge Taiana, and the President of the
Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, today opened in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Third Multilateral Evaluation Meeting of the
Committee of Experts of the Follow-Up Mechanism to the Convention of Belém do
Pará, the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence
against Women.
In thanking the Argentine government for hosting this
three-day meeting, Insulza conveyed to the experts his "firm conviction that
democracy without women is only half democracy: you are resolutely contributing
to completing democracy in our region. You and I know that this is a road that
we are just beginning to travel. It will demand continued efforts from you, as
much as from governments, civil society, and of course from our Organization.
Insulza noted that in spite of the formal and juridical recognition by
the States that violence against women constitutes a most pressing challenge,
there is a gap between the significance and the prevalence of the problem and
the quality of the offered response.
"We realize that violence against
women challenges their dignity, hinders their fundamental rights, diminishes
their producing and learning capacity, and affects them not only psychologically
and physically but in many cases even leads to death," said the Secretary
General.
The CIM President acknowledged the long record of the OAS
Commission of Women in the fight against gender based violence. "We believe that
the follow-up mechanism should become a mandatory reference for all our
government, so that the aspirations that guided the creation of the Convention
of Belém do Pará can become a reality," emphasized Jacqui Quinn-Leandro.
"After three years of hard work we have reached the end of the first
multilateral evaluation round. This light at the end of the tunnel shows us that
we will soon be in a position to present the first progress reports to the
States Parties to the Convention, which will help them strengthen and realize
the work carried out in their respective countries," concluded the CIM
President.
-more-
The next step in this round will be to raise the
results emanated from the Buenos Aires meeting to the Conference of States
Parties, scheduled for the last trimester of the year, which the government of
Venezuela has already offered to host. "It will then be up to the experts to
move this task forward for the success of the Mechanism: the follow-up of the
implementation of the recommendations formulated by the governments. The success
of the progress that we pursue and urgently need, depends on the governments
being able to adequately implement those recommendations," emphasized Insulza
during his remarks.
The MESECVI Statute was adopted in October 2004.
Under the mechanism's multilateral evaluation process, the States Parties
evaluate Convention-related policies implemented to provide follow-up. The also
receive specific recommendations as to how to attain objectives.
OAS
Press release
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