E-013/2000
OAS WOMENS COMMISSION
OPENS
EXECUTIVE MEETING IN WASHINGTON
The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), a specialized agency of the Organization of American States (OAS), opened the third regular meeting of its Executive Committee today, with a draft "Inter-American Program to Promote the Rights of Women and Gender Equity" high on its agenda of topics.
Ambassador Christopher Thomas, the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, declared the meeting open as he lauded the agencys efforts that had helped to bring about "significant strides" in the area of womens rights.
He cited the recent adoption of the Convention of Belém do Paráa hemispheric treaty to prevent, punish and eliminate violence against womenas a concrete milestone of the agency. CIMs initiative behind the Convention as well as in the 1995 Beijing Womens Conference, he said, "have also served to draw the Organization of American States and CIM into the center of the international arena of human rights issues."
In his remarks as the meeting opened, OAS Permanent Council Chairman, Belize Ambassador James Murphy, emphasized the commitment of the Permanent Council to "supporting CIMs laudable aspirations."
Setting out the CIM agenda, the Commissions President Dulce María Sauri Riancho of Mexico, stressed that CIM now had to embark on its 21st century journey with the same vigor and enthusiasm as when it was founded over seventy years ago. She said that despite tremendous strides, womens participation in decision-making along with enhancement of national laws "are areas on which we must continue working intensely."
Sauri also made mention of another important event on the agencys agendaa meeting of women ministers or top-level authorities responsible for womens policies in OAS member states. That event, being coordinated by CIM, is scheduled to be held in April and will represent "a significant step towards systematically incorporating gender perspectives into all of the programs and project s of inter-American agencies and institutions," Sauri stated.
The two-day gathering of the CIM Executive Committee is considering an agenda of topics that also include preparations for Commissions thirtieth Assembly of Delegates to be held in Nicaragua this year, follow-up on mandates from the last Assembly and on the Convention of Belém do Pará, as well as resolutions CIM intends to present to the next OAS General Assembly.
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