The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Strenghthening the Institutionality and Gender Equity Agenda in MERCOSUR - Proyecto "Fortalecimiento de la institucionalidad y la perspectiva de género en el MERCOSUR"

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This project has been implemented since 2008 by the Reunión Especializada de la Mujer del MERCOSUR (REM) (Specialized Meeting on Women of the Mercosur), a subregional organism with the main objective to analyse the situation of women in the southern cone of South America with a focus on equal opportunities, making sure the existing MERCOSUR legislation on this issue is implemented. Mercosur (Mercado Común del Sur) or Mercosul (in Portuguese) in English means: Common Southern Market. It is the main economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991, its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. Click here for more information on Mercosur.
The Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) (the Spanish international cooperation agency) is supporting this project, which seeks to implement regional actions related to gender equity, with three main operational guidelines:
  • Introduce the gender perspective in MERCOSUR´s Parliament and promote the political participation of women.
  • The prevention and eradication of trafficking in women
  • The creation of a system of comparable indicators of domestic gender-based violence.
Communication Strategies

In Uruguay, meetings have been arranged with officials (director and deputy directors of all departments, men and women) of the Ministry of Foreign Relations to address the necessity and importance of promoting gender equity policies within the Ministry, and to study what is needed to advance the construction of a gender equity policy.

Argentina has designed an instrument (an interactive DVD) that will be distributed to all the government institutions and entities and which aims to contribute to gender equity awareness amongst public servants. The interactive DVD will allow access to all the information on the national and international norms related to this issue. This material will be handed to the present and future officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More than three thousand (3000) copies of the material will be produced with support from UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund). Actions have also been undertaken towards the construction of a MERCOSUR gender equity agenda, including a mapping and analysis of the present situation.

According to a preliminary report (November 2011), the strategy has been modified, towards the "promotion of the political participation of women in the MERCOSUR, with an emphasis on the national and regional parliaments". This implies the promotion of different activities: a regional strategic baseline and evaluation of the political participation of women; promoting regional actions (including a regional meeting) directed towards increasing the political participation of women; and designing a regional campaign which promotes the political participation of women in the 4 member countries.

Within this initiative, a public award was launched to produce an audiovisual campaign for the promotion of the political participation of women in government and public decision making positions.

Development Issues

Gender, women empowerment, political participation, democracy and governance

Key Points

The project has also achieved concrete progress in the development of comparable indicators – at the subregional southern cone level - of domestic gender-based violence, and has also created a protocol for a common approach and legislation to combat human and specifically women trafficking.

Click here for more information.

Sources

Website of the Reunión Especializada de la Mujer del Mercosur (REM).