OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1740 (XXX-O/00)
5 June 2000
Original: English

 RESOLUTION

INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION, PUNISHMENT, AND ERADICATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, "CONVENTION OF BELÉM DO PARÁ"

(Resolution adopted at the first plenary session, held on June 5, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

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

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 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;

BEARING IN MIND resolution CIM/MINIS/doc.20. rev. 1, "Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, ‘Convention of Belém do Pará’," adopted at the First Meeting of Ministers or Highest-Ranking Authorities Responsible for the Advancement of Women in the Member States, held in Washington, D.C., on April 27 and 28, 2000;

EMPHASIZING 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 underway in 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 contained 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; 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."

2. To recognize 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 against women 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.