The Córdoba Declaration and the regional commitment to ensure gender equality

On 28 April, the "Córdoba Declaration. Supra-regional Commitments for Gender Equality"was presented. It is the final manifesto of the Supra-regional Meeting of Women held last February and hosted by the Province of Cordoba, Argentina. The presentation, with a notable presence of feminist groups from the province, the Central Region and representatives from Zicosur and from the rest of the country, took place in the Espacio para la Memoria "La Perla", a clandestine detention centre during the Argentinean dictatorship, where more than 3000 people, including 500 women disappeared.

The event, in the framework of 40 years of democracy in the country and 46 years since the first round of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, was chaired by the Minister of Women of the Province of Córdoba, Claudia Martínez, and counted with the presence of Carles Llorens, Secretary General of ORU Fogar and the participation of María Noel Vaeza, Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean of UN Women, who endorsed the Declaration.

This Declaration aims to strengthen the links of cooperation and mutual support in order to generate joint agendas in the continent, which will allow for the agreement of common commitments in the area of gender policies. Thus, in one of its points, the Declaration points out the will to promote a Latin American Network of regional leaders (provincial), women parliamentarians and mayors, to consolidate the political leadership of women in the region and build a common agenda in pursuit of equality.

It is also committed to promoting the Micaela Law in all Latin American countries, in order to transform gender biases in the daily practices of state agents throughout the region. Micaela García was a young woman who was raped and murdered in Entre Ríos (Argentina) in 2017 by a prisoner - with two previous rapes - on parole and about whom there was a criminological report that pointed to the danger posed by his release from prison. Thus, the Micaela Law establishes mandatory, permanent and cross-cutting training in gender perspective for the public function of the three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial.

Beyond these concrete proposals, the Declaration urges States, and all levels of administration, to include women and young people and to take positive actions to ensure their full participation.

In his speech at the event, Carles Llorens acknowledged that, at the regional level, there should be much more women, because "we have few female governors or regional presidents". He explained that, paradoxically, it is the regional governments that have a more determined policy on such crucial issues as the fight against gender violence. In this respect, he pointed out that the Province of Cordoba, with its "Women's Pole", was an unquestionable reference for the whole of Latin America. Finally, he echoed the words of the feminist author Rebecca Solnit, who stated that "we should not be dismayed by the long road that remains to be travelled in favour of equality, but, in any case, the "Pandora's Box" has been opened and no one will ever again consider that aggression against a woman is a "domestic" issue or that excuses or justifications can be sought for an attempted rape".

Claudia Martínez called for the creation of a gender working group in ORU Fogar. The Secretary General, Carles Llorens, expressed his conviction that if there was a promoting group, ORU Fogar's Annual Assembly would have no objection to create it. Thus, he committed himself to let the Minister in contact with several women in the network, especially those who have promoted the webinars for International Women's Day and the International Day Against Gender Violence.

The meeting ended with the sincere discourse of the provincial Minister for Women, Claudia Martínez, who said: "I am grateful for the accompaniment of the cause of human rights of all people to achieve gender equality and to continue working so that in this world there are no more unjust deaths, genocides and that women can enjoy a world where everyone, everyone and everyone is equal. This supraregional meeting is the outstretched hand of many women who have made the decision to continue advancing on this path... Never again alone, always together and united".

More details about the Declaration：

https://suprarregionalmujeres.cba.gov.ar/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ActaCompromiso.pdf