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OAS Women's Forum Closes with a Call to Strengthen Public Policies on Equality

The closing session of the Hemispheric Forum on "Women's Leadership for a Citizens' Democracy" was held today at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC, with the participation of the Permanent Observer of Spain to the OAS, Ambassador Javier Sancho, and the President of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), Rocio Garcia Gaytan.

At the end of the three-day event, organized with the collaboration of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Ambassador Sancho recalled that one of the priorities of Spanish cooperation with the OAS is precisely the mainstreaming of gender issues in all programs and activities of the hemispheric institution. In that regard, he characterized the CIM as a “strategic partner in promoting public policies that enable gender equality."

The representative of Spain to the OAS welcomed the initiative to organize the event and said he hoped that "this garden of ideas can generate networks that enable women's leadership for an inclusive democracy." From his perspective, "gender politics are not an end in itself, they have to have a real impact on legislation and this legislation must be complied with."

"Women are not, of course, a minority or vulnerable sector. Women are subjected to conditions of vulnerability," he said, while alluding to the guidelines of Spanish cooperation, which he said are based on" the promotion of equality, the elimination of all forms of sexual discrimination and the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights." He concluded by expressing satisfaction with the progress accomplished in Latin America and the Caribbean regarding women’s equality, but warned that "there are still many challenges ahead and it is important to reaffirm our commitment to the work of everyone in the Americas to continue moving forward."

The President of the CIM, Rocio Garcia Gaytan, for her part, was very pleased with the outcome of the forum and took the opportunity to welcome the mainstreaming of the gender perspective into the work of the OAS. "This forum has opened the door on multiple topics. It seemed that we were only going to discuss one main issue, but we realized that citizenship is everything," said the CIM representative.

In her closing remarks to forum participants and alongside Carmen Moreno, Executive Secretary of the CIM, Garcia Gaytan, who also serves as president of the Institute of Women in Mexico, expressed her wish to bridge the gap between Latin America and the Caribbean in the fight for women's rights. "I will work so this gap is eliminated, so we can overcome the language barrier. We have to find a common language, and it will be our common purposes and goals that will bring us even closer."

The CIM President made a last call so that "all knowledge generated by academia and civil society may be used by those in government circles, who are required to take that knowledge and apply it for benefit of women."

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-607/11