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Background
The Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean is the body responsible for overseeing the implementation of agreements adopted at the Regional Conferences on Women, as well as coordinating actions between the sessions of these conferences. Comprised of a Chair and several Vice Chairs, its members are elected by the ECLAC Member States during the sessions of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, following criteria of rotation and subregional representation. Since its establishment in 1978, the Presiding Officers has held 65 meetings, functioning as a permanent mechanism linking Governments and the ECLAC Secretariat and playing a key role in coordinating national machineries for the advancement of women. Since 2020, the meetings of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean and its Presiding Officers have been organized in coordination with UN Women.
The current composition of the Presiding Officers, elected during the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in Buenos Aires (November 2022), is headed by Argentina, alongside Vice Chairs from Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela. These Presiding Officers will remain in place until the next Regional Conference.
In its recent sessions, the Presiding Officers have addressed key issues for gender equality. The 64th Meeting, held in February 2023, was crucial in advancing the implementation of the Buenos Aires Commitment, highlighting the care society as a central pillar for public policies in the region. This meeting also held a regional consultation in preparation for the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), where the year's priority theme was discussed: “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. Following these discussions, a Ministerial Declaration was adopted, emphasizing the region’s commitment to promoting gender equality through technology and digital education, recognizing the need to address structural barriers that perpetuate inequality, such as gender stereotypes and the digital divide. The Declaration stressed the importance of ensuring equitable and safe access to technology for all women and girls and promoting their participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
At the 65th Meeting, held in October 2023, preparations were discussed for the XVI Regional Conference on Women, which will take place in Mexico in 2025. During this intergovernmental meeting, countries approved the theme of discussion for the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, scheduled for 2025 in Mexico, as “political, economic, social, cultural and environmental transformations as a means of advancing the care society and gender equality” (paragraph 8). A regional consultation was also held in preparation for the 68th session of the CSW, whose priority theme was “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. On this occasion, Ministers and High Authorities of the Machineries for the Advancement of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean approved a Declaration, based on the Regional Gender Agenda, reaffirming the commitment to “Design and implement more effective measures with a gender and intersectional approach aimed at eradicating poverty faced by women, adolescents and girls, in particular those subject to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence, and improving their living conditions and promoting their equal participation in decision-making, including through labour policies, public services and social protection programmes” (paragraph 6).
At the 66th Meeting of the Presiding Officers, to be held from December 4 to 5, 2024, governments in the region will review progress in the preparations for the upcoming Conference and participate in the regional consultation in preparation for the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.