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INSULZA URGES GOVERNMENTS TO ADOPT EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO ERADICATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

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.
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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.

Reference: E-176/07