OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1741 (XXX-O/00)
5 June 2000
Original: English 

RESOLUTION

INTEGRATING A GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN THE SUMMITS OF THE AMERICAS

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

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

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 by the Summit of the Americas;

HAVING SEEN ALSO the resolution CIM/MINIS/doc.21/00 rev. 1, "Integrating a Gender Perspective in the Summits of the Americas," adopted at the First Meeting of Ministers or Highest-Ranking Authorities Responsible for the Advancement of Women in the Member States, held at the headquarters of the Organization of American States, in Washington, D.C., on April 27 and 28, 2000;

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 and equality;

RECALLING that in the Plan of Action of the Second Summit of the Americas our governments undertook 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 Inter-American Commission on Women (ICW), in collaboration with civil society, with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, United Nations Economic Commission on Latin-America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and other entities of international cooperation …"; and

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," whereby the General Assembly instructs the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system to give priority to carrying out the initiatives assigned to them, in accordance with the mandates of the Summits of the Americas, and to provide regular progress reports on their implementation; and

That the 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) to systematically integrate a gender perspective in all organs, organizations, and entities of the Organization of American States,

RESOLVES:

1. To request that the member states in the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) take concrete action to integrate a gender perspective as a cross-cutting theme in the Proposed Political Declaration and Plan of Action for the Third Summit of the Americas. The language proposed and negotiated by the SIRG for the Proposed Political Declaration and Plan of Action should ensure follow-up and accountability in the implementation of the gender aspects of the Proposed Plan of Action.

2. To request that, in addition to integrating a cross-cutting gender perspective into the Plan of Action for the Third Summit of the Americas, the SIRG consider including a specific section related to women's issues within the area of "democracy and human rights."

3. To recommend that Meetings of Ministers or Highest-Ranking Authorities Responsible for the Advancement of Women in the Member States be held every four years in order to contribute to the preparatory and follow-up activities of the Summits of the Americas, and that these meetings take into account the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality.

4. To encourage the governments to consider the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission of Women in the process of preparing the Political Declaration and Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas; and to request the CIM to prepare recommendations and provide technical support for this purpose.

5. To instruct the General Secretariat and the CIM to disseminate this resolution to all the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system to ensure that they will take it into account in the preparation and implementation of their work-plans and programs.

6. To instruct the OAS General Secretariat to allocate to the CIM the necessary resources for the implementation of these mandates, within resources allocated in the program-budget.