Women communicators from Latin America and the Caribbean representing international, regional and national communications networks, met in Quito, Ecuador, on April 9-10 1994, at the invitation of the Agencia Latinoamericana de Informacio'n -ALAI- and the World Association of Community Radios -AMARC-, with the aim of reflecting on the role of gender communications in society and of consolidating common processes designed to carry out joint actions and formulate strategies for participation in the 4th World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995).
We, the participants at this meeting, declare that:
In today's world, communications and information exert an ever more decisive influence on the social, political and cultural orientation of our societies.
The increasingly monopolic concentration of communications media limits the exercise of the right of citizens to free expression and access to information, particularly in the case of socially marginalized segments of the population. Moreover, without information, there cannot be participation of citizens in decisions of common concern.
In particular, there exists systematic discrimination against women, whose actions, interests and movements and not taken into account.
In this context, it is essential to promote the democratization of communications and to affirm the role of gender sensitive communications as an indispensible element in the consolidation of democratic practices.
We reaffirm that gender sensitive communications, as a theme and as a practice, are a strategic element in the advancement of women and of their movements.
For the above reasons, we recognize the need to:
* Defend communicational practices based on social equality between genders, that ensure freedom of information and expression on diverse life-styles, sexual orientations, reproductive rights.
* Stengthen criticism of negative and stereotyped messages and images transmitted by the media, which reinforce gender inequality and violence. Promote a change in the image of women in the media, in conjunction with women communicators in these media.
* Through our work in communications, promote the improvement of the economic, social and political situation of Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean and indigenous women, in recognition of the ethnic and racial diversity of our region.
* Optimize the potential of gender communications networks in order to increase the impact of proposals that emerge from women and their movements.
* Strengthen networks of women communicators in the South and their links with other organized sectors. Promote North/South dialogue among communicators in order to develop joint action in the face of communications monopolies.
* Claim the right of access to new communications technologies, as tools that favor more horizontal and democratic communications.
In order to develop these proposals, we made the following agreements for action and coordination:
1) Create a Permanent Forum on Gender Communications, of an open and pluralistic nature, with the aim of coordinating activities, exchanging information and creating a space for reflection and debate on gender communications.
This proposal is based on respect for the autonomy of each participating entity and on the firm conviction of the need to promote complementary actions that promote the visibility of gender communications in every sphere.
2) With relation to the 4th World Conference on Women, we agree to:
* Formulate proposals, as women concerned with gender communications, in international forums -in particular, in the Regional Meeting in Argentina and the World Conference on Women-in order to prioritize the issue of gender communications as an integral part of the Agenda of these meetings.
* Organize Forums on Gender Communications in the Regional Meeting in Argentina and in Beijing, so as to promote the proposals formulated by women communicators in previous events, such as: the Latin American Meeting of Alternative and Popular Media (Quito, 1993); the Women Empowering Communication conference (Bangkok, 1994); the Regional Meeting on Gender Communications (Quito, 1994), among others.
* Make the claims of women's movements from the South more visible.
* Support the proposal of a year of gender communications, as a means of multiplying communicational spaces for women.
3) In response to the initiative of the Network of Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Women, which has declared July 25 of each year as the International Day of Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Women, we propose July as a month of dissemination of ethnic and racial themes.
Quito, April 10 1994
Participating organizations:
ALAI-Area Mujeres, ALER, AMARC-Red de Mujeres, APC-Programa Mujeres, CDE-Mujer/Paraguay, CEPAM/Ecuador, Conducta Impropia, Enfo Fanm/Hait¡, FEMPRESS, Flora Tristan/Per£, ISIS, Nodo Nicarao, RAIF/FIRE, Red de Mujeres Afro-latinoamericanas y Afro-caribe¤as, Red de Mujeres en Comunicacio'n/Ecuador, Red Juvenil Latinoamericana para el Desarrollo Sustentable, SEM/WFS, WACC/AMCC
Page presented by: ALAI Women's Progam, Quito, Ecuador.
