WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, CMC – The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, has called for the adoption of affirmative action laws in addressing the issue of political representation of women in the region.
“The only way to achieve real equality is through affirmative action laws,” Insulza told the 49th OAS Policy Roundtable on “The Rights of Women: From Law to Practice,” at OAS headquarters here.
The roundtable discussed the progress made in legal frameworks and the challenges that persist in the implementation of the human rights of women in the region.
“It is no longer enough to simply proclaim these laws, because there is always some excuse or another for not having enough female candidates in various elections and the numbers are not good,” Insulza said.
Noting that the OAS’ Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) is celebrating 85 years since its founding, the Secretary General said it is “the only hemispheric policy forum for the rights of women and gender equality.”
Insulza underscored the importance of the topic of discussion of the roundtable, warning that “the gap between the formal recognition of rights in legal systems and the direct and indirect discrimination against women is still a major concern.”
CIM President and Minister for the Status of Women in Costa Rica, Maureen Clarke, said while formal discrimination against women by social institutions in the region is low, “informal discrimination in our societies still limits the full citizenship of women.”
“For the majority of women in the region, existing international and national legislation and constitutional guarantees of equality have not yet been translated into reality,” she said.
Clarke said the roundtable was one of several that CIM will hold this year in sharing information, best practices, and other reflections on opportunities and challenges in the implementation of national and international legal frameworks on women’s rights.
The roundtables will also “identify concrete public policies to advance in the exercise of these rights for all the women in the hemisphere,” she added.