Central America to promote women's leadership
in local politics
May 29, 2006 – (INSTRAW) Last Friday in
Panama, Ministers from Central America and the United Nations
Institute for the Advancement of Women signed an agreement to
strengthen women's participation in decision making in local politics
within the framework of a project supported by Spanish cooperation.
The agreement on women's political participation
at the local level was signed at the end of two days of discussions
between the Council of Central American Ministers for Women's
Affairs [Consejo de Ministras de la Mujer de Centroamérica]
(COMMCA) and the United Nations International Research and Training
Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
The document, reached by consensus, stipulates
that INSTRAW and COMMCA will jointly develop national and regional
activities such as the preparation of research studies, technical
training workshops and the dissemination of good practices by
means of communications tools.
The strategic alliance between both institutions
is framed within the project "Strengthening governance with
a gender perspective and women's political participation at the
local level" financed by the Spanish Agency for International
Cooperation [Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional]
(AECI) and carried out by INSTRAW in countries of the Andean region,
in Central America and in Mexico.
According to statistics compiled by INSTRAW,
the political participation of women in Latin America has slowly
increased over the past decade, from 9% to 14% in executive positions,
from 5% to 13% in the senate, and from 8% a 15% in the lower house
or in single house parliaments.
"At the national level, there has been evidence
of a feminization of political life in Latin America," the
Director of INSTRAW, Carmen Moreno commented in the press conference.
"However, there is stagnation at the local level. Women who
represent more than 50% of the population in Latin American are
leading in only 5% of all the municipal governments", added
the head of the only UN institute working exclusively for women's
progress.
"This is totally unacceptable. Not only
for women. The still fragile democracies in Latin America cannot
advance if half of the population is wasted and if women's presence
in political life continues to be ignored", emphasized Carmen
Moreno.
The Panamanian Minister for Social Development
and President pro tempore of COMMCA, María Roquebert León
explained that "thanks to the technical assistance provided
by INSTRAW, the capacities of national gender institutions and
COMMCA will be strengthened in order to place the issue of women's
political participation on the agenda as an issue of democracy".
Also signing the document as honorary witness
was Leire Pajín, Spain's State Secretary of International
Cooperation, who attended the meeting with INSTRAW and the Central
American Ministers in Panama while concluding a round of scheduled
visits that included Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras.
Participating at the international encounter
held in Panama from 25 to 26 May were the Ministers or heads of
institutes for women from the Central American region: Zoila de
Innocenti (El Salvador), María Ester Vanegas (Nicaragua),
María Roquebert León (Panama), Jeannette Carillo
(Costa Rica), Leandra Pastora Bonilla (Honduras) and Patricia
Espinosa Torres (Mexico).
[Photographs and videos of the event are available
to journalists upon request.]Press contact: Mr. Laurent Duvillier
(Communications Assistant)
Tel: 1 809-685-2111 ext. 227 / e-mail: lduvillier@un-instraw.org
From: http://www.wunrn.com
