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by Luis Alberto Sierra G.
PANAMA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The president of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), Gabriela Rivadeneira, said Thursday that countries in the region needed to share legislative experiences in order to strike a balance between economic growth and human development.
In an interview with Xinhua, Rivadeneira said such proposals already existed in the region to allow parliaments to collaborate on preventing poverty, but that the Parlatino would begin a two-month campaign to study how such exchanges could work.
The lawmaker, who was attending a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) forum on Latin America and the Caribbean this week in Panama City, said this would allow countries to choose between models espousing accumulation or redistribution of wealth.
Furthermore, she added, such collaboration would allow countries to address critical issues, such as women's needs and gender equality.
Rivadeneira said the Parlatino helped the Organization of American States (OAS) craft a series of gender-focused policies that it encouraged member states to codify into law.
The Parlatino has also made a commitment to UN Women that all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will adopt laws, promoting gender equality and the entry of more women into the workforce.
Cuba, Bolivia and Ecuador are currently leaders in this area, with around 40 percent of their parliaments being made up of women, for example.
Rivadeneira also highlighted recent UNDP recommendations for the region, with the UN body calling for action on child education and nutrition, to promote social justice and reduce inequality.
If countries pass public policies benefiting women, children and the elderly, she said, the region should be able to improve its reputation as the continent with the second largest inequality rate.
"However, state policies must be backed up by the population...so that the government can never retreat on its social commitments, the people must demand the same," Rivadeneira noted.
