The webinar, organised by the European Union EUROsociAL+ programme, is one of the inaugural activities of the Generation Equality Forum, the global meeting promoting gender equality, convened by UN Women and jointly organised by the Governments of Mexico and France, with the leadership and participation of civil society. Twenty-five years after the historic Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most comprehensive framework for achieving women’s empowerment and gender equality, the Forum, to be inaugurated in Mexico City, which will culminate in Paris in June 2021, will review progress and shape a programme of specific measures to move forwards towards gender equality between now and 2030.

In this framework, the virtual event “Cooperation for Action: Reducing Gender Inequalities as a Key to Social Cohesion in Latin America and Europe” aims to generate a space for discussion around gender commitments and challenges to be faced by European and Latin American States in light of the global agenda and the current Covid-19 crisis. The power of women’s rights activism, feminist solidarity and youth leadership to bring about transformative change will be celebrated.

Indications for registration and participation

The event will be held through the virtual platform of the Generation Equality Forum as part of the activities of the Mexican chapter. The languages of the event are Spanish and English, and there will be simultaneous translation in three languages Spanish, French and English. To access the event, it is mandatory to register on this platform using the following google form. Between this weekend and next Monday you will receive a link confirming your registration for the Generation Equality Forum. The panellists will receive a different link.

How do you find our virtual session?

The virtual session “Cooperation for Action: Reducing Gender Inequalities as a Key to Social Cohesion in Latin America and Europe” will be at the time and day indicated above in the FEMINIST CONVERSATIONS AREA. Our title will find it for you.

Latin America is going through one of the largest processes of human mobility in recent times, which is the product of various circumstances such as an increase in poverty, persecution, conflicts, humanitarian crises, insecurity, violence, natural disasters, etc. In this context, an element to consider is that there are migrants and refugees’ legal needs that require attention because they are not being met. Their special condition of vulnerability recognised in the Brasilia Rules, among other norms, obliges states to attend to these needs. The role of the Public Defender’s Offices to meet these legal needs is of fundamental importance since, probably, they will be one of the few national institutions that can provide guidance, legal advice, representation and advocacy so that migrants and refugees can access their rights and get justice.

EUROsociAL accompanies the Inter-American Association of Public Defender’s Offices (AIDEF) in the creation of an Inter-American Network for the Defence of People on the Move and a Regional Defence Model for People on the Move to improve access to justice for the migrants and refugees in the region. In this framework, the objective of the webinar is twofold, on the one hand to generate a space for the exchange of experiences, strategies and mechanisms to improve care services for migrants and refugees, as well as best practices between institutions in Europe and Latin America. And, on the other, to present the proposal for an Inter-American Network of Legal Assistance for People on the Move and the Regional Defence Model for People on the Move, prepared within the framework of the AIDEF with the support of EUROsociAL+.