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INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION OF WOMEN TO ADDRESS NEW CHALLENGES

The President of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), Nilcéa Freire, today proposed beginning a dialogue on gender as a factor in the transmission of HIV/AIDS, underscoring the effects of this pandemic on women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In opening the Second Regular Session of the CIM Executive Committee, at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS), Freire said HIV/AIDS “has reached devastating proportions, and it continues to intensify.” Citing statistics of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), she said that 30% of HIV-positive adults in Latin America and 50% in the Caribbean are women.

“From the point of view of human rights and its social ramifications, and more specifically from a gender perspective, I believe the CIM should assume an active role on this issue, in order to establish strategies to help combat this global tragedy,” said Freire, who is Brazil’s Minister of the Special Secretariat for Women’s Policies.

“There is a close relationship between HIV/AIDS and other core issues related to women’s human rights and gender equity and equality,” she continued. Research has shown “a perverse relationship” between sexual and domestic violence and infection with the virus, she pointed out, adding that the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation is another factor in the spread of AIDS.

On another issue, Minister Freire talked about the need to redouble efforts to implement the Follow-Up Mechanism of the Belem do Pará Convention, a process begun a year ago to strengthen compliance with the 1994 treaty to prevent and punish violence against women. She also noted that the Commission had worked to incorporate a gender perspective in the Declaration and Plan of Action of the Fourth Summit of the Americas, held last month in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

In his remarks, the Chair of the OAS Permanent Council, Ambassador Izben Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis, recognized CIM’s tireless efforts to help eradicate domestic violence and its initiatives to help women counter discrimination. Referring to the mandates of the Fourth Summit, he said the focus on creating jobs and fighting poverty reinforces the platform for women’s social and economic empowerment.

“When dealing with the issue of poverty, we know that women constitute the majority of the poor; and even when not restricted by law, their role in society is circumscribed by cultures and traditions that are discriminatory,” Williams said. He called for governments to actively promote the access of women living in poverty to social and economic resources, with a view to improving the well-being of society as a whole.

During its two-day meeting, the CIM Executive Committee will, among other matters, update CIM activities related to human trafficking; examine progress in implementing the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality; prepare for next year’s Assembly of Delegates; and study the results of a course on gender, conflict and peace, offered in October in Peru.

Reference: E-286/05