Washington, D.C., April 27-28, 2000  

APPROVAL AND IMPLEMENTATION 

OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PROGRAM

ON THE PROMOTION OF WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS

AND GENDER EQUITY AND EQUALITY

THE MEETING OF MINISTERS OR OF THE HIGHEST-RANKING AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN IN THE MEMBER STATES,

RECALLING that the Organization of American States has furthered the development and implementation of hemispheric initiatives on the promotion of women’s human rights and gender equity and equality;

HAVING SEEN resolutions AG/RES. 1592 (XXVIII-O/98), "Status of Women in the Americas and Strengthening of the Inter-American Commission of Women," and AG/RES. 1625 (XXIX-O/99), "Status of Women in the Americas and Strengthening and Modernization of the Inter-American Commission of Women," in which the General Assembly resolves to call a meeting of ministers or of the highest-ranking authorities at the highest level responsible for the advancement of women in the member states and requests the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), acting as coordinator for the aforementioned meeting, to prepare a draft agenda that will include approval of the "Draft Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Rights and Gender Equity";

BEARING IN MIND resolution CIM/RES. 195 (XXIX-O/98), "Declaration of Santo Domingo," which states that the rights of women, throughout their lives, are an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of universal human rights and that it is imperative to ensure full observance of the human rights of women so as to eliminate all discriminatory situations and recognize women’s legal capacity and equality under the law; and resolution CIM/RES. 209 (XXIX-O/98), "Strengthening and Modernization of the Inter-American Commission of Women," in which the Assembly of Delegates resolves to coordinate the preparation of a draft inter-American program on the promotion of women’s rights and gender equity, and to encourage and agree upon, within the OAS, a meeting of ministers or of the highest-ranking authorities responsible for policies for the advancement of women in the member states, with the participation of CIM delegates; and

CONSIDERING:

That the Draft Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality will require active participation by the OAS, in particular by the CIM as the principal forum for generating hemispheric policy on gender equity and equality, as well as cooperation between the OAS and the various regional and subregional agencies and entities; and

That there exists, in the countries of the Hemisphere, a commitment to fight all forms of discrimination and to promote equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women, with a gender perspective,

RESOLVES:

1. To approve the Draft Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality, annexed hereto.

2. To request the General Assembly to allow the CIM to function as the organ to follow up on, coordinate, and evaluate the Inter-American Program and the actions taken to implement it.

3. To request the General Assembly to instruct the OAS General Secretariat to see that the gender perspective is incorporated into all work, projects, and programs of the organs, agencies, and entities of the OAS, in keeping with the Program.

4. To request the General Assembly, at its thirtieth regular session, to consider approving the allocation of technical, human, and financial resources, within the budget of the Organization, so that both the General Secretariat and the CIM may implement this program.

5. To urge the CIM Permanent Secretariat to include in the proposed program-budget for 2002 a breakdown of the activities necessary for monitoring and implementing the Inter-American Program.

6. To urge the General Secretariat to assign to the CIM sufficient human and material resources for the implementation of this program, in fulfillment of resolution AG/RES. 1592 (XXVIII-O/98), "Status of Women in the Americas and Strengthening of the Inter-American Commission of Women."

7. To urge the organs of the OAS and the specialized organizations of the inter-American system to provide the support necessary for implementation of the Inter-American Program.

8. To recommend to the General Assembly, at its thirtieth regular session, that it request the General Secretariat of the Organization to provide it with annual reports on the implementation of the Inter-American Program.

9.  To recognize the CIM and its Permanent Secretariat for their successful fulfillment of the mandates assigned to them through resolution AG/RES. 1625 (XXIX-O/99).

Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality

CIM/Minis/res.2 (I-O/00)

INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION, PUNISHMENT,AND ERADICATION 

OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN,

"CONVENTION OF BELÉM DO PARÁ"

THE MEETING OF MINISTERS OR OF THE HIGHEST-RANKING AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN IN THE MEMBER STATES,

RECALLING that the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, at its twenty-fourth regular session, held in Belém do Pará, Brazil, decided by acclamation, at a plenary session on June 9, 1994, to adopt the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, "Convention of Belém do Pará";

HAVING SEEN resolution AG/RES. 1456 (XXVII-O/97), "Promotion of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, 'Convention of Belém do Pará,' " in which the OAS General Assembly encourages the member states to take appropriate measures to ensure that the principles and objectives of the Convention are incorporated into their legal systems, so as to eliminate any discrimination and inequality still existing in national laws;

CONSIDERING that, to date, 29 countries have ratified the Convention of Belém do Pará, demonstrating their absolute rejection of and concern over all acts of violence against women;

RECOGNIZING that, although efforts are under way throughout the Hemisphere to put the aims of the Convention into practice, violence persists, and is of such a magnitude that the continued implementation of strategies to free women from this scourge is essential;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the recommendations made in the Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the Status of Women in the Americas, presented to the OAS General Assembly for consideration at its twenty-eighth regular session;

