|
|
|
Through this site UN-INSTRAW wants to share its project results with the women and men working for gender equality in government, academia, women’s or indigenous organizations, and international cooperation agencies amongst others.
In spite of international agreements, extended efforts and the many initiatives in place, the political participation of women in decision-making at the local level continues to be significantly and unjustly less than that of men. At the same time, women’s interests and needs are not being adequately considered in local planning and management.
UN-INSTRAW’s project ‘Strengthening Governance from a Gender Perspective and Women's Political Participation at the Local Level in Latin America‘ analyses governance processes, the difficulties women face in everyday participation, and useful strategies to overcome these difficulties. In broad terms, the main goal of this initiative is the promotion of women’s rights, gender equality, participation and political leadership in local government planning and management in Latin America.
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) has funded the three-year project which focuses on the political participation of women in 10 Latin American countries from the Andean and Central American regions.
Phase One - 2006
In March 2006, UN-INSTRAW began the first phase of the project in which seven studies, relating to governance, gender and women’s political participation at the local level, were carried out.
Additionally, tools were developed to encourage a more effective inclusion of gender issues at local level and symposiums, with the purpose of presenting the results, were held in each of the 10 countries included in the project.
In addition, the Council of Ministers for Women’s Affairs in Central America (COMMCA) and UN- INSTRAW signed an agreement directed towards joining forces for the advancement of common objectives.
Phase Two Strengthening Competence - 2007
Based on these findings, in its second phase the project focused on strengthening the competence of the target groups. Specific actions were carried out in 5 countries - Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic - and revolved around three core themes:
1. Information
In the information area, materials and discussion spaces were developed aimed at disseminating project findings (website, summaries, virtual forums etc). These resources have motivated women from Bolivia and Ecuador working in the municipal sector to start up innovative new activities.
Actions
- Project website development
-Virtual Forums relating to key themes in women’s political participation
-Study Summaries
-Radio programs in Bolivia
-Dissemination to the media of activities and project findings
|
2. Matters For Action
In this area a series of activities were identified based on research findings and the needs of the women; their requirements centered mainly on strengthening ICTs and training in political advocacy. Trends in training methods point towards experiential learning by way of learning pathways and shared learning.
Actions
-Publication of Local Agenda
-Alliance between COMMCA and UN-INSTRAW to support the political participation of Central American women
-Survey on training initiatives
Conceptual Map/ Political Path.
Training in ICT in Bolivia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
|
3. Articulation of Stakeholders
 The objective of this core area is to promote dialogue among stakeholders (local government women’s associations, regional institutions such as COMMCA, gender institutions of the countries in the region, women in parliament, cooperation agencies, and national and municipal associations amongst others) with an end goal of developing common interest initiatives.
Actions
-Stakeholder Mapping
-Support in the constitution of the ‘Costa Rican Network of Women in Municipal Government’ REDECOM
-Support COMMCA
-Promote the development of initiatives between women from Ecuador and Bolivia that work in Municipal Government
-Seminar: ‘Gender in Local Development’
|
Phase Three - 2008
While the third phase is dedicated to promoting gender oriented public policy at local level we also reaffirm the relevance of continuing to work on the three core themes identified in the second phase. Some of the actions in progress are:
1. Information
-Basic booklets
-Glossary of key terms in political participation
-Interactive portal ACOBOL
-A special issue about the project in Chorlavi’s ‘InterCambios’ newsletter
- An exploration of indicators related to the political participation of women at the local level
|
2. Matters For Action
-Identification and design of conceptual pathways and experiential learning methods with national and regional focuses
-Development of a tool for Electoral Systems
- Training in the Dominican Republic
|
3. Articulation of Stakeholders
- The on-going support of initiatives in 5 chosen countries: Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and El Salvador
- An event will be organized in order to present the results from the 3 years of the project as well as promote dialogue between the local, national and regional levels.
|
|
|
