Women in leadership for a democratic society.

• Author: Ochoa, Gina
• Position: OAS - Conference notes

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In early April, the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), with the support of the UN Women and of the Ibero-American General Secretariat, organized the First Hemispheric Forum on "Women's Leadership for a Citizens' Democracy." The Forum sought to improve understanding about the challenges the democratic system is currently facing in its efforts to guarantee women the ability to exercise substantive political citizenship.

In the opening session of the Forum, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza highlighted the progress that has been made towards equal rights for women in the region and the fact that "all of the Constitutions of the countries in the region establish equal rights for women and men." In spite of this, however, he noted that "significant challenges" remain, such as "prejudices and stereotypes" in the political environment.

"Prejudices and resistance to the equality of women in political institutions and the state present serious obstacles for the construction of a citizens' democracy that works proactively to make citizenship substantive and diverse both ethnically and culturally," said Insulza who also advocated for increasing the political representation of women in the various branches of government.

The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, gave a keynote address in which she praised the creation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter as an instrument that promotes and contributes to gender equality and to the participation of women in decision making. She offered an analysis of the achievements and political participation of women in the last few decades, and she presented a number of recommendations for advancing towards the future. "Today's women in politics are more self-confident, more ambitious, more competitive, and are motivated not only by an interest in promoting women's issues and concerns, but also by the...