UN Institute, Central American Ministers agree to promote

 

greater participation of women in local politics

 

SANTO DOMINGO, 29 May (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.

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 per cent to 14 per cent in executive positions, from 5 per cent to 13 per cent in the senate, and from 8 per cent a 15 per cent 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 at the press conference.  “However, there is stagnation at the local level.  Women who represent more than 50 per cent of the population in Latin American are leading in only 5 per cent of all the municipal governments”, added the head of the only United Nations 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 Ms. 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).

Press contact:  Laurent Duvillier, tel.: 1 809-685-2111, ext. 227; e-mail: lduvillier@un-instraw.org.

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For information media • not an official record