Voices for equality reach Concepción

Neither the cold nor the distances prevented more than thirty activists from the Fiscal Platform from Women from reaching Concepción, Santa Cruz, for the "XVI Departmental Meeting of Municipal Authorities, Children and Adolescents' Ombudsmen, NGOs and civil society" to demand budgets and public policies that promote equality and prevent gender violence.

The mobilization included women from municipalities such as San Javier, Valle Grande, Roboré, Cuatro Cañadas, San Julián, Comarapa, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Under the slogan "With resources, not speeches," their purpose was to reach this meeting to be heard by municipal and departmental authorities.

During the opening of the event, on Thursday, June 7, the members of the Platform made their presence felt among the public with signs that read "Budgets against violence" and which they raised before the presentation of each of the authorities in charge of the inauguration.

Despite not being included in the program, they later secured a spot at the inauguration where they read a statement outlining seven public policy proposals aimed at eradicating gender inequalities and called on authorities for greater commitment to these goals. Afterward, the group of activists held a press conference with local media in Concepción.

This mobilization sought to draw the attention of the staff of the Ombudsmen's Offices and authorities present at the event, such as the president of the Constituent Assembly, representatives of the governorships of Santa Cruz and the Ñuflo de Chávez Province, among others; so that they give priority to the issue of human rights and gender focus in their management.

The authorities received the declaration and signed a commitment to review these points and incorporate them into their management. These were some of the proposals from the Women's Fiscal Platform:

Incorporate the Human Rights approach and the gender perspective into Local Development Planning with POAs (Annual Operating Plans) that respect the needs and demands of women and other actors who require greater attention from the authorities.

To make visible the different forms of discrimination that ignore the roles that women play in the sustainability of life and common well-being.

To value the unpaid work that women perform exclusively without receiving any kind of recognition.

Establish inter-institutional and inter-sectoral bodies to monitor compliance with regulations and policies that promote the full exercise of women's rights.

Develop public policies that enable women's economic autonomy and thereby definitively overcome gender violence.

Guaranteeing women's political participation in workplaces free from harassment and political violence