Madame Chairman,
Let me say first of all how pleased the delegations representing the
member States of the Rio Group are to see
you preside over our work. It is an honour for the region that a woman
of your experience is chairing the work of
the Third Committee.
With regard to the items contained in this session's agenda, on behalf
of the delegations of the Rio Group, I would
like to thank the Secretariat for preparing the reports which are now
before us and which we are sure would help
us to bring our work to a successful conclusion.
Madame Chairman,
An old Latin saying refers to timing and opportunities. Thus, after
the recent special session of the General
Assembly held last June, where we made a pause along the way and reflected
on our successes and failures, we
had an opportunity to demonstrate that commitments were being translated
into action and ideas changed from
plans into realities. For the countries on whose behalf I speak, the
challenge is an ongoing one. In some
programmes, we are taking our first steps, while in many others the
road already travelled has been a long one
and the stages completed have permitted us to acquire valuable experience,
which we share with the different
national and regional entities working for the advancement of women.
Six years have passed since the adoption of the Regional Programme
of Action for Women in Latin America and
the Caribbean, five since Beijing and three since the Seventh Regional
Conference, which adopted the Santiago
Consensus that identified priority areas of action as well as obstacles.
In each case, our countries have responded
with enthusiasm. Both State institutions and non-governmental organizations
and the women's movement put their
hands to the wheel and worked to achieve the goals that had been set.
Subsequently, the time for evaluation
arrived and we placed in the balance the good and the bad, progress
and setbacks, reached agreements and
pledged ourselves to embark on new initiatives.
A reflection of this evaluation and of the importance that our countries
attach to the theme of the advancement of
women has been the large number of agreements that have been reached
or which are about to be concluded,
such as the Port of Spain Consensus, approved at the Third Caribbean
Ministerial Conference on Women, held
on October 1999; the Lima Consensus, adopted at the Eighth Regional
Conference, on 10 February 2000; and
the Declaration of Panama, adopted by the Ministers responsible for
women's policies of the countries of Latin
America, as part of the preparations for the Tenth Ibero-American Summit
of Heads of State and Government,
which will be held in Panama City, on 17 and 18 November 2000. Mention
must also be made of the Political
Declaration and the New Measures and Initiatives to implement the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action.
The countries that comprise the Rio Group have differences in terms
of productive development and growth. The
opportunities created by the process of globalization have offered clear
opportunities for development. In some
cases, however, its benefits have not been equitably distributed, thereby
impeding efforts to promote the
advancement of women, particularly those living in poverty.
Global and regional agreements, together with national initiatives,
have led to an improvement in the juridical
frameworks of our countries, by eliminating vestiges of discrimination
contained in the laws. This has shown that
with determination it is possible to overcome great obstacles. Crucial
issues now feature prominently in the public
debate in all our societies, such as the role that the State can play
in correcting inequalities, the organized
participation of civil society, the eradication of violence against
women, in particular domestic violence, recognition
of the sexual and reproductive rights of women and the need for family
responsibilities to be shared between men
and women.
Madame Chairman,
The countries of the Rio Group hope that the new initiatives agreed
upon in June will soon be translated into
concrete programmes, which we will continue to review. We attach particular
importance to the appeal made to
the regional commissions by the Economic and Social Council to develop
within their respective mandates and
resources a database containing information on all projects and programmes
of the different agencies and
programmes of the United Nations. This will facilitate their follow-up
and evaluation and without doubt will
contribute to better coordination. In the specific case of Latin America
and the Caribbean, this database has
already been established by ECLAC, thereby demonstrating the commitment
of the region to this goal.
We also attach particular importance to research, dissemination of
specialized material and to training as key
instruments for identifying priorities and elaborating and executing
plans and programmes. In this connection, we
wish to reiterate our thanks for the excellent work done by the International
Research and Training Institute for the
Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), despite its limited human and material
resources and we appeal to all
delegations to strengthen this institution and to fight for its future.
It would be a great error to allow the death of the
only Institute dedicated exclusively to the advancement of women through
research and training.
Madame Chairman,
With regard to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, I am pleased to report that the majority of the countries of
Latin America have subscribed to this
important international instrument and we hope to be able to ratify
it in the near future. In this connection, we
welcome the tenth ratification, which took place a few days ago and,
even moreso, its imminent entry into force on
22 December.
Madame Chairman,
In conclusion, on behalf of the Rio Group, permit me to take this
opportunity to reaffirm our intention to continue
to struggle for full equality of rights and opportunities for women.
The construction of a more just society has been
the watchword that has united us since prior to the Mexico Conference
in 1975.
Thank you very much.
