15 February 2012: Acting on a December 2011 mandate from the Central American Integration System (SICA) Heads of State and Government, SICA’s Council of Women’s Affairs Ministers (COMMCA) has begun drafting a Regional Policy on Gender Equality and Equity.

The work on a common Policy (known by its Spanish acronym, PRIEG) for the eight member countries of SICA (Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama) began at a COMMCA workshop held 8-10 February 2012 in Tela, Honduras.

The COMMCA workshop outlined the structure of the PRIEG and the conceptual approach and methodology for the process of constructing its details and instructed SICA’s Technical Secretariat for Women to launch consultation with various parties to seek their input.

The Ministers also agreed to hold a joint event on 8 March 2012 under the slogan “More Women, More Democracy” to promote the political rights of women in the region. They took note of progress made in the letter of understanding between COMMCA and the Central American Integration Bank (BCIE), and instructed the Technical Secretariat to continue working with the BCIE and UN-Women in the design of a Women’s Empowerment Program and an Observatory on Entrepreneurship and Gender. The Ministers also agreed to seek closer relations with the Southern Cone Common Market’s (MERCOSUR) Specialized Meeting on Women (REM). [SICA Press Release (Spanish)]