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The Dialogue on "Women's leadership in the Americas: next steps" took place on May 8th, 2019, in Santo Domingo (the Dominican Republic) at the margins of the 38th Assembly of Delegates to the CIM.
This event, which brought together Ministers and Delegates of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.
Continuing the discussion launched in New York during the CSW63, the Task Force presented some strategic lines of action, as a Communication and Advocacy Campaign on Women's Leadership, gathering the interest on the part of the States in accompanying these processes.
Women's leadership in the Declaration of Santo Domingo
The Delegates to the Inter-American Commission of Women of the OAS, declared their commitment to:
Access to the Declaration of Santo Domingo here;.
"Women’s Leadership in the National Agendas of the Americas and Caribbean” was a side-event hosted by the Government of Canada, in partnership with the Inter-American Commission of Women and the Inter-American Task Force on Women’s Leadership. It took place within the framework of the 63rd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN Headquarters in New York on March 13th, 2019.
The event, which brought together Ministerial and diplomatic representatives from more than 15 OAS Member States – Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay – as well as senior officials and experts from the member institutions of the Inter-American Task Force on Women’s Leadership, was an opportunity to reflect on the key barriers and challenges to advancing women’s leadership in the hemisphere, exchange national best practices, discuss policy options, and set a strategic direction for future collaboration on these issues.
Following the Ministerial policy dialogue, a participatory technical meeting analyzed five thematic axes for women’s leadership, which produced 21 recommendations for action, including advocacy and awareness-raising strategies, communication campaigns, as well as capacity-building programs. On the basis of these recommendations, the Task Force plotted its road map and prioritized specific joint initiatives.
In her remarks, the Director of the National Institute of Women of Mexico, Nadine Gasman, said: "Parity brings not only the voices of men and women but the voices of women in their diversity. Working with political parties is an opportunity and an obligation to bring the voices of indigenous, afro-descendant, rural, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women.”
The Hon. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development of St. Lucia, Gale Rigobert, added: “It is not sufficient for us to meet the statistical number, the numerical figure, that somehow gives the impression of parity. We need to emphasize the quality of participation”.
The Hon. Minister for International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality of Canada, Maryam Monsef, also remarked "We look forward to working together to further the already significant gains our hemisphere has achieved on women’s leadership to fully harness the power of women as decision-makers for all our societies".
In addition, the Hon. Minister for Women of the Dominican Republic, Janet Camilo, pointed: "This is the century of women, this is the century of equality. Equality is the main social change for managing power, for women to access to this power" .