ParlAmericas

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Secretary General, Luis Almagro; Mr. Assistant Secretary General, Nestor Mendez; distinguished representatives of Parliamentarians for the Americas (ParlAmericas); permanent, interim and alternate representatives. As this is the first time we take the floor before this Permanent Council in the present term, I wish to convey to you, Ambassador Warren Everson Alarick Hull, our congratulations to you and to the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis on assuming the Chair of this Permanent Council, and to reiterate the full support of our delegation for the success of your work.

We thank the delegations of Canada, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago for having requested the inclusion of this item on the order of business, since my country recognizes and values the contributions made by ParlAmericas during its twenty years of existence, in which it has contributed through parliamentary institutions to the strengthening of national and hemispheric democratic processes, becoming also a leading forum for the treatment and debate of subjects of common interest to our Hemisphere, such as climate change, open parliament and gender equality, among others. On the last of these, ParlAmericas coordinates, together with other organizations of the region, the project for women’s political leadership, which aims to strengthen the sustainability of women’s organizations in delivering their programs, with the participation of national parliaments, so as to create an environment that enables women’s political leadership.

The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic take an active part in the inter-parliamentary activities of ParlAmericas. From 2013 to 2016 the Dominican Republic sat on the Board of ParlAmericas representing the Caribbean subregion, helping to advance active regional cooperation on subjects such as citizen participation and food security. ParlAmericas has worked in coordination with Dominican parliamentarians on various occasions; they played a prominent part in the Ninth Gathering of the Parliamentary Network for Gender Equality, held in 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where former deputy Minou Tavárez Mirabal delivered the keynote lecture “A new reason for this world”. The country was likewise part of the communications campaign carried out in 2020 to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

ParlAmericas has also collaborated with national institutions and Dominican bilateral embassies in organizing gatherings for reflection and panels on subjects of great relevance to the region and to our country, such as respect for the rights of girls and women, non-violence against women, the gender perspective and the importance of women’s participation in public decision-making, among others; and in particular with our Permanent Mission in the panel “The economic empowerment of women as a tool against discrimination and gender-based violence”, organized jointly with the Permanent Observer Mission of Spain on November 23 last, as part of the side events held during the Dominican chairmanship of this Permanent Council.

Once again, we reiterate to ParlAmericas our thanks for its valuable support in that event, and we look forward to future collaboration on this and other subjects of regional and national interest.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.