On October 7, 1994 in Washington, D.C., the Roundtable of Western Hemisphere Women Leaders brought together a politically and professionally diverse group of over thirty prominent women—none of whom occupy a national government position—from the United States, Canada and eleven countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants included a former central bank president, foreign minister, and chair of the U.S. International Trade Commission; others were human rights activists, foundation officers, business executives, and leading academics. Although the group disagreed on many points, the participants sought and found a shared commitment to the fundamental values of democracy and equity, and agreed on common policy prescriptions for empowering women as key actors in development.
Participants in the Roundtable succeeded in accomplishing three key goals:
Mayra Buvinic
President
International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
Peter Hakim
President
Inter-American Dialogue
It was just over a year ago that leaders of 34 nations of the hemisphere gathered in Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas. How much progress has been made in the past year on the goals expressed at the summit?
Among Latin Americas, there is a growing consensus that the root cause of their violent crime wave is the massive use of narcotics in the US.
The VI Summit of the Americas could spark a more serious and mature debate on drug policy.
