This month...

Overcoming obstacles to
Gender Mainstreaming

in Latin America and the Caribbean

Although the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy has been applied to public policy since the Beijing Conference (1995), there are still many obstacles hindering its implementation. Major challenges derive from the lack of clarity in the conceptual approach to equality, insufficient political will and technical capacity issues in some cases, and lack of impact assessments of the strategies implemented, among others. This results in the absence of government policies to address gender strategic objectives.

For this reason, the Gender Practice Area of the UNDP Regional Centre in Panama, with the support of the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation, has initiated a regional process to reflect on gender mainstreaming. This regional initiative for analysis and action will promote the detection of problems, needs and challenges faced in operationalizing the gender mainstreaming strategy in public policies. South-South cooperation and exchange among countries will play a crucial role in finding solutions and tools to overcome such obstacles and difficulties. Read more

Call: Best Practices for Mainstreaming Gender in Latin America and the Caribbean

October 29, 2010
Deadline for submitting experiences

Has your institution undertaken any institutional changes that have positively impacted the achievement of gender objectives set by the government?
Has your institution excelled in developing tools and initiatives to facilitate and improve the gender mainstreaming?
Do you know any institution that has achieved good results owing to the implementation of gender mainstreaming?

We want you to share your experience with other countries in the region and benefit from others’ innovations to mainstream gender in public policy

With its "Overcoming obstacles to gender mainstreaming in Latin America and the Caribbean" initiative –financed by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation–, the Gender Practice Area of the UNDP Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean wishes to identify cutting-edge experiences on gender mainstreaming in the region. All short-listed experiences will be disseminated through the portal América Latina Genera. In addition, some of them will be selected by a panel of experts to be systematized and included in a reference publication entitled "Best Practices for Mainstreaming Gender in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Furthermore, the selected initiatives will be invited to participate in regional processes of exchange to share information, resources and tools and methodologies.

To participate, please, fill the experience application form. To send completed applications or for further information or inquires, contact: ivonne.urriola@undp.org; neus.bernabeu@undp.org

New this month

‘Policies that transform’, audiovisual series now online
Care Policy. It is urgent to redistribute care responsibilities between states, businesses and families to build a more egalitarian social model. Let’s move towards new forms of reconciliation with social co-responsibility. Watch video
Watch video	Sexual and Reproductive Health High rates of teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality, especially among poorer women, unequal access to sexual and reproductive health services, lack of male responsibility and setbacks in the legislation for therapeutic abortion. It is necessary for States to assume their responsibility in the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights.
Women Parliamentarians, from inclusion to parity It is still necessary to eliminate obstacles to women entering the political arena and, especially, staying in it: parties’ patriarchal structures, unequal distribution of caregiving tasks, lack of economic resources to be in politics.	Watch video
Watch video	Violence against women. Progress and challenges to end violence against women in the region. Legal frameworks, statistics, communication and experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Preparatory workshops on gender and disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean

America Latina Genera and the Gender Practice Area participated in this initiative to prepare the IV International Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction. The workshop included six thematic panels: Context and developments at the regional level; Women and disasters; People with disabilities and disasters; People living with HIV and Disasters; Children, youth, the elderly and disasters; Risk management, climate change and gender; and, finally, a teamwork session.
Yolanda Villar, Gender Advisor of the América Latina Genera team focused her participation on advances, approaches, and tools and the presentation of the GREG methodology. see presentation.

Gender mainstreaming in the Central American Integration System

On September 8, 9 and 10, a meeting was held in El Salvador to develop the Framework Strategy on Gender Mainstreaming of the Central American Integration System (SICA).

Ivonne Urriola, from the Gender Practice Area, participated in this process by sharing the experience of gender mainstreaming of UNDP in Latin America and the Caribbean.
see presentation.

In addition to SICA institutions, Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women in Central America and International Cooperation Agencies also participated in the meeting.

Women count for peace

1325

For the full and equal participation of women in conflict resolution and prevention of violence against women in conflict zones

Women and girls are the direct targets of fighting, when sexual violence is deliberately used as a tactic of warfare. Yet, only about three dozen individuals have been convicted and jailed by international war crimes tribunals for committing widespread sexual violence. (UNIFEM)

Ten years ago, in its landmark resolution 1325, the United Nations Security Council called for women's full and equal participation in all elements of peacemaking after conflict. And above all, this resolution was intended to visualize, sue and punish those who command and/or commit sexual violence in conflict. But implementation of this historic resolution has been too slow. This is a call for people to urge their governments make resolution 1325 becomes a reality. Sign the petition here