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OAS and Costa Rica Sign Agreement Designating San José as Host of CIM Assembly

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the government of Costa Rica today signed a letter of understanding that designates San José as host site of the 36th Assembly of Delegates of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), to be held October 29 and 30, which will be inaugurated by the President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, noted that the meeting will be a good opportunity “to delineate new policies and strategic plans.” “In the last three years, the economies of the countries of the Americas have been affected by a deep financial crisis which, according to various studies, has had an unequal impact on women and men,” he said.

The leader of the hemispheric organization emphasized that, “although there are high percentages of women in the governments of some countries in the region, unfortunately it is not generally the case in the rest.” Among the central issues of the Assembly, the Secretary General highlighted areas in need of improvement such as human rights, access to power and influence, and other challenges such as violence against women and the social role of women in the care of children and the elderly.

The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the OAS, Ambassador Edgar Ugalde Álvarez, recalled the words of his countryman, author Alberto Cañas Escalante, who said “the history of Costa Rica cannot be written without women.” Ambassador Ugalde added that “the words of Don Alberto could equally be said of all the countries in the world.” He emphasized that women constitute “an unending source of inspiration and example,” and expressed his hopes that the Assembly will “be the success that the women of our region deserve.”

Present at the ceremony were the Chair of the OAS Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Mexico, Joel Hernandez; the Executive Secretary of the CIM, Carmen Moreno; and the representatives of several Member States of the OAS as well as the Permanent Observers to the OAS from France and Spain.

Established in 1928, the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) was the first inter-governmental agency established to ensure recognition of the human rights of women. CIM is made up of 33 Principal Delegates, one from each Member State, and has become the principal forum for debating and formulating policy on women's rights in the Americas and gender equality.

The CIM Assembly of Delegates is held every two years and brings together the CIM Delegates from each of the OAS Member States in order to examine issues of hemispheric concern and propose and debate policy and programmatic solutions. The CIM Delegates are usually the government authorities responsible for women's and/or gender issues.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-352/12