Ninety-five years of the Inter-American Commission of Women

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Our delegation thanks you and Ambassador Anthony Phillips-Spencer, Chair of the Permanent Council, for convening this special meeting to commemorate the ninety-fifth anniversary of the creation of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), under the theme “Opening paths, building equality”.

We greet Her Excellency María Inés Castillo, Minister of Social Development of the Republic of Panama, in her capacity as President of the CIM; the Executive Vice Presidents of the CIM; the Assistant Secretary General; Ms. Alejandra Mora Mora; and all the representatives of the member states with us today.

We particularly value the statements of the distinguished speakers who, from their respective positions and from a multisectoral perspective, have framed the value and reach of what the CIM contributes, more relevant today than ever.

We cannot speak of the CIM, particularly on so important a date, without highlighting its progress in the defence of the human rights of women since its origins, when it became the first intergovernmental body created to secure recognition of the human rights of women and to foster hemispheric policies linking public policy with human rights.

Its results, as we have noted on other occasions, may be described as pioneering and of great impact for the region. In that same vein, and as a recent example of another concrete contribution and initiative of the CIM from which the Dominican Republic has benefited, there is the incorporation, for the first time in our country, of political violence against women into a piece of legislation: the bill to reform the Organic Law on the Electoral Regime. For this legislative exercise we have relied largely on the CIM’s Inter-American Model Law on Political Violence against Women and on the model Protocol for political parties.

As we have stated on other occasions before this same Permanent Council, the commitment of the Dominican Republic to the gender equality agenda is unwavering. Among the recent achievements of our administration we may cite the formalization of domestic work, a commitment of the Dominican State that derives from the gender equality and women’s empowerment pillar of the Government Plan of President Luis Abinader, whose motto is “A country for its people”.

That Plan provides for the establishment of a system of protection for paid domestic work, the impact of which is all the more relevant if we consider that in the Dominican Republic 92.8% of those employed in that sector are women, and that such work is the third most important economic activity in female employment. Having regulation for that sector helps to close inequalities and promotes the economic autonomy of thousands of Dominican women.

In the same way, a subject of great interest to the Dominican State under its present Government is to have a sound statistical source that makes it easier to adopt public policies and to watch and monitor progress and gaps in the fulfilment of our commitments and plans on equality and women’s rights.

The Dominican State, through the National Statistical System, is taking specific action and measures to ensure that gender variables are mainstreamed in the collection of statistical data.

The National Statistics Office is working to improve the production of statistics that serve as input for the design, monitoring and evaluation of public policies aimed at eliminating inequalities between men and women, in keeping with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other international and national frameworks.

We recall also that, from the Dominican Republic’s presidency of the CIM in the 2019-2022 triennium, we advanced its thematic priorities. In that framework, we stressed the need to strengthen the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention so as to guarantee its effective follow-up, among other important efforts.

Lastly, we highlight the country’s commitment to the gender agenda, shown in the organization of the recently concluded IV Ibero-American Conference on Gender: Toward an inclusive, democratic and sustainable Ibero-America, held on January 19 and 20, 2023, which concluded with the adoption of the Declaration of Santo Domingo.

At that conference, the ministers and senior authorities of the national machineries for the advancement of women of Ibero-America committed themselves to establishing political, economic and social mechanisms with the aim of eliminating or reducing structural inequality; preventing and eliminating all forms of violence against girls and women; advancing the equal and substantive participation of women; strengthening their economic and social independence; and putting an end to the many forms of violence and to gender-based harassment.

Madam Chair, it is clear that our Government continues to make progress on gender equality, while we recognize that we still have a long road to travel. Hence our commitment to continue working with the CIM, confident that, with its continued and growing leadership, it will go on fostering good practices in favour of women’s rights, gender equity and the eradication of every form of violence against women.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.