Seductive, rich and pleasant, sugar is an omnipresent ingredient in the Argentine diet. Faced with the alarming growth of obesity, lower consumption depends on a tangled dialectic between industry, science, government and civil society whose response is expected.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.”
In the sun of the creative momentum of the 1990s, the film portrayed the historic legal gestation against the Brown & Williamson Company in The Infiltrate, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. The argument was based on the company’s decision to add “coumarin” to cigarettes, a moderately toxic substance for the liver and kidneys that increases consumer addiction to cigarettes. A source of energy of easy and quick assimilation, disacárido formed by a molecule of glucose and one of fructose, extracted mainly of the sugar cane and beet, seductive and omnipresent, the sucrose is the most popular wild of flavor and it represents, in addition , The symbol of the new crusade for public health. Like the closely hidden secret of coumarin, the chemical composition of sugar, added in food and drink, is the focus of the current debate on food and disease. For the World Health Organization (WHO), 60% of Argentines are overweight and obesity in Argentina increased, between 2005 and 2013, by 42.5%. Moreover, according to the National Survey of National School Health of 2012, over a five-year period, in the group of adolescents aged 13 to 15 years, overweight increased from 24.5% to 28.6% and obesity Went from 4.4% to 5.9%. “The feeding of the baby with hypercaloric foods with high fat, sugar and salt content is one of the main factors that lead to childhood obesity. (…) Supplementary foods rich in fats, sugar and salt should be avoided”, cites the Commission To End WHO’s Child Obesity on its website.
The diet
The figures reflect that in the Argentine diet there is a great deficit of vegetables and fruits, according to the degree in Nutrition Pilar Llanos, who is part of the Board of Directors of the Argentine Nutrition Society (SAN). At the same time, Llanos explains, there is an excessive presence of products that contribute high caloric density, such as flours (no fibers), sweet and savory cookies, pre-ready pastas and white baked goods. The presence of meat such as poultry, fish and red meats on many tables, continues Llano, “is replaced by industrialized products, pre-listed, easy and quick to consume and the children’s liking with the company of the empty calories provided by soda” . Argentina is the world’s leading consumer of soft drinks with 137 liters per capita per year, according to Euromonitor 2014, the world leader in market research. “It is proven how the food industry is promoting the broad consumption of goods whose regular consumption over time generates negative impacts on health,” says Juan Carballo, lawyer and Executive Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Policy Development (Fundeps). In Argentina, in particular, information on food packaging is low, no one reads the label in detail and the advertisements are simply persuasive.
Disagreements
In the face of an obvious problem, the dialectic of the discussion is complex. Industry, civil society, the state and the scientific community – which at first glance share the truth of Perogrullo that a diet of sugar, saturated fats and sodium is bad for public health – are not in agreement About what to do about it. The options are several: to impose a sugar tax like England in 2016, to make an international agreement such as the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of 2003, to guarantee free enterprise, to sanction a strict rule on food labeling such as Chilean law 20.606, among many others. During the Round Table on the Implementation of the Plan of Action for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) held in Washington in May 2016, civil organizations throughout the Americas discussed barriers And opportunities in public health care. At the meeting, Carballo argued that there was insufficient voluntary standards and self-regulation on the part of the industry on advertising and marketing of food for children.
The investigation
The omnipresence of sugary ingredients in the diet of Argentines is a rich, natural and pleasurable reality difficult to discuss. They are perceptions that cross all social groups, ages and sexes. Its long-neglected innocuousness is the object of study by scientific institutions and associations responsible for unraveling positions on how much sugar has to do with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that cause morbidity and mortality. Things, a priori, are not so clear. Internal sugar industry papers published in 2016 in the journal Jama Internal Medicine by Stanton Glantz, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, suggest that studies that minimized the link between sugar and heart and slandered Saturated fats. Science, conditioned by industry, concealed a villain accusing another malefactor. “The industry operates through the financing of real research teams, some reliable, but also with ‘front organizations’ – adds Carballo – who have an institutional shell that is apparently respectable but that only have funding from the food industry sector. Its objective is to cast doubt on proven conclusions or to condition public policies”.
