"We must take our victory to Puerto Rico": Ximena Machicao ICPD+10.

Ximena Machicao is the Executive Director of the Centro de Informacion y Desarrollo de la Mujer, CIDEM, in La Paz, Bolivia; General Coordinator of the Red de Educacion Popular entre Mujeres, REPEM; LACWHN board member; and a member of Bolivia's official delegation to the Open-ended Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the ECLAC Sessional Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development. In this interview by Revista Mujer Salud editor Adriana Gomez, Ms. Machicao evaluates the results of this meeting and suggests strategies for future efforts.

What has the women's movement gained at the ECLAC meeting?

The efforts of the women's movement to monitor the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action have gone through a number of stages, some more structured than others. Recently in August 2003, we held an important meeting in La Paz at which the different women's networks and campaigns from throughout the region met to plan a series of initiatives to reaffirm the ICPD agreements. Part of this plan has concluded with our arrival in Santiago for the ECLAC meeting as members of the official delegations or as observers. This is a tremendous achievement. The second meeting of networks and campaigns held recently in Santiago is also part of this decision to defend the Cairo Consensus and of course the ICPD+5.

I must admit that we were less optimistic when we first arrived in Santiago. In addition to the final declaration, which is a very good document in terms of the ratification of the ICPD Programme of Action, what happened at the ECLAC meeting was itself a symbolic victory. For the first time, all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean were united on an issue of transcendent importance, isolating the hardline, conservative position presented by the United States. This is particularly impressive bearing in mind our region's dependence on the U.S.

There is no doubt in my mind that this symbolic victory was won not only by the official government delegations but thanks to the feminist members of these delegations and the representatives of the women's and youth organizations who were expectantly watching the debates in the conference room. The youth movement presented a moving declaration that demanded the ratification of the Programme and urged States to go even further. Their advocacy efforts had a significant impact on the final vote, as did the women's declaration. Both declarations received standing ovations.

Would you say that it was a smooth process and an easy victory?

What we achieved at the ECLAC meeting was not at all easy. As part of Bolivia's official delegation, which was responsible for officially recording the meeting, I saw firsthand the complex negotiations that took place. Just because there was no overwhelming presence of conservative NGOs, "pro-life" groups or the Vatican does not mean that it was a walk through the park. In fact, it is sometimes easier to confront those fundamentalist sectors than a well-structured political position, such as the one put forth by the U.S. administration. The text of the declaration was negotiated word by word for hours, trying to reach and agreement without allowing the U.S. delegation to change the context. In these processes we had to confront a much more difficult situation than being directly confronted in the halls by the "pro-life" groups or Vatican representatives. I think what happened is that the governments came into the meeting with strongly-defined positions and obviously these processes are easier and more likely to succeed when there is such a clear political will from the start. All the energy can be focused on moving forward and defending our gains, rather than worrying about backsliding.

Do you think that a weakness of the declaration is that it fails to mention the term "abortion"?

The declaration does introduce the issue of abortion in the section on reproductive rights and services when it talks about the causes of maternal mortality and morbidity and when it recognizes the need to take measures to prevent these unnecessary deaths. It does not refer directly to article 8.25 of the Programme of Action but to the ICPD+5 document, and this is an important precedent for the issue of abortion, which continues to be a leading cause of maternal death in our region.

It was also significant that several delegations and observer nations explicitly mentioned and recognized the reality of clandestine abortion. There is so much stigma regarding abortion that it is so difficult to talk about directly, to understand the true magnitude of this problem. These difficulties are not only on the side of the government but within the donor agencies and even within the women's movement.

What are our strategies for the Puerto Rico meeting where we hope that the Santiago declaration will be ratified?

There are a number of possible scenarios. We have won an important victory, but it does not guarantee our success in Puerto Rico, especially bearing in mind that the U.S. and the conservative groups are taking action in spheres to which the women's movement does not have access. I think this may have an impact on the San Juan meeting. I think that there are also some weak links in the consensus: some countries have joined in this regional agreement because in the ten years since Cairo they have changed their position regarding the Programme of Action, but this new position may be fragile. They very likely will be influenced by lobbying efforts at the national level, especially by pressure from the Catholic Church and the U.S. So we must take our victory to Puerto Rico, and we must make every effort possible to ensure that what we won in Santiago is not reversed. This means careful monitoring of national processes until the San Juan meeting. Those of us from the women's movement who are also on the official delegations must keep working.

At the same time, we must also link these efforts with the Beijing+10 process in 2005. There is a very close connection between the ICPD and Beijing. Also, in mid-June ECLAC will be holding the Ninth Regional Meeting on Latin American and Caribbean Women in Mexico, and this will give us an idea of how we are progressing towards Puerto Rico. We have a great responsibility to be vigilant on the commitments from both Cairo and Beijing.

Do you believe that it is worthwhile for the women's movement to be Involved in these tremendous international efforts that demand so much both in terms of material as well as human resources?

Ten years after Cairo and Beijing, we have dropped our guard a bit, and this is understandable for political reasons and because so much time has passed. Women's organizations that have put so much effort into the UN agenda are a bit tired and frustrated because we still have not obtained our goals. We also know that at the local level the governments have taken quite a few teeth out of these international agreements. Also, while the agendas from these conferences have reflected the priorities of much of the feminist movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, not all of our priority issues are addressed in these agreements.

Nonetheless, I am convinced that this process has been worthwhile. One of the positive aspects of globalization is the achievement of a global consensus on human rights and on women rights in particular. International efforts such as the conferences of Cairo and Beijing have opened public debate on the topics of equality, equity and citizenship. I think that the overall value far outweighs the costs: these efforts have resulted in a very interesting, internationally recognized framework that has affected the course of national programs and policies.

Nonetheless, our achievements to date are insufficient: a written norm is not enough. For these promises to become daily practice requires a new vision of society, a profound cultural transformation. The exercise of power in our countries continues to be very vertical, very machista, very androcentric. So even though Cairo and Beijing initially brought about some cultural change, we still face a long and difficult road to turn the rhetoric of these conferences into a different social reality for women and men.