Feminist International Radio Endeavour- FIRE/June 2004

Meeting of the Economic Commission for Latin America
San Juan, June 28-30, 2004

WOMEN´S GROUPS EVALUATE PROGRESS SINCE CAIRO 1994

Cairo + 10

PRESS RELEASE #17

San Juan, Puerto Rico, 28 of June. 
At ECLAC/ RIF-FIRE  (María SuárezToro) 
Translated by Margaret Thompson

While the deliberations and final negotiations of the process known as Cairo + 10 at CEPAL were focused on language to affirm and re-commit to the original Program of Action of ICPD (UN International Conference on Population & Development), the women´s NGOs (non-governmental organizations) continued work on the original agenda of Cairo +10 with the 10-year evaluation of progress on the Platform of Action itself

Results of the Project ATENEA were presented at CEPAL by the Latin-American & Caribbean Women´s  Health Network, which focused on monitoring progress on the original Plan of Action from Cairo in 1994 in seven Latin American countries.  The countries included Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Surinam.   Monitoring in Project ATENEA was based on 147 quantitative and qualitative indicators. 

One of the participants in the monitoring project, Ana María Pizarro of the Health Network and SIMUJER in Nicaragua, explained that "ATENEA enables us to know the relative global context of fulfilling the international commitments of Cairo from 1994, and at the same time to see these agreements incorporated into national legislation.  Also if the conventions and treaties that the international community has signed have been ratified by these countries, we can help ensure that the new laws reflect these commitments." 

Project ATENEA is comprised of seven thematic areas or axes that are each comprised of various categories used to analyze progress toward the Plan of Action of ICPD from 1994 through 2002.  The areas include: sexual violence against girls, male responsibility in sexuality and reproduction, participation of women´s organizations of women in decisionmaking, quality of attention in reproductive and sexual health services, access of adolescents and youth to information and reproductive and sexual health services, more humane attention to unsafe abortions, and the prevention and attention to persons affected by HIV/AIDS.

Ana María added that "although the results of ATENEA are mixed, in general the legislative advances in the region are one of the most important points to emphasize. For the majority of the thematic areas, with the exception of male responsibility in sexuality and reproduction, laws have been passed that reflect the most important agreements of the Program of Action of the ICPD."

An example of such laws are those that were passed in Latin America against violence against women and girls, although the  emphasis in these statutes is on violence labeled as ¨domestic¨, or intrafamiliar, with less emphasis on sexual violence and incest.  As part of these changes, many countries have also begun to develop programs for violence prevention and treatment of victims and survivors of violence, although many health professionals are not yet fully trained to offer these services. 

The ATENEA report indicates that "the system of registration is gradually incorporating a focus with indicators of progress that go beyond traditional demographics.  These indicators show, for example, a large increase in sexual abuse and violations of girls by family members and close relatives.  It shows that although charges are brought against many perpetrators of these abuses, often they are freed a short time later.   Thus male responsibility for abuse is not well incorporated in most laws, and reproduction is still regarded as primarily the responsibility of women."

Another problem is that the statistics do not include general figures on male fertility. Men´s use of contraceptive methods is extremely low and in the best case scenario a maximum of 20% of men are  sterilized. At the same time, female sterilizations range from 90% to almost 100% of sterilizations. Although in every country there exist specialized services for men, few address male sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or prostate cancer.

On another important issue in the 1994 Cairo Program of Action, the participation of women´s organizations in decisionmaking, the ATENEA study shows that even if there has not been formal legal progress toward this goal in some countries, many mixed commissions and advisory councils have been created that include these women´s groups.  However, they do not necessarily outline formal rules or desired levels of participation for women, which is needed to ensure that women have a formalized role or guaranteed participation in decisionmaking.  The proportion of women candidates in popular elections is generally less than 30% in all the countries, and there is even greater competition at the local level where mayors, registrars and local representatives compete with political parties in inequitable conditions for women.

The quality of attention in reproductive and health services is another criticall theme evaluated in the Cairo monitoring project, which although it is a general concern for many governments, in many countries is not legally standardized.   The Health Network concluded that "the resources assigned to this area are not clearly defined, although training of medical personnel in this area consumes important resources and time in  many institutions." 

Ana María indicated that although some attention to gender has been incorporated in training of public health personnel in many countries, representatives of women´s organizations who have greater experience in this area have not been included as trainers.  She noted for example, that although "violence as a public health problem has been included in the training, even with specific programs and procedures assigned to this area, neither the legal or health personnel have received sufficient training specifically related to gender.


Another critical theme is that of the reproductive and sexual health of adolescents. The study verifies that access of adolescents and youth to information and reproductive and sexual health services is mentioned in almost all the legislation, although no institutional or formal capacity exists to establish special programs or to assign resources that incorporate the specific needs of youths and adolescents.   There are no legal obstacles to access to information in any Latin American countries, although the curricula of university, secondary, and primary education generally fail to incorporate this focus. 

Fertility rates among adolescents are in some cases very high, above 150 births per 1.000 adolescents, whereas maternal mortality among teenaged mothers may reach 30% of births.  The use of contraceptive measures is much lower among adolescents, including among adolescent males who are less likely to use condoms. 

More humane attention to problems related to unsafe abortion is one area where legal progress has not occurred, and the illegal status of abortion in most countries is used to justify the poor quality of attention that women receive in many public facilities.  As a result, the amount of financial resources used to deal with complications of unsafe  abortions cannot be determined.  Maternal mortality rates due to unsafe abortions are the second highest cause of hospital deaths, and amount to 30% of the total in some cases.  Numerous women´s organizations conduct ongoing campaigns to raise awareness about such serious health problems caused by legal restrictions against  abortion in their countries.  

Legislation to provide services for the prevention and attention to persons affected by HIV/AIDS has been passed in many countires.  In addition to efforts to control and prevent this pandemic, laws have addressed the human rights of persons with HIV/AIDS, particularly in terms of discrimination against them as well as against the sexual practices or lifestyles.  Budgets assigned to HIV/AIDS services are vastly unequal among the different countries, and only two countries offer 100% health coverage of persons infected with the virus. 

The feminization of HIV/AIDS pandemic is evident in all the countries, particularly given the fact that more and more younger women are becoming infected without preventative measures being implemented, especially in the adolescent population  Religious pressures continue to be an obstacle for the dissemination of information and of condoms in almost all the countries. 

With this unique citizen monitoring project, the women´s health movement has provided a valuable instrument to demand the fulfillment of the Program of Action of the ICPD.  In the meantime ATENEA constitutes a unified monitoring effort by women´s organizations of the Latin American and Caribbean region. 

The Health Network has proposed expanding distribution of the ATENEA monitoring project and making it accessible on the web. 

 

The Women´s Press Team in CEPAL is comprised of: María Suarez Toro of Radio Internacional Feminista (RIF-FIRE) of Costa Rica, Margarita Melgar of Puerto Rico, Ana María Pizarro of SIMUJER in Nicaragua, María Eugenia Chávez of SIPAM in Mexico and Alejandra Fosado of GIRE in Mexico. 

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