The Coca-Cola Case
Although the influence peddling revealed in the documents dates back almost 50 years, more recent reports show that the industry continues to exert its influence in the science of nutrition. On January 4, The Praxis Project and the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola for misleading the public by breaking down research linking sugary drinks with obesity, type 2 diabetes And the like. “Coca Cola has a long history of support and fruitful relationships with research and non-profit organizations in the countries where it is present,” said Francisco Do Pico, Coca-Cola Director of Public Affairs and Communications for Argentina. Always occur in a transparent context and in no case have conditions tending to favor topics of interest to the Company “. The company provides up-to-date information on its website www.transparency.coca-colacompany.com on the amounts of money it allocates to research activities. However, within its policy of transparency, all the academic institutions to which Coca-Cola funds are not yet explicitly disseminated.
Interests crossed
Food, on the other hand, is closely linked to food production by industry; And to the regulation of the marketing of healthy products in the market, on the part of the State. In the middle of both actors are the facts obtained from scientific research. In spite of everything, gray areas appear everywhere. The journalist and author of the book Malcomidos, Soledad Barruti, last year published an article denouncing that the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) was in fact an NGO financed by corporations of the food industry that realized field studies in public schools of Buenos Aires, with Endorsement and funds from the city’s “My Healthy School” state program to investigate child habits in relation to food. “For me it is fundamental that we begin to ask who financed an investigation Who sponsors the nutritional and pediatric societies of Argentina? Why do I see stamps from the Argentine Nutrition Society (SAN) on salt packets if it is assumed That we have to consume less salt, which is fortified with iron? I think it suffices to say who paid the study and in what paradigm of nutrition is inserted.
The Cormillot case
A few hours after releasing the new list of Pricing, in August 2016, the national government returned in its footsteps and withdrew from the program the four “Cormillot” brand products that were introduced after Dr. Alberto Cormillot took over as an official of the Ministry of Health and advise in the development of the official policy of regulated prices. Dulcor foods licensed by Cormillot generated a state of suspicion about a potential conflict of interest in which the professional television would be both part and counterpart. “There can not be an official who has direct links to a food company that bears his name,” Barruti says or sells food products, diets or services around his name.
The triumph of sucrose
The Science and Technology of Foods race belonging to the Department of Productive and Technological Development of UNLa (University of Lanús) in November 2016 made a survey of preferences of food consumption with sugar in Argentina. The work revealed that 92% of Argentines that incorporates sweet foods daily to their food does it because it is rich and 82% of them because it is pleasant. “It is a matter of Food Education to make the institutions aware that they do not include foods such as snacks and snacks in the diet of schoolchildren”, summarizes the licensed Llanos, of SAN-. Perhaps a first step would be to take letters in spaces where, like schools, the state has a strong role. School kiosks could be the seed of a distinct food profile associated with the educational process. A place where the private sector, without being a bad word, can participate along with civil society. The naturalness of the presence of sucrose in the Argentine diet, as a triumph of pleasure against the antithesis of good health, makes the consumption of drinks and sugary foods is part of the status quo of the daily menu. An idea prevails: each is responsible for himself without prejudice to the State, civil society and science – that is, concepts similar to those that slide tobacco smokers. Several ethics result from a chemical purification process whose success depends on the percentage of sucrose contained in its crystals.
The position of the industry
Groups of companies represented by the Latin American Alliance of Food and Beverage Associations (Alaiab), meeting in Washington D.C. In 2015, expressed their disagreement with “those approaches that seek to pigeonhole the private sector as an actor … incompatible with the development of public health-related policy proposals … Alaiab believes that the so-called ‘Conflicts of interest’ should not delay the proactive dialogue. ” “It is clear that the chambers and companies of Copal,” says Daniel Funes de Rioja, president of the association, “have worked for the quality of the food we produce.” We and the ministries of Health and Agroindustry recently celebrated an agreement to promote habits Healthy life and provide adequate information to society through labeling and advertising. ” The meeting, to which no civil society organization was invited, was a step of coordination between the State and business. On the legal and parliamentary level, the debate is still pending on deep marketing and labeling laws, two sensitive issues for the industry. Rumors that a law establishing front labeling of containers with large, easily visible black seals warning of foods high in sugars, sodium, saturated fats, and calories (as in Chilean law) may spark off criticism. “We believe that this is an absolutely wrong law,” adds Funes de Rioja, “since it not only has distortions from a technical point of view, but also from a practical point of view.” Our country, unlike Chile, is a world exporter Many times technical norms are created without scientific-sanitary basis that imply trade barriers. ” The companies gathered at Copal claim to do research to document the ingredients and the effects that certain foods can have. “All of this is done with the highest scientific solvency,” explains Fines de Rioja, “which are chambers or companies with entities such as the Argentine Nutrition Society, for example, and other academic institutions with which we work.”
