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Women of 2006: Facing the Challenges, Creating Change

On March 8, International Women's Day is celebrated worldwide as an opportunity for coming together and discussing issues with a message emphasizing women's leadership in decision-making.

Washington, D.C., March 7, 2006 (PAHO)—On March 8, numerous international events will take place highlighting women and their leadership, with the official annual celebration of International Women's Day.

For the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), this day represents an excellent opportunity for celebration and reflection, particularly at a time like today when more and more women are exercising leadership in health, either in the community, Ministries of Health, or in national and international corridors of power. The latter is the case for PAHO, the World Health Organization's Regional Office for the Americas, which, for the first time in its 104-year history, is headed by a woman, Dr. Mirta Roses Periago of Argentina, who on many occasions has noted that gender equality cannot be achieved without the empowerment of women.

"Gender equity demands that work responsibilities, the benefits of development, and decision-making power be distributed fairly and equitably between the sexes. It requires equal participation by women and men in decision-making, especially in the lower-income sectors, to set priorities and allocate the public and private resources necessary for guaranteeing health," declares Dr. Elsa Gómez, Regional Adviser of PAHO's Gender, Ethnicity, and Health Unit.

The Goals of Equity and Promotion

The celebration of International Women's Day in the Americas is intrinsically related to the international commitments expressed in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the year 2015. Two of the eight goals are centered on women. Goal 3 calls for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, and Goal 5 for a three-quarters reduction in maternal mortality, a growing global problem that the United Nations considers to be stifling development.

"Empowerment is understood as the ability to make decisions and put them into practice. It is a process and an outcome, occurring at both the individual and group levels, and requires that women act as agents of change," says Dr. Roses in the Preface to the PAHO publication Gender, Health, and Development in the Americas: Basic Indicators 2005.

PAHO's Gender, Ethnicity, and Health Unit notes that the health sector traditionally enlists women from organizations inside countries to participate in health activities but treats them not as peers but subordinates. Nevertheless, we proudly celebrate the growing number of women who today head the National Secretariats or Ministries of Health in the Americas.

Many realities in Latin America and the Caribbean remain the object of PAHO's ongoing programmatic efforts to advance equity in all spheres of life, especially gender equity in health.

Toward Equality

According to Dr. Roses, empowering women (as a Millennium Development Goal) "has been widely recognized as a prerequisite for attaining the other Goals."

Similarly, United Nations Secretary General Kofi A. Annan has stated, "By effectively increasing the impact of women on public life at all levels, the potential for change towards gender equality and empowerment of women and a more democratic and just society is increased."

In celebrating International Women's Day, the United Nations affirms that this day has its roots in the age-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. When women from every continent, often separated by national borders or ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they become part of a tradition of no less than 90 years of struggle for equality, justice, peace, and development.

The United Nations recommends greater support for the effective participation of women, while asserting that three specific scenarios are a prerequisite for this:

  • Forging coalitions and strategic partnerships with key actors, including male leaders;
  • Achieving access by women to the existing power structures, including influential committees and ministries (…) to ensure that women have an impact on critical processes, such as the examination of budget allocations and expenditures; =
  • Taking advantage of key situations or events, such as constitutional reform, the transition to democracy, and peace processes, where there is greater potential for influencing the decision-making process.

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