UN Women takes part in the Plenary Meeting of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit and will provide support to the Permanent Commission on Gender and Access to Justice
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On the 13-15 of April the XVIII Plenary Meeting of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit, where the main theme was “the path towards the consolidation of judicial security, peace culture and social development”, meet in Paraguay. The most important challenge was recognized as being the search for auxiliary mechanisms to help avoid social conflicts becoming judicial issues, in hopes of finding answers or solutions.
The opening ceremony took place in the Central Bank of Paraguay with the company of important national authorities alongside the working groups which congregated in the Conmebol Convention Centre. The new projects presented in this meeting are: “The fight against corruption”, “A response to the challenge of just and effective resolutions to controversies”, “Justice and clear language: towards citizens’ rights to understanding the law” and “Transparency and judicial security for the legitimacy of the judge: Access to information and freedom of expression”.
During the Plenary Meeting, Rebeca Grynspan, General Secretary of the Ibero-American Summit of State and Government Heads (SEGIB, in Spanish) announced, amongst other issues, the agreement between the United Nations’ Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women), the Ibero-American Summit of State and Government Heads and the Permanent Commission on Gender and Access to Justice, with the aim of creating a working plan to guarantee the inclusion of a gender perspective in the administration of justice.
For this, UN Women will provide support to the Permanent Commission on Gender and Access to Justice of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit with the following actions:
a) Knowledge sharing and training.
b) Specialized discussion sessions on the importance of gender equality and access to justice.
c) Improvement of law enforcing mechanisms in regards to gender-based violence and gender equality.
d) Support of specific projects aimed at improving statistical data collection on gender-based violence in the judicial entities.
The Permanent Commission on Gender and Access to Justice Technical Secretariat will be the official link for the correct execution of the aforementioned activities.
The agreement was signed between Luiza Carvalho, UN Women Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rebeca Grynspan, General Secretary of the Ibero-American Summit of State and Government Heads (SEGIB) and Zarela Villanueva, Costa Rica’s Judicial Power Magistrate. Cecilia Ugaz, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Paraguay also assisted as an honor witness during the protocol signing act.
The Ibero-American Judicial Summit is a cooperation, consultation and experience exchange body which is articulated by the Judicial Entities of each of the Ibero-American region’s countries as well as through the development of joint projects and actions which aimed at contributing to the strengthening of justice administrations, and as a consequence, of the democratic system of the region, in the context of common cultural heritage.
The countries which conform the Summit are: Andorra, Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.