Source: La Voz Del Interior
Worrying situation of the Public Defender’s Office
Three months ago the Office of the Public Defender is out of town, a circumstance that leaves the agency unable to fully carry out the functions assigned in the current Audiovisual Communication Services Act. This situation runs counter to the recommendations of the CEDAW Committee and aggravates the situation of vulnerability of the rights of the hearings.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
The Office of the Public Defender of Audiovisual Communication, which was created together with the Audiovisual Communication Services Law, is an organization that promotes, diffuses and defends the right to democratic communication in the media.
As we have previously reported, this dependency of the State has been in place since November 14 of last year when, upon the expiration of the term of Lic. Cynthia Ottaviano, the Congressional Bicameral Commission decided not to appoint a new defender / Nor to renew the mandate of the outgoing defender. To date, the agency has filed a petition for the attorney María José Guembe, Director of Protection of Rights of the Ombudsman, to be the highest authority in this transitional stage. In the same way and given that the role of Guembe does not enjoy all the faculties, the organism remains acephalous, and therefore, lacking in operability.
The institution of the Public Defender’s Office is fundamental because it acts as an intermediary between the communication and public actors, representing the interests and rights of the audiences. In this way, acephaly violates citizenship and their rights can not be fully enforced without the full action of this body. This situation has already lasted for almost 3 months, but continues to work, receiving and channeling claims.
Complaints made from FUNDEPS
During 2016, from FUNDEPS, we made several complaints to the organization, highlighting those made to the TV channel TYC Sports and the program “Majul 910” by Radio AM 910.
In December of last year, we received a telephone notification about the status of the claim made by an institutional advertisement of the TV channel TyC Sports, in the month of September. In such advertising, a conversation is shown between a heterosexual couple, reproducing stereotypes of the sexual division of labor, as well as of power relations within couples. In response to this claim, the Ombudsman acknowledged and mentioned the stereotypes that reproduce the media and highlighted the positive aspects of the audiences by expressing their agreement with the constructed messages. For this complaint, a communication was made to the television channel, which was not answered. We received a formal written response in which it is mentioned that:
“In its report on the piece, the Directorate of Analysis, Investigation and Monitoring of this Ombudsman said that” it receives the comments expressed in the consultation as an indication of the legitimate disagreement of the hearings with the uncritical reiteration of stereotypical representations that, moreover, do not Correspond to the current social diversity in terms of family compositions and role assignment within families”
Due to the serious situation that the organism is undergoing, it was not possible to take other measures. In addition, in November of last year we made a complaint about the radio program “Majul 910” in Radio La Red AM 910 in which, under the supposedly “humorous” language, reproduce stereotypes and apologies to gender violence.
In this case, the Ombudsman also acknowledged the legitimacy of the complaint and reported that the company RED CELESTE Y BLANCA SA, owner of LR5 Radio La Red AM 910 responded to the complaint:
“… the comments made by comedian Claudio Rico have been made exclusively with animus iocandi and that he never had the objective of offending women or carrying forward a stereotype of beauty that is offensive and oppressive for women. Has been the goal of ‘LA RED’ to spread a message of media violence as stated in the presentation”
Finally, the Radio expresses: “In this sense … we take due note of it and proceed to communicate the terms of the same to the drivers, participants and producers of the”Majul 910″ Program”.
Since they can not take any further measures or issue their opinions on the quality of the contents, the complaints made to the Public Defender’s Office have lost strength and legitimacy and are left to the will of the denounced media.
In this context of great uncertainty, it is important to remember that, in its concluding observations to Argentina, CEDAW recommended “Amend Act No. 26.522 (2009) on audiovisual media services in order to provide the Public Defender with the power to Sanction violations of provisions to regulate gender stereotypes and sexism in the media. ” Faced with this, the institutional situation of the Public Defender’s Office is even more serious. The international recommendations are aimed at giving more powers to the body, which is currently limited to its functioning, a limitation that is constituted as a regressive situation that diminishes the level of protection of women against symbolic and media violence, and of audiences in general.
The reproduction of gender stereotypes in the media is a form of mediatic and symbolic violence, in accordance with the definitions of Law 26.485 of Comprehensive Protection to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence against Women, which are also contemplated in the Law 26,522 of Individual Communication Services. Agencies such as the Public Defender’s Office are fundamental to ensure the production of content and programming in media that do not foster a culture of discrimination and violence. Given the gravity of the case, we again express our concern about the violation of the rights of the hearings and demand that the situation be rectified shortly.