CONSIDERING that in the Plans of Action of the First and Second Summits of the Americas our governments pledged to take action to eliminate all forms of violence against women;

CONSIDERING that the OAS General Assembly, in its resolution AG/RES. 1626 (XXIX-O/99), "First Biennial Report on Compliance with Resolution AG/RES. 1456 (Xxvii-O/97), 'Promotion of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, "Convention of Belém Do Pará,"’" encourages those states that have not already done so to ratify the Convention; and

RECALLING the Convention of Belém do Pará, which affirms that "…violence against women constitutes a violation of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and impairs or nullifies the observance, enjoyment and exercise of such rights and freedoms";

RESOLVES:

1. To urge the governments of those member states of the Organization of American States that have not already done so to ratify or accede to the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, "Convention of Belém do Pará," in order to achieve its ratification throughout the Hemisphere.

2. To express its recognition to those governments of the Hemisphere that have taken measures to strengthen and adapt their law for the purpose of eradicating violence against women.

3. To encourage the member states to continue promoting measures to eradicate violence in all its forms, in the public and private arenas, in keeping with the objectives established in the Strategic Plan of Action of the CIM, in the Plans of Action of the First and Second Summits of the Americas and in the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality.

CIM/MINIS/RES. 3 (I-O/00)

INTEGRATING A GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN

CONSIDERING that the countries of the Hemisphere have pledged to combat all forms of discrimination and to promote equal rights and opportunities for men and women, for which measures must be taken in the area of gender equity;

RECOGNIZING the progress made by the Fourth World Conference on Women and the organs of the United Nations in defining the concept of gender perspective, which is "a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated";

CONSIDERING resolutions AG/RES. 1534 (XXVIII-O/98) and AG/RES. 1659 (XXIX-O/99), "Support for and Follow-up to the Summits of the Americas Initiatives" whereby the General Assembly instructs the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system to give top priority to carrying out the initiatives assigned to them pursuant to the mandates of the Summits of the Americas and to provide regular progress reports on their implementation;

HAVING SEEN resolution AG/RES. 1625 (XXIX-O/99), "Status of Women in the Americas and Strengthening and Modernization of the Inter-American Commission of Women," which calls a meeting of ministers or of the highest-ranking authorities responsible for the advancement of women in the member states and requests the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), acting as coordinator for the aforementioned meeting, to prepare a draft agenda that will include approval of the Draft Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Rights and Gender Equity and consideration of the commitments adopted at the Summits of the Americas;

CONSIDERING that the Draft Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality is a political instrument of paramount importance, the objectives of which are, among others, to (1) achieve legal equality and equal opportunity for women and men; and, (2) systematically integrate a gender perspective in all organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization of American States;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Plans of Action of the First Summit of the Americas, held in Miami in December 1994, and the Second Summit of the Americas, held in Santiago in April 1998, adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the Hemisphere, which express the need to: (a) strengthen policies and programs that improve and broaden the participation of women in all spheres of political, social, and economic life; (b) strengthen and establish, where they do not exist, national mechanisms and governmental organs focused on gender equality and equal opportunities for women and men, by providing them with adequate and timely financial resources; (c) include a gender focus in cooperation and development planning projects; and (d) further strengthen the CIM; and

RECALLING that the Plan of Action of the Second Summit of the Americas instructs our governments to implement and follow up on the commitments regarding the status of women as agreed to at the Summit of the Americas, with the support of the CIM, in collaboration with civil society, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, and other international cooperation entities,

RESOLVES:

1. To urge the countries participating in the Third Summit of the Americas to make a strong commitment to take concrete action to integrate a gender perspective in the Political Declaration and the Plan of Action and to reaffirm both their political commitment to ensuring gender equity and equality and the need for follow-up and accountability in the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the Summit Plan of Action.

2. To encourage the inclusion in the next Summit Plan of Action of a specific section on women's issues under the heading "democracy and human rights."

3. To encourage the governments to consider the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission of Women, as technical advisor on women, in the process of preparing the Political Declaration and the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas, taking into account the objectives of the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality.

4. To recommend the integration of a gender perspective in the follow-up activities of the Summit of the Americas mandates, in particular the ministerial meetings.

5. To invite the OAS General Assembly to approve the holding of ministerial meetings on women every four years, with the support of the CIM Assembly of Delegates, in order to contribute to the preparation and follow-up of the plans of action that might be adopted at the Summits of the Americas, bearing in mind the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality.

6. To request the OAS General Assembly to disseminate this resolution to all the organs and agencies of the inter-American system, to ensure that it is taken into account in the preparation and implementation of their plans and programs.

7. To recommend the use of the Gender Indicator System, which was first used within the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), as one of the strategies for following up on commitments originating with the Summits of the Americas.

8. To request the OAS General Assembly to assign the necessary resources to the CIM for implementation of these mandates.