SALMA Dialogue for Gender Equality: GENDER MAINSTREAMING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FOR MORE INCLUSIVE STRATEGIES IN AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA

The SALMA Dialogue for Gender Equality: GENDER MAINSTREAMING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FOR MORE INCLUSIVE STRATEGIES IN AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA conference started with the opening ceremony with the words of Amina Magouri from SALMA Dialogue, and Winfried Weck as the head of KAS ADELA. Both speakers pointed out the need to discuss and implement measures to ensure gender equality in the different regions in order to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda. In particular, they emphasized the need to coordinate collective work, taking into account the social, political, economic and cultural specificities of countries. This was important in view of the problem of access to initiatives with a gender perspective that promote the empowerment of women in sustainable development and an outcome of the SALMA WOMEN DIALOGUE CONFERENCE 2021, held in Panama in November 2021.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Erika Mouynes, thanked for her participation in the conference and stated in her opening speech "Talking about gender matters means talking about gender matters between Africa and America." Data from the two regions, for instance, are similar, she pointed out, in terms of teenage pregnancies, violence against women, and the economic setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin America and Africa shared a number of discussion points in the political, economic, and social spheres that would bring change and opportunity to the continents. Women play a strategic role in sustainable development at the international and local levels, and therefore the positioning of gender in national agendas must be promoted, shared, and supported through cooperative work to achieve these goals.

Hildegard Müller, member of the board of KAS and president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), also stressed that gender issues are not an individual matter, but a collective effort for the social progress of countries. Conferences such as the SALMA Dialogue, are an example of how prosperity and development can be achieved through dialogue and cooperation between countries, especially in the difficult geopolitical context in which we find ourselves due to cases such as the war in Ukraine and its global repercussions. Developing gender equality is a critical part of the global agenda. In Europe, a lot of progress has been made in terms of equality, but in many countries women are struggling to be heard and to have their needs taken into account. For this reason, the work of the SALMA dialogue should be highlighted, as it is one of the few initiatives working to bring together two neighboring continents with similar challenges (such as migration, economic development, security, and others), but also capable of creating opportunities for women and gender equality. The discussion on gender equality should be seen as an important opportunity for all regions to promote this dialogue for sustainable development.

From an African perspective, Dr. Raymonde Goudou Coffie, Minister and Governor of the Autonomous Province of Lagos in Côte d'Ivoire, explained how since her participation in the SALMA conference in Panama 2021, she has shared this idea with her President in her country to give it continuity and how she has established a link with the former Vice President of Costa Rica, Epsy Campbell, to build a bridge between the regions and African American women to work together. Mary Munive Angermueller, Vice President of Costa Rica, also attended the conference virtually and expressed her interest and gratitude to the program for identifying government actions and strategies in finding solutions to the problems caused by inequality as a violation of human rights. Ms Munive emphasized that the ability to ensure gender equality in society is an important element for the fulfillment of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Providing the necessary skills and tools to the population is therefore a prerequisite for ensuring a sustainable future for all, she said. According to the vice president, the SALMA dialogue program enables the identification, description and quantification of gender-specific problems in each country through public action to eliminate gender inequality.

The first panel discussion focused on "Gender Mainstreaming in Politics: Towards Equality in Leadership Positions." Speakers included Raymonde Goudou Coffie, Minister and Governor of the Autonomous District of Lagos, Côte d'Ivoire; Erika Mouynes, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Panama; Epsy Campbell Barr, Vice President of Costa Rica (2018-2022); and María Noel Vaeza, Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, UN Women, Uruguay. This panel discussed the speakers' experiences in high-level leadership positions in political offices and international organizations. In particular, instances of political violence and a negative discourse about their functions and capabilities were seen as a common element of their experiences. In light of this, it was necessary to bring about social change through discourse tools in which support networks are created to address these issues, particularly through the use of current digital media. Therefore, the participation of women in decision-making processes is crucial to bring about change in public policy and cultural-social change in order to achieve real change towards gender equality.

The second panel focused on "Public policies for gender mainstreaming and the implementation of gender equality policies in decision-making". Prof. Dr. Angelika Niebler MEP, Germany, stated that we need to implement the parity agenda and that it is not a "women's issue". In this sense, she believes that we should not talk about quotas, but about parity, as difficulties have been observed in this area in the European Parliament, for example, unresolved issues such as maternity existed, which were an obstacle to maintaining parity. There is also a need to ensure transparency and equal pay rules to encourage more women to participate in the economy. Although the EU is at the forefront of gender equality issues in all its bodies, it needs to continue to review its policies on women's empowerment as an ongoing process.

Results and Recommendations

There was consensus among all participants that education remains a very important factor in evaluating gender mainstreaming. A mentoring program for women would provide an opportunity to bring about change in leadership positions and advance gender equality. Role models of women involved in the decision-making process should be identified to present their obstacles and solutions based on their experiences, not only in the political or economic sphere, but also as personal stories of successful women. In this sense, women's networks are an element to analyze, as it is necessary to know whether they are able to achieve their goals, learn from their experiences and implement the recommendations they make.

In addition, the term "fields of action" needs to be broadly defined to have more impact, with women in high positions of great responsibility being an inspiration to "everyday" women seeking support. A "top-down" approach should be sought to cover as many sectors as possible and be present in different "terrains" to achieve more impact. SALMA Dialogue should seek to create momentum to reach more people and give them an action plan. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to establish means, indicators, actions and accountability at both the state and societal levels, targeting the new generations so that women's already acquired rights are not subjected to the positions of current decision makers.  For this reason, it is recommended to share information and innovations on the four crises of energy, food, health and governance (challenge of democracy), as they are the same crises that affect both continents.