More information
Contact
Carolina Tamagnini – carotamagnini@fundeps.org
Emiilia Pioletti – emiliapioletti@fundeps.org
We participate in the second CEPAL regional consultation on human rights and business
The Second Regional Consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean on the Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights was held during the week of January 17-19 in the city of Santiago de Chile. The meeting was attended by governments, businessmen and civil society organizations.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
During the year 2016, the first consultation was held and it was concluded that it was necessary to make progress in a regional report on human rights and business. In 2017, the second meeting was convened in order to continue the effort to implement the Guiding Principles, serving as a platform for dialogue among various actors, to illustrate the content of an agenda that guides the policies related to the subject matter ( Both in the public and private spheres) towards the progressive enjoyment of human rights in the context of business operations.
The Guiding Principles are based on the recognition of: (a) Current obligations of States to respect, protect and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedoms; (B) The role of companies as specialized bodies of society which perform specialized functions and which must comply with all applicable laws and respect human rights; C) The need for rights and obligations to be accompanied by adequate and effective remedies in case of non-compliance. These principles apply to all States and to all enterprises, whether transnational or otherwise, irrespective of their size, sector, location, owners and structure.
The expected results of this consultation were related to:
It should be noted that prior to the meeting, FUNDEPS and other civil society organizations signed a letter to encourage greater participation by civil society in this consultation. As a result of this request, a specific panel was incorporated for the organizations at the same time as the interventions of this sector were prioritized over the three days.
The consultation was attended by American governments (Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and the United States), representatives of civil society organizations and representatives of companies that are working on the implementation of the guiding principles. Each of the participating governments showed progress in the design and implementation of a national plan that addresses the application of the principles. For their part, representatives of civil society had the opportunity to express their concerns and perceptions about the work that governments and companies have been doing on this issue.
In the same way as in the case of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), FUNDEPS considers it of great importance to promote such initiatives that seek to provide greater transparency and accountability in the Private sector, but without neglecting the responsibility of national governments. Particularly in Argentina, and taking into account the current scenario of foreign investment, characterized by an increasing role of private sector investments (the case of investments of Chinese companies or the growing portfolio of projects of the Inter-American Investment Corporation, for example ) Or through Public-Private Associations, we believe that it is vital that both the national government and those of a local nature do not lose sight of these guiding principles in order to guarantee respect for human rights within the framework of business activities. We also hope that the process of designing a national human rights and business plan will have a space for civil society input.
More information
Contact
Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org
A delicious villain, food and industry
Seductive, rich and pleasant, sugar is an omnipresent ingredient in the Argentine diet. Faced with the alarming growth of obesity, lower consumption depends on a tangled dialectic between industry, science, government and civil society whose response is expected.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.”
In the sun of the creative momentum of the 1990s, the film portrayed the historic legal gestation against the Brown & Williamson Company in The Infiltrate, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. The argument was based on the company’s decision to add “coumarin” to cigarettes, a moderately toxic substance for the liver and kidneys that increases consumer addiction to cigarettes. A source of energy of easy and quick assimilation, disacárido formed by a molecule of glucose and one of fructose, extracted mainly of the sugar cane and beet, seductive and omnipresent, the sucrose is the most popular wild of flavor and it represents, in addition , The symbol of the new crusade for public health. Like the closely hidden secret of coumarin, the chemical composition of sugar, added in food and drink, is the focus of the current debate on food and disease. For the World Health Organization (WHO), 60% of Argentines are overweight and obesity in Argentina increased, between 2005 and 2013, by 42.5%. Moreover, according to the National Survey of National School Health of 2012, over a five-year period, in the group of adolescents aged 13 to 15 years, overweight increased from 24.5% to 28.6% and obesity Went from 4.4% to 5.9%. “The feeding of the baby with hypercaloric foods with high fat, sugar and salt content is one of the main factors that lead to childhood obesity. (…) Supplementary foods rich in fats, sugar and salt should be avoided”, cites the Commission To End WHO’s Child Obesity on its website.
