International IDEA was invited to present the Spanish handbook Mujeres en el Parlamento. Más allá de los números (Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers) at the Second Meeting of the OAS Forum on Political Parties held in Vancouver, British Colombia on December 4-6, 2002.
The presentation of the handbook and panel discussion took place in the session on Women and Party Finance Reform. The IDEA panel consisted of Myriam Méndez-Montalvo, International IDEA, Laura Velasquez from Argentina, Jorge de Castillo from Peru, and Carmen Frei from Chile.
The panel introduced the handbook and highlighted particular experiences of women in politics in their own countries. Although women have made significant progress in political representation almost everywhere in the region, and their rights as citizens are well entrenched in domestic law and international agreements, many challenges still remain. The speakers stressed the importance of continuing efforts to increase women’s political representation as the average rate of participation is still 14, 5 percent in lower houses and 13, 6 percent in upper houses. Costa Rica has the highest level of participation of women in congress and Paraguay the lowest. The presentations were followed by comments from political party leaders who compared the findings to their experiences in their countries. The launch and discussion was attended by the OAS members participating in the forum, representing all countries in the Americas.
