The Journey Towards Sustainable Development and Gender Equality

This episode was recorded during the ParlAmericas side event at the UNFCCC COP28 titled “The Escazú Agreement and Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE): Strengthening Environmental Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean,” which was held on December 4, 2023 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. The session explored strategies for parliaments to examine the importance of supporting the implementation of both mechanisms in order to strengthen environmental democracy and ultimately meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Paris Agreement, Director General of ParlAmericas, moderated the panel dialogue, which featured the participation of the Honourable Carolyn Trench-Sandiford (Belize), President of the Senate and ParlAmericas Board Member; the Honourable Dessima Williams (Grenada), President of the Senate and ParlAmericas Board Member; Honourable Representative Juan Carlos Losada (Colombia); and Carlos de Miguel, Head of the Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division of ECLAC.

As the secretariat to the Escazú Agreement, ECLAC provided an overview of the implementation efforts of the Escazú Agreement in the region. The parliamentarians shared initiatives their parliaments are taking on in order to support implementation efforts, recognizing the role environmental democracy mechanisms play in empowering non-governmental actors, including women and girls, Indigenous groups, and traditionally marginalized communities in enabling effective and inclusive climate action and contributing to related decision making.

This episode was recorded during the two-day multi-stakeholder dialogue on gender equality and sustainable development, jointly organized by ParlAmericas, the UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean and the Parliament of Saint Lucia, in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia.

Listen to this presentation by Dr. Rosina Wiltshire, gender and development specialist, on key themes and interlinkages of gender equality and sustainable development, reinforcing that these goals can only be achieved in partnership and through the application of a holistic, human-centred framework where human beings are placed at the centre of national analysis, policy framework, and programs.

Dr. Wiltshire also explores opportunities for transforming Caribbean societies, and the world by extension, using the models and foundations of gender equality, peace, and resilience, and presents ways in which these themes can be effectively reflected in intergovernmental processes like the International Conference on Small Island Developing States and within national processes and decision making.

This episode was recorded during the virtual seminar for women parliamentarians of the Americas and Caribbean on the Defence, Peace and Security agenda titled, “With All That’s Going on Right Now…:The Challenge of Political Leadership During Crisis,” jointly organized by ParlAmericas, the Parliamentary Centre, and the Global Centre for Pluralism.

Listen to this presentation by Meredith Preston McGhie, Secretary General of Global Centre for Pluralism on the importance of valuing diversity in order to achieve transformative change for peace. During her presentation, she explores the concepts of leadership during a crisis, pluralism and the need for women’s leadership rooted in human-centered peace.

This episode was recorded during the 7th Gathering of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and the 15th Gathering of the Parliamentary Network on Gender Equality, A Food Secure Future: Building People and Planet-centred Strategies, held in September 2023, in Mexico City, Mexico.

In the session, moderated by Member of Parliament Tamika Davis (Jamaica), the panellist, Nadia Manning-Thomas, Planning and Coordination Specialist and Thematic Lead on Climate Change, Disaster Risk Resilience and Humanitarian Action at UN Women Multi-Country Office-Caribbean in Barbados, focused on the main challenges women face related to food security and sovereignty.

Nadia Manning-Thomas works for the UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean as a Planning and Coordination Specialist for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and as a specialist on Climate Change, Disaster Risk Resilience and Humanitarian Action across the MCO’s 22 English and Dutch speaking countries of the Caribbean. Nadia has a BA in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from Grinnell College (USA) and an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Reading (UK). A national of Barbados, Nadia has over 25 years of experience spanning Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean with a career focused on researching and implementing development pathways; with a particular focus on well-coordinated and collaborative human-centered development, agriculture and food systems, climate resilience and adaptation, and knowledge sharing and capacity development.

UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women in the region, supporting governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programs and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls as well as making women’s equal participation in all aspects of life a reality.

Este episodio fue grabado durante el evento paralelo en la Semana del Clima de América Latina y el Caribe 2023 de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático, titulado “Promoviendo las energías renovables para el bienestar común: el rol parlamentario” que se celebró el 25 de octubre de 2023.

El conferencista magistral de la reunión, Juan Carlos Villalonga, presidente de GLOBE Legislators y diputado de Argentina del 2015 al 2019 realiza una presentación sobre el potencial y los beneficios de las energías renovables y el rol de las legislaturas nacionales en esta transición energética.

Para explicar de qué forma la región puede avanzar en la transición, Juan Carlos Villalonga aborda el estado actual de la matriz energética y cómo ha ido evolucionando; comparte los requisitos técnicos para incorporar rápidamente las energías renovables en la matriz; profundiza sobre el modo en que la transición energética se alinea con el Acuerdo de París y apoya el cumplimiento de sus metas. Asimismo, examina cómo las y los parlamentarios pueden apoyar los esfuerzos para acelerar la transición energética en la región por medio de 7 elementos clave: 1) el desafío regulatorio, 2) la infraestructura, 3) los subsidios, 4) la internalización del costo del CO2, 5) el monitoreo del cumplimiento de las NDC, 6) la necesidad de frenar la deforestación, 7) y la promoción de una transición justa.

Este episodio fue grabado durante la sesión “Contribución de la migración al desarrollo socio-económico”  de la reunión parlamentaria “Perspectivas parlamentarias para una migración segura, ordenada y regular en América Latina y el Caribe” que se celebró en la Asamblea Nacional de Panamá del 24 al 25 de octubre de 2023. El encuentro se organizó en el marco de la Semana del Clima de América Latina y el Caribe 2023 de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático.