The diet
The figures reflect that in the Argentine diet there is a great deficit of vegetables and fruits, according to the degree in Nutrition Pilar Llanos, who is part of the Board of Directors of the Argentine Nutrition Society (SAN). At the same time, Llanos explains, there is an excessive presence of products that contribute high caloric density, such as flours (no fibers), sweet and savory cookies, pre-ready pastas and white baked goods. The presence of meat such as poultry, fish and red meats on many tables, continues Llano, “is replaced by industrialized products, pre-listed, easy and quick to consume and the children’s liking with the company of the empty calories provided by soda” . Argentina is the world’s leading consumer of soft drinks with 137 liters per capita per year, according to Euromonitor 2014, the world leader in market research. “It is proven how the food industry is promoting the broad consumption of goods whose regular consumption over time generates negative impacts on health,” says Juan Carballo, lawyer and Executive Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Policy Development (Fundeps). In Argentina, in particular, information on food packaging is low, no one reads the label in detail and the advertisements are simply persuasive.
Disagreements
In the face of an obvious problem, the dialectic of the discussion is complex. Industry, civil society, the state and the scientific community – which at first glance share the truth of Perogrullo that a diet of sugar, saturated fats and sodium is bad for public health – are not in agreement About what to do about it. The options are several: to impose a sugar tax like England in 2016, to make an international agreement such as the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of 2003, to guarantee free enterprise, to sanction a strict rule on food labeling such as Chilean law 20.606, among many others. During the Round Table on the Implementation of the Plan of Action for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) held in Washington in May 2016, civil organizations throughout the Americas discussed barriers And opportunities in public health care. At the meeting, Carballo argued that there was insufficient voluntary standards and self-regulation on the part of the industry on advertising and marketing of food for children.
The investigation
The omnipresence of sugary ingredients in the diet of Argentines is a rich, natural and pleasurable reality difficult to discuss. They are perceptions that cross all social groups, ages and sexes. Its long-neglected innocuousness is the object of study by scientific institutions and associations responsible for unraveling positions on how much sugar has to do with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that cause morbidity and mortality. Things, a priori, are not so clear. Internal sugar industry papers published in 2016 in the journal Jama Internal Medicine by Stanton Glantz, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, suggest that studies that minimized the link between sugar and heart and slandered Saturated fats. Science, conditioned by industry, concealed a villain accusing another malefactor. “The industry operates through the financing of real research teams, some reliable, but also with ‘front organizations’ – adds Carballo – who have an institutional shell that is apparently respectable but that only have funding from the food industry sector. Its objective is to cast doubt on proven conclusions or to condition public policies”.
The Coca-Cola Case
Although the influence peddling revealed in the documents dates back almost 50 years, more recent reports show that the industry continues to exert its influence in the science of nutrition. On January 4, The Praxis Project and the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola for misleading the public by breaking down research linking sugary drinks with obesity, type 2 diabetes And the like. “Coca Cola has a long history of support and fruitful relationships with research and non-profit organizations in the countries where it is present,” said Francisco Do Pico, Coca-Cola Director of Public Affairs and Communications for Argentina. Always occur in a transparent context and in no case have conditions tending to favor topics of interest to the Company “. The company provides up-to-date information on its website www.transparency.coca-colacompany.com on the amounts of money it allocates to research activities. However, within its policy of transparency, all the academic institutions to which Coca-Cola funds are not yet explicitly disseminated.
Interests crossed
Food, on the other hand, is closely linked to food production by industry; And to the regulation of the marketing of healthy products in the market, on the part of the State. In the middle of both actors are the facts obtained from scientific research. In spite of everything, gray areas appear everywhere. The journalist and author of the book Malcomidos, Soledad Barruti, last year published an article denouncing that the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) was in fact an NGO financed by corporations of the food industry that realized field studies in public schools of Buenos Aires, with Endorsement and funds from the city’s “My Healthy School” state program to investigate child habits in relation to food. “For me it is fundamental that we begin to ask who financed an investigation Who sponsors the nutritional and pediatric societies of Argentina? Why do I see stamps from the Argentine Nutrition Society (SAN) on salt packets if it is assumed That we have to consume less salt, which is fortified with iron? I think it suffices to say who paid the study and in what paradigm of nutrition is inserted.
The Cormillot case
A few hours after releasing the new list of Pricing, in August 2016, the national government returned in its footsteps and withdrew from the program the four “Cormillot” brand products that were introduced after Dr. Alberto Cormillot took over as an official of the Ministry of Health and advise in the development of the official policy of regulated prices. Dulcor foods licensed by Cormillot generated a state of suspicion about a potential conflict of interest in which the professional television would be both part and counterpart. “There can not be an official who has direct links to a food company that bears his name,” Barruti says or sells food products, diets or services around his name.
