HISTORY
OF
CIM
PLANS
OF ACTION
Strategic Plan of Action of
the Inter-American Commission of Women
The CIM’s Plan of Action: Full and Equal
Participation by the Year 2000, approved in 1986, set the guidelines for
CIM's activities focusing on the elimination of discrimination, equal
economic opportunity, and equal compensation for women in the workplace,
as well as equal participation in political life
and the regular and systematic inclusion of women in national
development plans.
In 1994, the Inter-American Meeting to Evaluate the CIM
Plan of Action was convoked to assess
the advancement achieved by women in the preceding decade and to
propose new strategies for the full and equal participation of women. The
resulting Strategic Plan of Action of the Inter-American Commission of
Women adopted by the XXVII Assembly of Delegates in 1994 and
presented to the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) has
provided the basis for CIM’s biennial work plans during the last six
years.
In this Plan of Action, priority status is assigned to four topics:
participation of women in power and decision-making structures,
education, elimination of violence and eradication of poverty.
Plan of Action of the CIM on Women’s Participation in
Power and Decision Making Structures
CIM’s
“Plan of Action on Women’s Participation
in Power and Decision-Making Structures”, adopted in 1998, emanated from
the Inter-American Meeting of Consultation
held that same year. The
Plan, which contains the strategies proposed by CIM to achieve true parity
in the exercise of power, has been presented to the governments of the
member States by the Principal Delegates.
CIM and the
Summits of the Americas
The
Summits of
the Americas
(Miami, 1994; Santiago de Chile,
1998; Quebec, Canada, 2001)
established the strengthening of the role of
women in society and the further strengthening of CIM as priority elements
of action plans for the future. As part of this initiative, the heads of
state and government of thirty-four American nations have encouraged
ratification of and compliance with the Inter-American Convention on the
Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women.
They have also agreed to strengthen and promote laws, policies and
programs that eliminate discrimination against women and improve and
broaden their participation in all spheres of political, social, and
economic life.
At
the Second Summit, CIM received a specific
mandate to support the implementation and follow-up of the
commitments regarding the status of women agreed to at the Summits.
In this connection, CIM worked with Nicaragua,
Responsible Coordinator for Women, on
the report on implementation of the Summit mandates on women and proposals
for the Third Summit of the Americas to be held in the year 2001.
While
reordering priorities within the Inter-American System, the heads of OAS
member states have reaffirmed their support of the objectives, policies,
and programs of CIM. They have recognized that full and equal
participation of women is tantamount to the preservation of human rights.
By effectively promoting the dignity and rights of women in the
Hemisphere, CIM has made a
positive contribution to the promotion of representative democracy and
human rights in the OAS member states.
First
Hemispheric Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women
The
first “Meeting of Ministers or
of the Highest-Ranking Authorities Responsible for the
Advancement of Women in the Member States”,
was held at OAS headquarters in Washington D.C., on April 27-28, 2000.
This ground-breaking Ministerial was convoked by OAS General
Assembly and coordinated by CIM in compliance with
Resolution “Status
of Women in the Americas and Strengthening and Modernization of the
Inter-American Commission of Women”.
Thirty-three
countries attended the meeting. Participants included the U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; the Foreign Minister of El Salvador,
María Eugenia Brizuela de Avila; Honduran Vice President
Gladys Caballero de Arévalo; Graciela Fernández Meijide, Argentina’s
Minister of Social Development and the Environment; Venezuelan First Lady
Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez; and CIM Vice President Indranie
Chandarpal, Guyana’s Minister of Human Services and Social
Security.
The
results of the Ministerial were highly positive. The Draft "Inter-American
Program on the Promotion of Women’s Humans Rights and Gender Equity and
Equality"(IAP) was approved. A proposal was made to
hold ministerial meetings on a regular basis to follow up on the
implementation of the Inter-American Program and the Summit Plan of
Action. The Program was adopted by XXX OAS General Assembly in June
2000 and endorsed by the Heads of State and Government at the III Summit
of the Americas, held in Quebec, Canada, in 2001
Final
Report
Press
release
