COMMCA
Preparatory Process for the Summit on
Gender, Integration and Development
Inter-American Commission of Women
Organization of American States
Washington ,D.C., USA
05 October 2009
COMMCA in the
Central American Integration System (SICA)
• Subregional Network of National Mechanisms for the
Advancement of Women of Mexico, CA and the Caribbean,
created in 1990
• Arises from the need to create closer ties of cooperation
among the National Mechanisms and the urgency to include
women’s institutionality in the integration process
• Incorporated in SICA at the 26th Meeting of Presidents and
Heads of Government of the Member Countries of the
System. Decision 13 signed on 30 June 2005 in Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Attributes
Sectoral body of SICA governing gender matters, its aims
are to:
• Open an institutional space for women in the regional
decision process
• Incorporate and mainstream gender vision in
integration themes
Mission
Under the powers granted under the Tegucigalpa Protocol and
the Rules of Regulatory Acts of SICA , COMMCA:
•
Makes determinations regarding political, economic, social and
cultural matters that promote and link the development of the
countries making up SICA
•
Promotes policy proposals in the regional sphere aimed at
transforming the condition, situation and position of Central
American women for gender equity
COMMCA ADVANCES AND CHALLENGES
• Strategic Plan 2006-2009
• Signature of agreements with SICA
(establishment of the TS and the Spain- SICA
Fund)
• Multi-annual Plan 2009-2011
• Studies (trade and trafficking of women,
femicide, non-remunerated domestic work,
gender profiling) supported by: UNIFEM, IOM,
INSTRAW, others)
• Justice Observatory
• Internal coordination of SICA
• Training of SICA officers
• Participation in the Forum on Alignment and
Harmonization of International Cooperation
• Coordination with women’s organizations having
regional presence
• Summit on Gender, Integration and Development
• Strategic Plan 2009-2013
• Promote and drive new policies and lines of action
responding to gender priorities and strengthen
COMMCA capacities in SICA institutionality
• Crosscutting themes: economic autonomy, political
participation, gender violence and gender institutionality
in SICA
• Monitoring of the Multi-annual Plan 20092011
• Incorporate gender equality and equity as
basic principles of the SICA countries’ process
of Central American integration
• Execution and coordination of the theme of
gender with SICA institutionality
• Political and technical backing for the theme
of gender
• Articulation of processes for international
funding
• Coordination with women’s organizations
having regional presence
Positioning
Consolidaction
2005-2009
2009-2013
INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCES (to date)
UNIFEM
UNFPA
INSTRAW
COMMCA
IOM
AECID
PAHO/WHO
UNDP
INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCES (in process)
ILO
EUROPEAN
UNIO
JICA
COMMCA
CHILE
CIM/OAS
MERCOSUR
REMMA
Regional Agenda on Gender
• We face a new stage aimed at consolidating not only the advances
obtained thus far, but also a Regional Agenda on Gender.
• This will require combining between our own agenda of themes of
interest to COMMCA and to the women of the region, and the regional
integration agenda.
• We consider that three actions are important in order to move ahead in
this direction:
– Execution of the Strategic Plan 2009-2013
– Hold the Summit on Gender, Integration and Development 2009
– Strategic alliances with political and social entities in and outside of
SICA
Work Priorities Second Half of 2009
1. Institutional strengthening of COMMCA
2. Regional Strategic Planning
3. Celebration of the Summit on Gender, Integration
and Development
The Summit
Mandate:
Decision 50 from the Minutes of the 33rd Meeting
of Heads of State and Government of SICA, December 2008:
“Instruct the SG-SICA to, in coordination with COMMCA and the
Chair pro tempore, initiate as soon as possible the
intersectoral preparatory work with the Councils of Ministers
that may be necessary in order to celebrate, in the second half
of 2009, an Extraordinary Meeting of Presidents for debate on
the theme of gender, integration and development and to
prepare the Inter-American Year of Women in 2010”
Summit Objectives
• From the regional arena, drive actions that promote
dialogue and convergence for presidential
agreements
on
gender,
integration
and
development, in the context of the world economic
crisis, such that the different SICA bodies and
international donors commit to giving their support
for the agreed actions.
• Prepare for the celebration in 2010 of the InterAmerican Year of Women proclaimed by the
Organization of American States (OAS)
Relevance for the Region
• The mandate sets a high-impact precedent with
respect to decision making and policy design
from a gender perspective in the region.
• Holding the Summit will make it possible to
address themes of special interest for the
promotion and advancement of women’s rights
in the region.
Relevance for the region
• The countries’ commitment to gender will be
ratified in both the regional and international
sphere.
• Aimed at the articulation of themes of interest for
the region that will strengthen gender
institutionality in the countries and in the region as
a whole, with the accompaniment of different
actors and alliances that drive gender themes.
Crosscutting Themes
1
Economic
Autonomy
2
3
Political
Participation
Gender
Mainstreaming
Gender Violence
Economic Autonomy
• The Summit will come about with the commitment
of Member States and Associates that guarantee
and strengthen the advances obtained in women’s
economic rights.
• It is essential that issues such as employment,
productive assets (access to credit, land tenure),
public budgets and care economy be addressed in
the current context.
Political Participation
• In institutionality, it is necessary to move forward in
the search for mechanisms so that special attention
is given to ensuring equal opportunities in selection
and administrative processes to designate decisionmaking posts, as well as those at other levels in
SICA.
• Assess the feasibility of harmonizing the legislation,
institutions and instruments of SICA Member
States, in the area of gender
SICA Institutionality
• Have a gender mainstreaming strategy in SICA,
combined between the COMMCA agenda and
the Central American integration agenda in
different areas of interest for the region
PROCESS OF DISCUSSION AND SOCIALIZATION FOR CONSENSUS
IDENTIFICATION
OF INPUTS
National Mechanisms
Strategic
Crosscutting
Themes
(CONCEPTUAL,
ASPECTS,
EXPECTATIONS
AND OTHERS)
Institutions
involved in the
themes
SICA/COMMCA
Women’s
organizations
Council of Ministers of
Foreign Relations
Regional political, technical and communication strategy
July to December 2009
AGREEMENTS
FOR THE
PRESIDENTIAL
SUMMIT
SUMMIT AGENDA
9 December 2009
07 December 2005
• Intersectoral preparatory
meetings
• Extraordinary Meeting of SICA
Presidents
8 December 2009
• Inaugural session
•
• Panels (5)
•
• Simultaneous forums (4) on
themes of interest for the •
region
– COMMCA video (3 minutes)
– Expert presentation
– Dialogue between Presidents and
Ministers
– Reading and signature of
presidential agreements
Press conference
Space for CIM (to be
determined)
COMMCA Ministers/CIM
meeting
• Closing session
GENDER AGENDA IN SICA
to 2013
Challenge
1. COMMCA (TS in
SICA)
2. Consideration
of women and
their demands
3. Articulation of
key actors
Advances
Gender
mainstreaming
in processes of
integration
Gender
equality and
equity in the
region
Achievement
PROCESS OF CENTRAL AMERICAN INTEGRATION
to 2013
Thank you very much!
E-mail INAMU
PPT-COMMCA
[email protected]
http: www.sica.org/commca