The triumph of sucrose
The Science and Technology of Foods race belonging to the Department of Productive and Technological Development of UNLa (University of Lanús) in November 2016 made a survey of preferences of food consumption with sugar in Argentina. The work revealed that 92% of Argentines that incorporates sweet foods daily to their food does it because it is rich and 82% of them because it is pleasant. “It is a matter of Food Education to make the institutions aware that they do not include foods such as snacks and snacks in the diet of schoolchildren”, summarizes the licensed Llanos, of SAN-. Perhaps a first step would be to take letters in spaces where, like schools, the state has a strong role. School kiosks could be the seed of a distinct food profile associated with the educational process. A place where the private sector, without being a bad word, can participate along with civil society. The naturalness of the presence of sucrose in the Argentine diet, as a triumph of pleasure against the antithesis of good health, makes the consumption of drinks and sugary foods is part of the status quo of the daily menu. An idea prevails: each is responsible for himself without prejudice to the State, civil society and science – that is, concepts similar to those that slide tobacco smokers. Several ethics result from a chemical purification process whose success depends on the percentage of sucrose contained in its crystals.
The position of the industry
Groups of companies represented by the Latin American Alliance of Food and Beverage Associations (Alaiab), meeting in Washington D.C. In 2015, expressed their disagreement with “those approaches that seek to pigeonhole the private sector as an actor … incompatible with the development of public health-related policy proposals … Alaiab believes that the so-called ‘Conflicts of interest’ should not delay the proactive dialogue. ” “It is clear that the chambers and companies of Copal,” says Daniel Funes de Rioja, president of the association, “have worked for the quality of the food we produce.” We and the ministries of Health and Agroindustry recently celebrated an agreement to promote habits Healthy life and provide adequate information to society through labeling and advertising. ” The meeting, to which no civil society organization was invited, was a step of coordination between the State and business. On the legal and parliamentary level, the debate is still pending on deep marketing and labeling laws, two sensitive issues for the industry. Rumors that a law establishing front labeling of containers with large, easily visible black seals warning of foods high in sugars, sodium, saturated fats, and calories (as in Chilean law) may spark off criticism. “We believe that this is an absolutely wrong law,” adds Funes de Rioja, “since it not only has distortions from a technical point of view, but also from a practical point of view.” Our country, unlike Chile, is a world exporter Many times technical norms are created without scientific-sanitary basis that imply trade barriers. ” The companies gathered at Copal claim to do research to document the ingredients and the effects that certain foods can have. “All of this is done with the highest scientific solvency,” explains Fines de Rioja, “which are chambers or companies with entities such as the Argentine Nutrition Society, for example, and other academic institutions with which we work.”
Source: La Voz Del Interior
We reject pressures on artists and demand open and technical discussion about our forests
In recent weeks there have been repeated pressures to advance against the few remaining native forests in the province of Cordoba. We defend freedom of political and artistic expression and we demand a participatory and technical discussion that assures an adequate protection of our forests.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
By the end of 2016, and thanks to the mobilization of communities and civil society organizations, it was possible to extend the treatment of a forest law project that was intended to be approved without adequate discussion. That project would have meant a clear weakening of the protection to native forests in our province.
From FUNDEPS, we developed a document with numerous legal and environmental critiques of the bill. The criticisms marked the clear weakening of the environmental protection of the forests as well as the existence of a process non-transparent and non-participatory. Both points violate the National Law of Minimum Budgets for the Protection of Native Forests
Some of these criticisms had already been raised in a joint document between the Environmental Forum, FUNDEPS and other institutions that rose to the government in response to the position of CARTEZ entitled “Producing conserving and conserving produce”. Neither CARTEZ nor legislators who presented the project responded to the technical questions that were posed to that position.
Instead of taking advantage of the extension of the discussion period to generate a participatory space or to respond to the legal and technical questions that were made to the project, from the agricultural sector is pressed to get a rapid approval of the bill. It is accused of setting positions without scientific basis when from that sector could never answer the questions that were sent. Likewise, artists such as José Luis Serrano and Raly Barrionuevo are especially under pressure to mobilize against the few remaining native forests in our province. In a statement, CARTEZ strongly criticized Doña Jovita and Raly Barrionuevo for accusing them of “generating confusion” and defending “extreme ideologies”. As a reply, José Luis Serrano challenged the ruralist entity to answer with “scientific arguments” the doubts raised by the Environmental Forum.
