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IMPLEMENTING HEMISPHERIC CONVENTION OUTLAWING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN THE FOCUS OF UPCOMING OAS SEMINAR

An Organization of American States OAS seminar scheduled for August 13 will highlight “Strategies to Monitor Implementation of Recommendations of the Committee of Government Experts,” related to the Mechanism to Follow Up on Implementation of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence against Women MESECVI, also known as the Convention of Belém do Pará.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza will deliver welcoming remarks at the opening session, which will be held at the Padilha Vidal Room (1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC). Other speakers include Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights IACHR Santiago Cantón, and Coordinator of the Committee of Experts, Susana Chiarotti, will deliver the Hemispheric Report.

The seminar includes three panels, covering legal framework: legislation and national plans; national budgets, information and statistics; and access to justice.

The Convention of Belém do Pará was adopted on June 9, 1994, while the statutes of the Mechanism to Follow Up on Implementation of the Convention were adopted by the First Conference of States Parties to the Convention on October 26, 2004. The mechanism comprises two organs: the Conference of States Parties, its policy-making body; and the Committee of Experts (CEVI), the technical organ comprised of experts appointed by the states parties, the experts acting in their personal capacity. States parties also appoint Competent National Authorities that function as a liaison between the Secretariat and the governments.

Each Committee of Experts multilateral evaluation round adopts a questionnaire on the provisions of the Convention, the implementation of which it will consider and forward to the Competent National Authorities for response. Based on those replies, and based also on information that it gathers, the Committee then issues country reports as well as a Hemispheric Report and makes recommendations for follow-up action.

The first CEVI Hemispheric Report produced by the evaluation phase of the round that started in 2005 and concluded two years later, was presented during the Second Conference of States Parties, held in Caracas, Venezuela, this past July 9 and 10.

Preparation of that report involved computerizing information provided by 28 countries of the region in response to a questionnaire on the priority area of legislation and national plans; access to justice; national budget and information and statistics. What remains to be done now is to ensure that CEVI recommendations are implemented. Meanwhile, the upcoming seminar, which is expected to bring together experts in the questionnaire subject areas, is also expected to consider the recommendations and suggestions received as the basis on which strategies will be developed to facilitate follow-up.

Reference: E-302/08