Women of the Americas Day

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The delegation of the Dominican Republic thanks the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), Alejandra Mora Mora, and the Permanent Mission of Panama for proposing the inclusion of this item on the agenda of this regular meeting of the Permanent Council, given the importance that gender equity has for our country. This is an effort much needed to ensure that the Organization of American States continues to play a leading role in the inclusion of women; it should also serve as a model for advancing as a region in the participation and representation of women in the public powers and in private initiatives.

The importance of this subject is also the beginning of an administrative process that will ensure that this forum is a platform for debate, for building a common gender agenda and for seeking, in the short and medium term, societies without discrimination or exclusion in the Americas. Finally, the Organization of American States (OAS) has opened itself more and more to the participation of women, but it is no less true that an impetus such as this, which brings with it the participation of women, would secure a greater commitment from all the member states, thereby legitimizing the work of this Organization on the basis of an end as necessary as it is just: the preservation of the OAS as a space for all.