In that line and in a surprising twist, journalist Andrés Carpio de Cadena 3 intimately informs José Luis Serrano for his comments regarding the journalist’s description of the March 28 march. The journalist made a strongly negative description of the march describing it in a number much lower than the estimates of the organizers. He also suggested that those who marched did not know well why they did so to the extent that there was already a decision to postpone the treatment of the bill. It seems that in the journalist’s position, the defense of native forests and the visibility of a popular demand are not enough reasons to publicly manifest in a peaceful way.
In that context, the artist José Luis Serrano personifying his character “Doña Jovita” marks his surprise for the inaccurate description of the demonstration against the forest law project. It does so through his character, in an artistic expression and criticism of an inadequate description of a popular mobilization.
We defend the right to free expression and artistic expression with connections to rights and social demands. We are opposed to pressures against public demonstrations. We also strongly reject the use of legal mechanisms to limit the critical positions of public figures.
Contact
Juan Carballo, Director Ejecutivo
juanmcarballo@fundeps.org
Advances and challenges at the Villa Carlos Paz Environmental Center Project
Administrative processes are advancing and it is expected that in May 2017 work will begin for the construction of the Villa Carlos Paz Environmental Center with financing from the Inter-American Development Bank.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.”
The IDB’s Integrated Urban Solid Waste Management Program (GIRSU) finances works for the integral management of solid urban waste and the recovery of degraded areas due to the poor disposal of such wastes. The total cost of the program is US $ 150 million and contains two subprograms: on the one hand, GIRSU in national parks and adjacent municipalities and, on the other hand, GIRSU in other tourist municipalities.
Within the second group is the Villa Carlos Paz Environmental Center. The center was designed to receive the urban solid waste from five neighboring municipalities that agreed with the municipal administration of Carlos Paz their joint treatment. The project was developed by TecnoMak S.A. Contracted by the Executing Unit of International Loans under the Ministry of Tourism of the Nation.
TecnoMak S.A. Studied three alternatives for possible locations of the new MSW treatment center. Finally, it was decided to locate it in the building of the current open-air garbage dump bordering the La Calera Natural Reserve.
The project has three groups of works:
Works Group 1: Sanitary Landfill for the disposal of MSW generated in the localities of the Municipality of Villa Carlos Paz and communes of the area of influence of the project; With a useful life of 20 years and an average daily income of 163 Tn / day.
Works Group 2: Separation and Treatment Plant and related logistical and administrative support works.
Works Group 3: Closing and Closing of the Landfill to Open Sky currently existing.
On April 7, 2016, the environmental public hearing was held in which the authorities participated and eleven people registered with it.
The mayor Esteban Avilés explained:
“We are working on a regional project that will give us a definitive solution to the open dump (…), with this public hearing would be closed the administrative situation and then move to the instance of decrees that have to do with the Secretariat of Environment Of the province, and the Ministry of Tourism of the Nation by Gustavo Santos”
Regarding the deadlines stated that “we believe that we will be fairly quick compared to other projects approved at the national level” but did not rule out before the end of the year.
Several objections were raised by María Luz Cammisa (Secretary of the Norman Morandini, Director of the Human Rights Observatory of the Senate of the Nation), related to the relevance of the hearing as “it arrives with a work that is tendered and has been up to Pre-awarded (…) We are here in some way to validate what has already been decided by us” It was also stressed the jurisdictional limitation, since the affected lands are outside the ejido of Carlos Paz:
“It is for us a priority issue that I raised to the governor Juan Schiaretti because we can not advance in a planning with the intermediate institutions of the city always being conditioned to that the province resolves this administrative situation.I see that it is a governor that has this type De la Sota really had no interest for anything, “declared the Intendente and later be endorsed by his collaborators: It is a theme of substance for the Carlospacenses; But that does not determine the continuity of the project.”
