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Towards a Gender-Sensitive Legislative Agenda for Development in the Americas Bogotá, Colombia, November 20-21, 2008
Recommendations Approved unanimously on November 21, 2008. We, women and men parliamentarians from across the Americas meeting for the Congress: “Towards a Gender-Sensitive Legislative Agenda for Development in the Americas” on November 20-21 in Bogotá, Colombia, make the following recommendations to be presented to our respective parliaments: Economic Policies and Gender · To take the first step in the design of an Action Plan so that parliaments in America have greater influence in development matters and that the latter promote gender equality. · To include a gender perspective as a central and cross-cutting dimension in the formulation of public budgets at the central, regional and local levels in a way that makes them balanced and sustainable and does not translate into piecemeal programs and projects that are marginal or subsidiary in nature. · To recognize the need to raise the visibility and equitable remuneration of women’s labour in trade agreements, leading to formal employment with the corresponding social protection and security guaranties. International Crisis, Development and Gender: Implications for the Americas · The world crisis particularly affects women, but crises can also provide opportunities. Therefore one must be creative so that the new order that has to be set up is not merely a superficial tweak to the current situation, but in-depth surgery based on an integral, inclusive and sustainable vision, and that gender inequality as well as other numerous existing inequalities are overcome. · To adopt new criteria to ensure the economic competitiveness of countries, ensuring that this does not lead to precarious income and new forms of exploitation. · To redefine the existing relationship between productive and reproductive labour so that women and men play an active role in both areas. Social Policies, Gender and Development · To adopt a social rights approach, especially a gender approach, in the design of social policies, keeping in mind that this represents a window of opportunity or a favorable scenario for the promotion of a dialogue between social and gender issues. · To recognize the following advantages in having a gender approach in social policies: (i) Consistency in the values between legislation and reality (ii) Institutional sustainability of the legislative, executive and judicial powers (iii) Greater social and political legitimacy (iv) Better social policies because it allows to detect existing types of discrimination to correct them. · Human rights should be recognized in social policies as is the case with criminal policies. Environmental and Sustainability and Gender · To develop new environmental and gender paradigms. · To take into account the culture and dignity of indigenous peoples in sustainable development. · To do a gender-sensitive audit of investments in natural resource sustainability. Democracy, Political-Electoral Reforms and Gender · To promote the linkage between the Legislative power and grass-roots social organizations so as to guarantee compliance with the quota law. · To raise the awareness of the media with the purpose of making the political participation of women more visible and to transform gender stereotypes. · To propose public financing for political participation that promotes the inclusion of women.
Juana Laverde Castañeda |
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