PLAN OF ACTION ON WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POWER AND DECISION-MAKING STRUCTURES

(Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session held on November 18, 1998)

THE TWENTY-NINTH REGULAR MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLY OF DELEGATES OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION OF WOMEN,

RECALLING:

That the Twenty-eighth Regular Meeting of the Assembly of Delegates adopted resolution CIM/RES. 189 (XXVIII-O/96), convening the Inter-American Meeting of Consultation of the CIM, to address the subject "Women’s participation in power and decision-making structures," with emphasis on the implementation of measures for the development of work by governments;

That pursuant to that mandate, the CIM held the Meeting of Consultation from February 17 to 19, 1998, which was the highpoint of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the CIM; and

That as a result of that meeting, the experts participating in the event made timely strategic recommendations that may be implemented and produce results in the short-term;

BEARING IN MIND:

That this is a priority topic of the Strategic Plan of Action of the CIM and is considered essential to the implementation of policies which incorporate a gender focus in the member states of the Organization;

That the CIM has contributed to and actively participated in international fora such as the Seventh ECLAC Regional Conference on the Integration of Women into the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Santiago, Chile in November, 1997, and in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly; and

That this subject has also been discussed at other summits and regional meetings, such as "Vital Voices," held in Montevideo, Uruguay in, October 1998; and

CONSIDERING:

That document CIM/doc.39/98 is the final report of the Inter-American Meeting of Consultation, which formulates a Plan of Action consisting of: (1) subregional diagnoses; (2) general hemispheric diagnosis; and (3) areas for priority action,

RESOLVES:

1. To adopt the Strategic Plan of Action for Women’s Participation in Power and Decision-Making Structures, agreed at the Inter-American Meeting of Consultation of the CIM, and to request that the Permanent Secretariat publish it as soon as possible.

2. To recommend to the Delegates that they foster measures to implement the strategies proposed in the Strategic Plan of Action, and that they report on their progress in the report they present to the next meeting of the Assembly of Delegates.

3. To instruct the Executive Committee to obtain from the competent organs of the OAS a legal opinion on the compatibility of affirmative measures, including the quota system, to promote the political participation of women, with the principle of nondiscrimination on grounds of sex, with national laws, and the corresponding international instruments.