AMERICAS: Document Calls for Summit Agenda to Include Women's Issues
WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (IPS) - Calling the upcoming Summit of the Americas "a meeting of powerful men with meagre female participation," a group of Latin American and U.S. women called for adequate representation in the Miami summit.
"We have talked with those in charge of the summit. They claim they want to include women's issues on the agenda, but we don't have enough influence to get our voices heard," said Mayra Buvinic, president of the International Women's Research Centre.
During a press conference, Buvinic presented a document drawn up by 30 women who were called together by the International Centre and the Inter-American Dialogue group.
Costa Rica's Ambassador to Washington, Sonia Picado, expressed her frustration that the summit agenda only briefly mentions women in the category of minorities, along with indigenous and poor people, which she said is a way of brushing aside women's issues.
"Women are not a minority in Latin America; we are the majority. We cannot be put in the same category as indigenous people because they are entirely different issues," she said.
Picado claimed the exclusion of the issue from the summit agenda reflects the male chauvinistic attitude of Latin American societies, which she has run into when posing the problems of women to her colleagues from other countries.
Although she said that in Latin America there is often a gap between what governments say and do, Buvinic added that a direct commitment in the summit's final statement would give popular organisations a basis for demanding results.
The women's document called for the final summit accord to specifically mention the need for investment in regional projects to assure women access to high quality education, adequate health care, equal wages and financial resources.
The statement also called for respect of women's rights, including their right to hold key government and private sector decision-making positions; laws against physical abuse; and the stimulation of men's participation in housework and child care.
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