Goals and Composition
Goals
The MESECVI is the guardian of compliance with the Belém do Pará Convention. Its main task is to contribute to ensuring that States advance in its implementation and guarantee respect for the rights of women it recognizes.
The objectives of the Mechanism are to:
- Monitor the commitments undertaken by the States Parties to the Convention and analyze how they are being implemented.
- Promote the implementation of the Convention and contribute to achieving the purposes set forth therein.
- Establish a system of technical cooperation among the States Parties—open to other OAS Member States and Permanent Observers—for the exchange of information, experiences, and good practices, as a means to update and harmonize domestic legislation, where appropriate, and to pursue other common objectives related to the Convention.
Composition
The Conference of States Parties (CEP) is composed of the Competent National Authorities; that is, each State Party to the Convention appoints an authority to participate in this body, which in most cases corresponds to the highest-level institution in the country responsible for women’s rights, such as Ministries of Women.
The Committee of Experts (CEVI) is the MESECVI’s technical body and is responsible for analyzing and evaluating the process of implementing the Convention. It is composed of independent experts, designated by each State Party, who serve in their personal capacity.
The Technical Secretariat oversees the functioning of the Mechanism at the strategic, administrative, and coordination levels among the various MESECVI bodies.
Civil society is represented within the Mechanism through various non-governmental organizations whose mission is to promote, defend, and protect women’s rights.