Conference:  Women´s Participation and Political Representation Towards a Horizon of Parity in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Secretary of State for Women´s Affairs, gave an important address at the, “Women´s Participation and Political Representation Towards a Horizon of Parity in Latin America and the Caribbean” conference held under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).  Sonia Montaño, sociologist from the University of Paris VIII and Chief of the Women and Development Unit of (ECLAC), oversaw the conference.

The conference was held with the idea of creating an approach to encourage the sharing of strategies, methodologies and experience to facilitate the advance and achievement of women’s rights  in the various areas of government representation and political development with the goal of consolidating Gender Equality on a state as well as institutional level among the countries of the region, as explained in the statement sent today from the Department of Communications from the Secretary of Women´s Affairs.

Ms. Montaño explained that in addition to demanding the fulfillment of the legal quota for government jobs, women’s struggle must also concentrate on filling jobs in which they have decision-making power.   

Along this same line, the sociologist pointed out that in the majority of developed countries women already form part of public life and that their positions in society are far different than in the past. She attributes this change to women’s integration in the labor market on the same level as their male counterparts.

Ms. Montaño added that the quota system is controversial even among women who are demanding labor equality with men, which is often viewed as a gift rather than a right for which they struggled and won.

In her speech, Flavia García, Secretary of State for Women expressed that this institution has assumed the international commitments and agreements that seek to strengthen the various mechanisms designed to encourage an exchange of strategies, methodologies and experience to facilitate the achievement of women’s equality in the region.

This activity is enshrined in the commitments and agreements reached at the 10th Session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin American and the Caribbean held in Quito, Ecuador in August 2007 where the Secretary of State for Women’s Affairs in the Dominican Republic participated.