The Regional seminar for Latin American parliaments on the theme "Women Shaping Politics: Gender, Parliamentary Representation and Legislative Agenda" was organized by the Parliament of Uruguay, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), "Parlamenta" -a project of the Bicameral Women's Caucus- and the Political Science Department of the University of the Republic, on March 10-11, 2008, in Montevideo, Uruguay. The event was supported by the Spanish Cooperation (AECID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The seminar provided an opportunity for women parliamentarians and academics to share their views and make recommendations on key issues facing women in Latin America as well as to discuss mechanisms for promoting these concerns onto the political agenda.

Uruguayan Sen. Mónica Xavier noted that women's participation in the region's parliaments has been marked by both advances and setbacks, and that women must redouble their efforts to build more participatory democratic systems. “The current moment offers possibilities that we must not waste,” she said. “It is crucial to strengthen democracy in the region.”

Julie Ballington, IPU Program Officer for Partnership between Men and Women, shared important insights on how to include a crosscutting gender approach in parliaments. She highlighted the importance of strategies “to place gender issues at the center of political decisions in the institutional structures and distribution of resources. The gender perspective takes as a given that experiences have a different impact on men and women. As there are no systematic strategies on gender influence, each parliament has its own gender focus.”

Following the panel focused on Being a Woman in Parliament: Creating Their Own Space, Rossana Andía, iKNOW Politics Regional Facilitator for Latin America and the Caribbean, presented the initiative as a platform that facilitates knowledge, resources and a space for discussing and exchanging experiences to support the work of women parliamentarians.

In their breakout session, the audience that included 40 Latin American parliamentarians from 13 countries addressed a variety of topics including the role of women parliamentarians especially whom and who they represent, the legislative agenda and the relations with other stakeholders.

In her closing remarks, Kristen Sample, IDEA Senior Program Officer for the Andean Region and for gender issues, told the workshop participants "Women continue to face structural disadvantages in politics." She continued pointing out that "Not only is it more difficult for women to get into power, but it is also more difficult for women to stay in power and accumulate the necessary political capital to forge an effective career.”

Documents of the Seminar

All practical and substantive documents related to the seminar are available exclusively in Spanish which was the only working language for this particular event.