Panama will host the Thirty-ninth Assembly of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) on the 25th and 26th of this month, after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Panama will be the bridge for a strategic meeting between Authorities for the advancement of women’s rights in the region and Europe, which will bring them together for two days, with the central objective of strengthening alliances between them, and also with civil society and other multiple actors in favor of policies and laws for the economic empowerment and leadership of women.
The event will include the participation of the Minister of Social Development of Panama, María Inés Castillo, the Minister of Women of the Dominican Republic and President of the Steering Committee of the OAS Inter-American Commission of Women, and the Executive Secretary of the CIM, Alejandra Mora Mora, as well as principal and alternate delegates to the CIM.
Minister Castillo indicated that this powerful collective demand for equal rights for women throughout the hemisphere was the catalyst for the creation of the CIM in 1928, a time when only women in the United States and Canada could exercise their right to vote.
“There is no doubt that, just as we have achieved great and important advances in this matter, we still have a long way to go,” he said.
The head of the social portfolio assured that Panama will always be a space to promote respect for women’s rights and gender equality.
“We have a clear north, incorporating the gender perspective in public policies and continuing to move towards equity based on the different documents and declarations,” added the head of the social portfolio.
“Moving forward on the gender agenda requires intersectional, intersectoral dialogues and, above all, in multilateralism; the equality agenda cannot and should not be left behind, but above all by positioning women, and their leadership, at the center of sustainable development in the region,” said Executive Secretary Alejandra Mora Mora.
During this meeting, the delegates will review the Draft Strategic Plan for the 2022-2026 period of the CIM with the aim of approving it.
This project is the result of a broad consultation process that has taken into account the progress, challenges and achievements of previous periods.
It is worth mentioning that Panama will present its candidacy through the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES) for the period 2022-2025, which will be analyzed at the meeting.
