Avances

Project Initiates Learning Pathways in Costa Rica and El Salvador With the end goal of offering training programmes that respond to the learning requirements of local female leaders in Latin America, UN-INSTRAW, in conjunction with the Regional Corporation PROCASUR, will conduct two "Learning Pathways:" one in the Central American Region (August, 2008) and the other in the Andean Region (September, 2008). Interviews with Outstanding Costa Rican Women Nielsen Pérez, in charge of the Active Citizen’s Section of the National Institute of Women (INAMU) In an interview with UN-INSTRAW, Pérez explained the success of female political participation in his country in the following way: “in Costa Rica women have advanced significantly for various reasons: a system of 40% minimum quotas, the monitoring of the electoral tribunal to make sure that they meet these quotas, and the women’s feminist movement”. Elvia Villalobos, Mayoress of the San Isidro of Heredia canton in Costa Rica. In an interview with UN-INSTRAW, Villalobos emphasised the initiative to form the ‘Costa Rican Network of Women in Municipal Government,’ which today has become a reality. The Mayoress stressed the achievements in relation to the political participation of women in Costa Rica, a country that stands out in the region as having one of the highest percentages of women in local and national politics. Alliance between Women’s Agendas and Women in Municipal Government in Costa Rica Local Women’s Agendas are promoted by grassroots women, organised at local level, who work for the needs of gender equality and the municipality and who, on many occasions, go on to occupy elective positions in their municipalities. Within the framework of the UN-INSTRAW/AECID project and with the aim of strengthening the links between Local Women’s Agendas and women in municipal government, meeting workshops were organized in which it was established that the proposed Agendas would be discussed in the assemblies of RECOMM. Women in Municipal Government Create Space in the Virtual World Every day it becomes more and more necessary to use the various features of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) - from the use of email to keep up free-flowing communication between partners, to obtaining internet space that allows you to not only become known, but also to interact with others and respond to the needs of women. For women in municipal government, handling ICTs is a deeply-felt necessity that they have expressed during many stages of the project. For this reason, within the framework of the project, ACOBOL’s interactive portal in Bolivia and the construction of RECOMM’s website in Costa Rica have been promoted. In addition, training workshops were developed with the end goal of promoting a free-flowing and constant communication between the women in municipal government and the Local Agendas. Political Participation of Women is the Highest in the Region According to the results of the UN-INSTRAW study “Comprehensive Analysis: Governance, Gender and Women’s Political Participation”, in the second-to-last electoral period Costa Rica was the country with the greatest number of female mayor and councillor elects, and interestingly, it has the highest rate of abstention in the region. It also has the greatest coverage of gender institutions in Central America. Institutions Join Forces to Support Women from Municipal Governments in RECOMM Coordination Platform to Support the Political Participation of Women at the Local Level National Institute of Women INAMU UN-INSTRAW/AECID Project Institute of Municipal Development IFAM National Union of Local Governments (UNGL) The Central American and Caribbean Foundation for Local Development and Municipal and Institutional Strengthening (DEMUCA Foundation) Decentralization and Local Development Programme – PROMUDE The Costa Rican Local and Communal Development Project /GTZ-PRODELO UN-Hábitat The Arias Foundation Costa Rican women in municipal government demonstrated their capacity for management and inter-institutional work practises by establishing alliances at the national, regional and local levels with a series of institutions united by the following common interests: to support women in municipal governments and to see to their organisation and training requirements. Since 1997, women in municipal government in Costa Rica have wanted to form a network. Within the framework of the UN-INSTRAW/AECID project “Strengthening Governance from a Gender Perspective and Women's Political Participation at the Local Level in Latin America”, they are beginning to take concrete actions towards the formation of such a national network. During the second and third years of the project (2007-2008), a series of events were organised to promote dialogue between the women from municipal government and organisations that are key to the support of the network. As a result, the ‘Coordination Platform of Support to the Political Participation of Women at Local Level’ has been formed. It will support the constitution and strengthening of the 'Costa Rican Network of Women in Municipal Government’ (RECOMM), formed in March of 2008 with 200 founding members.