Reports of the organs of the OAS

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and friend. On behalf of my country, I wish to begin by conveying our sincere congratulations to the joyful, heroic and worthy people of Mexico on their Independence Day.

The delegation of the Dominican Republic warmly greets and thanks the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission of Women, Alejandra Mora Mora, for the presentation of this annual report.

Our country adopted the Strategic Plan of the Inter-American Commission of Women 2016-2021 to promote the positioning of the Commission as the principal hemispheric political forum and point of reference for achieving equality and the full exercise of women’s rights, in line with the purpose of this new administration of giving voice to women leaders and placing their needs at the highest levels of the international agenda. In that regard, we had the privilege of chairing the First Inter-American Course on Electoral Governance with a Gender Perspective, held in Santo Domingo in 2019 in collaboration with our Central Electoral Board and the Ministry for Women, with the aim of strengthening the electoral systems of the region in defence of women’s political and electoral rights. In the same way, we took part in the Course for Electoral Candidates within the framework of the Spotlight Initiative, offering training workshops to prevent violence against women in political life, following the guidelines of the Inter-American Model Law to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women in political life. We also collaborated in the project to facilitate the methodological transparency of participatory gender assessments for the national machineries for women at the inter-institutional level, among other initiatives of great value, to which we give our support because of the importance that gender equity has for our country.

Finally, our delegation wishes to take this opportunity to recognize the effort this Commission is making to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, by strengthening the virtual platforms that highlight the work of the Inter-American Commission of Women, in which the main needs of women during this health crisis have been taken into account, so as to encourage our countries to keep as a priority on their government agendas the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals for the achievement of equality and autonomy in the exercise of women’s rights.

Thank you very much, Chair.