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At OAS, Experts Debate the Relationship between State and Citizen in the Context of Women’s Equality

Political experts and leaders from the continent today discussed the agenda for citizen democracy and governance in the Americas in the framework of the hemispheric forum on “Women’s Leadership for a Citizens’ Democracy,” organized by the Organization of American States (OAS) through the Inter-American Commission of Women, alongside UN Women and the Ibero-American General Secretariat.

The panel, moderated by the Chair of the Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the Organization, Ambassador Gillian M.S. Bristol, offered a general overview of the current state of democracy in Latin America, specifically regarding the State-citizen relationship. Participants in the debate were Kenny D. Anthony, former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia; José Antonio Ocampo, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Susana Villarán, Mayor of Lima; and Line Bareiro, an expert for the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Kenny D. Anthony, asserted that citizen rights, especially those of women, can only flourish in political environments and systems that respect human rights, that believe in justice and equality and allow unlimited participation of citizens in political processes. He highlighted the existence of a series of challenges that prevent the full recognition and exercise of the rights of women, and constitute an unavoidable condition for the existence of significant citizenship and good governance. Among them he mentioned the economic dependency of numerous women that promotes their vulnerability; persistent socio-cultural stereotypes that don’t allow us to see women as figures of authority; and the lack of appropriate mechanisms so that women can fulfill their social roles and responsibilities.

José Antonio Ocampo, a former Minister of Agriculture of Colombia, recalled that the concept of democracy, according to the report “Our Democracy” produced jointly in 2010 by the OAS and the UNDP, is characterized by having its “origin in free, periodic and transparent elections”; is exercised “through republican institutions”; and its goal is in “the spreading of citizen rights, in guaranteeing that people are able to exercise their rights.”

In this context, Ocampo mentioned that the same document highlighted numerous achievements in Latin American democracy, and defined three important challenges still pending on which “there is a need to make much more progress.” The first it “how to improve citizen representation,” given the low levels of confidence in political parties and institutions; the second is “how to strengthen the organization of public powers,” considering the existing attacks on the independence of powers and difficulties to establish an effective control in the exercise of power; and the third is “how to improve the areas of statehood,” alluding to the need for the State to fulfill its responsibilities, especially in matters of tax policy, social integration and public security.

For her part, the Mayor of Lima, Susana Villarán, asserted that democracy cannot be viewed “as something to be conquered, but as something that must be developed.” She said democracy must be “substantive and relevant,” and added that “there is no full citizenship without the exercise of all rights, which are interdependent and indivisible.” This requires a “responsible” citizenship and an “active and participant civil society that contributes by promoting democratic practices.” There are still too many women, added the Mayor of Lima, “who live in conditions of inequality, who are marginalized, as are African American women, indigenous women and those whose sexual identities are not heterosexual.”

The expert from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Line Bareiro, focused her intervention on the concepts that must be considered when defining what she called “an agenda of citizenship” in current times.

In the first place, it is necessary to consider that the State is “mutating” and adapting its mechanisms, rooted in its origins in the 19th century, to current times, and in particular to the requirements of women’s equality. In this sense, she gave as an example the recent changes in favor of democracy in the Arab countries, where “for the first time there is a political movement in which the issue of women’s equality has become part of the agenda.” In this process, Bareiro explained, it is necessary to identify the location of the greatest risks so that “there is truly a democratic State, a region truly democratic and institutions that are truly democratic.”

Furthermore, the expert from CEDAW referred to the need to redefine the concept of citizen democracy, along with the creation of a meaningful agenda that defines both the obligations of states as well as those of citizens. Lastly, she proposed the creation within states of multiple partnerships, not necessarily permanent, that allow institutions in favor of women’s equality to achieve their objectives.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-599/11