Statement of the International Coalition of Organizations for Human Rights in the Americas

This Statement is submitted by the signatory organizations, members of the International Coalition of Organizations for Human Rights in the Americas (the Coalition) to the Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS) in preparation for the fourth Summit of the Americas to be held in Mar del Plata on November 4-5, 2005 on the theme of "Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance".

The Coalition is a network of non-governmental and community organizations dedicated to the promotion and defence of human rights in the hemisphere and the principles of interdependence and indivisibility of human rights. The Coalition works to ensure that the OAS Member States fulfil their obligations under the international human rights instruments to which they are party and that they protect all persons, groups and peoples under their jurisdiction. The Coalition also works to ensure that the inter-American human rights protection system is strengthened, accessible to all and recognized and accepted by all OAS Member States. Additionally, the Coalition has taken on the mission of working to put an end to impunity for human rights violations in the hemisphere and of demanding the elimination of all forms of discrimination, in particular discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnic origin and sexual orientation.

The Coalition recognizes the importance of the theme chosen for the 4th Summit of the Americas and stresses that increased attention must urgently be given to the problems stemming from the widespread poverty, economic and social disparities and inequalities in the countries of the continent, through the adoption of an approach aimed at providing decent work. The Coalition is firmly convinced that the strengthening of democratic governance and respect for the rule of law are key to any response to these issues. We also believe that the broadest possible citizen participation is essential to the consolidation of democracy and that is of the utmost importance that civil society be able to participate in a significant manner throughout the Summit process.

The main questions covered by the Coalition in this Statement are: (1) respect for human rights as an instrument in the fight against poverty, (2) the primacy of human rights, (3) democratic governance and human rights and (4) public participation.

STATEMENT

The regional context: deteriorating working and employment conditions and growing inequalities and poverty:

This Statement's signatories believe that OAS Member States must recognize the following:

1. Poverty constitutes in and of itself a violation of the fundamental human rights. The processes of the labour market flexibilization and deregulation underway in the region have not only failed to bring about the anticipated economic benefits; they have on the contrary made working conditions more precarious, increased social imbalances, concentrated incomes and eroded labour law provisions and union rights. The States must therefore respect and promote rights pertaining to working conditions and conditions of employment. This implies that they must abstain from instituting legislative reforms that might affect these rights.

2. The growing precariousness of employment has a greater impact on women who, in many cases, are employed in "atypical", poorly-paid and part-time jobs which provide them with no protection. Women face unemployment rates that are almost one and a half times those of men, at a time when, in some countries, unemployment among women has risen while it has gone down among men(1). Precariousness of employment also exacerbates the wage inequalities between men and women and increases the workload women bear as a result of their "double workday" (i.e., the combination of occupational duties, domestic labour and parenting), which creates barriers to women's participation as citizens.

3. The decline in the number of jobs and working conditions has resulted in high unemployment rates affecting first and foremost indigenous women, young people and Afrodescendent women, and has led to an expansion of the informal sector. The informal sector has become one of the main sources of job creation, yet it deprives workers of any form of social security. Furthermore, this deterioration of the state of the labour market drives individuals to accept poorly paid subsistence jobs with little social protection and/or to migrate in search of other employment opportunities.

In this context, the Coalition wishes to present to the governments of the continent a series of comments and recommendations on the themes of the next Summit of the Americas from a human rights point of view.

 

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