Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Women announces the Grand National Consultation on the Legal and Social Status of Women 2026, a democratic and participatory process that will take place throughout the national territory, with the aim of identifying barriers, progress and challenges in access to justice for all women in the Dominican Republic.
The announcement was made during a meeting led by the Minister of Women, Gloria Reyes, together with the provincial governors, as part of the country’s preparations for its participation in the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 2026), whose priority theme is to guarantee and strengthen access to justice for all women and girls.
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During the meeting, the institution presented the methodology of the National Consultation, conceived as a multilevel, intersectoral and territorial exercise, which will allow inputs to be collected directly from the provinces, with the articulation of the governorates, the different powers of the State and key actors of the justice system.
Minister Reyes highlighted that this Grand National Consultation seeks to listen directly to women, identify geographical, cultural and structural barriers that limit their access to justice, make visible good local practices and generate consensus around the priorities of reform, institutional strengthening and public policies.
Likewise, the next steps of the process were shared, which include the holding of provincial consultations, a virtual consultation and a national closing meeting. The results will serve as input for the country position that the Dominican Republic will present before the CSW 2026, at the headquarters of the United Nations, in New York, next March, on the occasion of the commemoration of International Women’s Day.
With this initiative, the Ministry of Women reaffirms the commitment of the Dominican Government to offer an intersectoral, coordinated and focused response to violence against women, and to move towards more accessible, inclusive and effective justice systems for all.
During the meeting, an account of the participation of the Dominican Republic in the CSW was also presented, as well as the details of the methodology of the National Consultation on the Legal and Social Status of Women 2026, conceived as a democratic, participatory and multi-level exercise, aimed at collecting inputs from the territory and the different powers of the State.
Role of governors
During the meeting it was reaffirmed that the governors constitute the direct link between the Executive Branch and the territorial needs. Their knowledge about the operation of justice and protection services is essential to identify structural barriers that are not always visible in national statistics.
The Ministry of Women, as the governing body, recognizes that public policy is inert if it does not have a solid executing arm in the territory. In that sense, Minister Reyes stated that “currently there is an urgent need to strengthen the ties between the governing body and the governorates.”
The meeting had the support of the United Nations System, including the Resident Coordination Office, UNFPA and UNICEF, as well as the British Embassy, and will contribute to strengthening the positioning of the country and the Ministry of Women before CSW 2026, in coherence with the 2030 Agenda and the National Development Strategy.
