Madame Chairwoman,
It is an honor for the delegation of Colombia to speak on behalf of
the Rio Group, on the consideration of agenda
item three for the forty-fourth session of the Commission that refers
to the "Follow-up to the Fourth World
Conference on Women".
The countries of the Rio Group - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican
Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela,
and Guyana, on behalf of the countries of the Caricom, would like to
thank the Secretary-General and the
Secretariat for the preparation of the documents for this session that
have been presented to us.
Madame Chairwoman,
Several important events for the advancement of women have taken place
since the last session of the
Commission a year ago, notably among them the adoption by the 54th General
Assembly of the Convention for
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This is
an important development that will benefit
women all over the world. It is significant that six countries members
of the Rio Group subscribed the Protocol on
the very same day it was opened for subscription. Another important
event was the 20th Anniversary of the
Convention and the positive outcome and activities that took place.
We are now drawing close to the Special Session on "Women 2000:
Gender equality, development and Peace in
the 21St Century", where we will conduct a thorough review and
analysis of the achievements and implementation
of the Nairobi strategies for the advancement of Women and the Beijing
Declaration and Plan of Action, five
years after their adoption. We will also consider future actions and,
needless to-say, we have great expectations
about the outcome of this work.
As part of the preparatory process for this Session, the subsidiary
organs of ECOSOC'S Regional Commissions
have met in several places. The results of these meetings have been
very useful and should be taken into account
in the Special Session. In the case of Latin America, the meeting took
place this month in Lima convened as the
VIII Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean.
We would like to share with the Commission some of the results of
this important Regional Conference which
gave us the opportunity to analyze the advancements and challenges facing
the implementation in our region of the
Beijing Platform for Action, as well as the Regional Program of Action
for the Women of Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Madame Chairwoman,
Let me begin by pointing out that economic growth in our region was
3.6% between 1991 and 1998, with a
strong decline registered in 1999, which gives an overall figure of
3% for the decade of the 90's. Growth has not
only been moderate but also the opportunities generated by globalization
have not always been distributed in an
equitable manner and have carried negative effects for gender equality,
as a result of the phenomenon of the
"feminization of poverty".
The most significant changes during the past decade in Latin America
have come as a consequence of the massive
and accelerated entry of women into the labor market, the universal
access to the different levels of education, the
steady increment of the participation of women in the decision making
process and the greater coverage of
reproductive and maternal health services.
Several advances have been made in the legislative level, the formulation
of national plans based on equality, the
enactment of legislation on participatory percentages, the creation
of governmental mechanisms in favor of women
and the recognition of their rights as citizens. We must note as well
the greater economic independence of women,
which will bring additional benefits to the region. Moreover there is
a wider recognition of the need to strengthen
human rights in all spheres.
These positive changes have been countered by shortcomings in other
areas, such as the unequal tendencies of
economic development, the growing inequalities in the education system,
the general deterioration of the health
services and its utilization by a wide sector of the population.
Governments, working together with civil society, have conceived different
strategies to incorporate a gender
focus in all aspects of public policy by means of multidisciplinary,
intersectorial and participatory schemes. The
results, implications and new challenges of these efforts are just beginning
to show at the end of nineties, five years
after the adoption of the Beijing Platform and six years since the Regional
Action Program for the Women of Latin
America and the Caribbean.
In all of our countries national offices for the advancement of women
have been opened in the last past years,
which have contributed to the process of modernization and institutionalization
inspired by the Fourth World
Conference and which have given women's roles a greater visibility and
recognition. Many things have been done
but we still have a long way to travel.
All the member countries of the Rio Group have adopted national plans
for the advancement of women with the
responsible purpose of implementing commitments made in all international
conferences, particularly those in the
Beijing Platform for Action. The great majority of these plans have
been drafted with the participation by civil
society.
Madame Chairwoman,
In past years, there has also been a significant development in the
consolidation of justice from the perspective of
gender. We can say that the most significant changes are in the recognition
and the exercise of women's rights.
Social mobilization and advancement in the legislative systems have
contributed to a positive evolution of cultural
patterns, the formation of new leaders and the democratic debate in
our countries.
The countries associated to the Group of Rio and others in our region
have signed and ratified the Convention for
the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, a sign
that illustrates and shows the firm political
commitment to obtain equality for women in our societies. The constitutional
and legal reforms adopted in our
countries have taken their inspiration from this Convention and as well
as from the Inter-American Convention to
Prevent, Sanction and Eradicate Violence against Women, which set the
legal basis to guide our efforts and
practices.
Madame Chairwoman,
We are aware of the great changes that we are going through at the
present time and of the efforts undertaken
since Beijing, but we know that there is still much to be done. Moreover,
we have great expectations about this
current session of the Commission.
The member countries of the Rio Group reaffirm the contents of the
Declaration of Veracruz, where we solemnly
commit ourselves to promote full participation of women in all spheres
of public life, in the conditions of equality
with men.
Thank you, Madame Chairwoman