En la sesión, moderada por el diputado de la Asamblea Nacional, Juan Diego Vázquez (Panamá), la panelista invitada, María Noel Vaeza, directora regional para las Américas y el Caribe de ONU Mujeres realiza una presentación sobre la contribución de la migración al desarrollo socioeconómico, desde una perspectiva de género.

La presentación, que comienza con datos regionales para contextualizar los hallazgos, aborda la feminización de la migración, los impactos diferenciados del género y el papel crucial del empoderamiento de las mujeres y las niñas como agentes de cambio.

Las recomendaciones ofrecidas en la presentación tienen como objetivo guiar a las y los parlamentarios de la región hacia consideraciones clave que garanticen los derechos de las mujeres y las niñas a través de políticas intersectoriales y con perspectiva de género, independientemente de su estatus migratorio y nacionalidad, incluyendo medidas de protección alineadas a los acuerdos y estándares internacionales en la materia.

Este episódio foi gravado em 10 de agosto de 2023, durante a reunião conjunta da Rede de Funcionárias e Funcionários do Parlamento Aberto e da Rede de Funcionárias e Funcionários Parlamentares para a Igualdade de Gênero do ParlAmericas intitulada “Parlamentos abertos e inclusivos: Experiências e estratégias na América Latina”. 

Na conferência de abertura, a Dra. Lívia Maria Sant'Anna Vaz, Procuradora do Ministério Público do Estado da Bahia, falou sobre o conteúdo da Lei María da Penha, promulgada em 7 de agosto de 2016, e seus principais impactos no enfrentamento da violência de gênero no Brasil.

A Dra. Sant'Anna Vaz resumiu o conteúdo desta lei, destacando as medidas afirmativas estabelecidas para garantir um sistema de proteção integral às vítimas de violência de gênero no sistema de justiça brasileiro.

Lívia Maria Sant'Anna Vaz é Promotora do Ministério Público do Estado da Bahia, Brasil e Coordenadora do Grupo de Trabalho de Combate ao Racismo e Respeito à Diversidade Étnica e Cultural da Comissão de Defesa dos Direitos Fundamentais do Conselho Nacional do Ministério Público. É doutora em Ciências Jurídico-Políticas, mestre em Direito Público, autora do livro “Cotas Raciais” e coautora do livro “A Justiça é Mulher Negra”.

This episode was recorded on day two of the two-day parliamentary meeting titled ‘Parliamentary Perspectives for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean' which was held at the National Assembly of Panama from October 24 to 25, 2023. The meeting was organized within the framework of the 2023 Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In the session “Contributions of migration to socio-economic development", the invited panellist, Jacqueline Emmanuel, Director of Economic Affairs & Regional Integration at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and expert in development planning, finance and trade promotion, among others topics, presented on the features of the OECS Free Movement Regime.

This regime is designed to allow citizens to live, work, and travel freely among the member states of the OECS Economic Union with little to no restrictions. However, given the risk of global economic and health threats as well as the rapidly changing climate which all contribute to more frequent population displacement in the Eastern Caribbean, the presentation covers the opportunities of implementing policies of the regime to address mass migration, including during disaster response and other crisis events.

Este episodio fue grabado el 28 de septiembre de 2023 durante el 7° Encuentro de la Red Parlamentaria de Cambio Climático y el 15° Encuentro de la Red Parlamentaria para la Igualdad de Género de ParlAmericas, titulado “Un futuro con seguridad alimentaria: construyendo estrategias centradas en las personas y el planeta”.

En este encuentro conjunto, Guadalupe Valdez, embajadora especial Hambre Cero de la FAO para América Latina y el Caribe, estuvo a cargo de la conferencia magistral sobre el liderazgo de las mujeres y las condiciones actuales de la seguridad y la soberanía alimentaria en la región.

Guadalupe Valdez fue diputada nacional en República Dominicana durante el período 2010-2016, en el que integró las Comisiones de Desarrollo Humano, Economía, Presupuesto y Género y, además, sirvió como Coordinadora Regional del Frente Parlamentario contra el Hambre de América Latina y el Caribe. Ha sido una destacada lideresa en las causas relacionadas con la erradicación del hambre y la pobreza en la región.

Es licenciada en Economía y cuenta con maestrías en Educación Superior y en Alta Dirección Pública.

La FAO es la agencia de las Naciones Unidas que lidera el esfuerzo internacional para poner fin al hambre. Su objetivo es lograr la seguridad alimentaria para todas las personas y garantizar el acceso regular a alimentos suficientes y de buena calidad para llevar una vida activa y sana.

This episode was recorded during the virtual learning lab ‘Mobilizing parliaments to address climate migration,’ held on March 1, 2023 within the framework of the VIII Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean (RP23), organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). The session explored strategies for parliaments to support resilience-building to prevent forced climate migration as well as how to integrate gender-responsive relocation plans into disaster risk management. 

The Honourable Member of the National Assembly Juan Diego Vásquez (Panama), moderated the multi-stakeholder dialogue, which featured the participation of the Honourable Member of the Chamber of Representatives Julia Londoño (Colombia); Pablo Escribano, Regional Thematic Specialist on Migration, Environment and Climate Change of the International Organization for Migration; and Vanya David, President of the Dominica National Council of Women. 

The panellists presented on Colombia’s bill to address the displacement of persons due to climate impacts; an overview of the patterns of climate migration in the Latin America and Caribbean region; and inclusive relocation strategies recognizing that natural hazards impact women and girls disproportionately, thus exacerbating gender equality, alongside other socio-economic disparities which persist even after relocation.