More controversial was the mention of Cammisa regarding the deadline stipulated by the Technical Commission for the use of the module:
“…it must have a maximum of six years, and that after the same period, a site outside the San Roque basin (…) should be used to specify the integration of a Comprehensive Waste Management Program in the metropolitan area of Córdoba (CORMECOR) “(…) We do not know if the municipality itself will have a solution for its waste beyond six years. That is to say that the projected environmental center will last less years than the time taken to plan it”
Those who responded to this were the architect Liliana Bina and the secretary of Urban Environmental Development, Horacio Pedrone. They mentioned in this respect that the Interdisciplinary Technical Commission suggested this term in view of the CORMECOR project, of which the city would participate if it materialized. However, “this plant would continue to function exactly the same, but instead of throwing the surplus into the sanitary burial, we would do it in a transfer iron to Cordoba.” Meanwhile, Villa Carlos Paz as the member communes will have buried for that date some 475 thousand tons of garbage.
On the other hand, Pedrone said “to say that the municipalities and communes that have signed intermunicipal agreements with us and that they will not be able to throw the garbage more is absolutely false … The project has been thought from the first minute with the participation Of the eight municipalities and municipalities bordering Villa Carlos Paz and have always treated the subject of garbage together” said in a framework of participation in which were present the community leaders Andrea Jordán (Cuesta Blanca), Adolfo Parizzia (Estancia Vieja) and representatives of Icho Cruz and Cabalango.
Other approaches were related to the territorial organization of the native forest:
“… there is no mention in the environmental impact study of the negative impacts of the reserve. It is an area bordering a protected area, and a project that seeks to be authorized by means of exceptions provided for in the Forests Law (…) The opinion of the Technical Commission itself warns against the location of the project that it would be inadvisable to concentrate in this area more potentially impacting installations against the environment, since it is in the vicinity of the natural area (…) and in areas with drainage at Lake San Roque.”
This point was also raised by environmentalist Juan Carlos Paesani, who for health reasons was not present but made read his statement: “Will it be understood that this reservoir gives drinking to almost two million people in the city of Córdoba? Continue to ignore elementary principles.”
More confrontational was the speech of the President of the Council of Representatives, Walter Gispert, who retorted the remarks when pointing out that:
“Apart from saying, we have to do, our government has spoken to everyone … Beyond the technical issues, the material and environmental debt that the city has and the effort made by all public and private institutions to Solve the problem, for our future, I ask you to approve the project.”
He also suggested that “the Chicana” comes from a member who shares his same political space, Norma Morandini, “whom I spoke to personally to raise the situation, but he never came to Carlos Paz, and she was a legislator for Córdoba.”
In August, the national public bidding process was carried out and in November the tenders for the international public tender were opened. The works will start in May 2017. The current landfill will be replaced by a landfill that will house a waste separation plant and a recycling plant. 222 million will be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank and it is estimated that the work will require around eight months and that by mid-2018 this new plant would be put into operation.
From FUNDEPS we follow these processes to ensure that they respect human rights and the environment. The location of the Villa Carlos Paz Environmental Center next to the La Calera Defense Nature Reserve, and meters away from San Roque Lake on land that may have a higher propensity to seep or leach into the water, is questionable. In this context of possible environmental and social impacts, the municipal and provincial governments must ensure the highest levels of transparency and access to information. From FUNDEPS we will monitor compliance with provincial and national regulations on these issues as well as compliance with the corresponding operational policies of the IDB.
More information
Contact
Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org
The “Majul 910” program and its jokes about sexual abuse
En el programa “Majul 910” que se emite por Radio La Red, en el día martes 18 de octubre, un día antes de la marcha y paro realizados en toda Argentina tras el femicidio de Lucía Pérez, y bajo el lema #MiércolesNegro, un humorista realizó una cadena de chistes atravesados por un estereotipo de belleza que resultan ofensivos y opresivos para las mujeres.
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After comments like “(…) look Majul, my wife is so ugly that she had to make a representation of Beauty and the Beast and Bella made a guy,” he concluded: “My wife is so ugly that they grabbed her Some rapists and, in the dark, dressed, “he quipped as journalists celebrated the commentary, and the art of radio along with jocular sounds and background reporters.
This treatment of information violates the provisions of Law 26.485 on Comprehensive Protection to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence against Women and Law 26.522 on Audiovisual Communication Services, which stipulates that programming must avoid elements that promote acts Discriminatory and violent towards women. It should be remembered that according to the Argentine Criminal Code, the act of sexually violating a person is typified in article 119 and constitutes a crime proper.
This type of content diffused in the media constitute forms of mistreatment and symbolic violence, in which imaginary and reproducing cultural mandates are forms of oppression and domination towards women.
For this reason, it has filed a complaint with the Public Defender’s Office for Audiovisual Communication Services and ENACOM (eg AFSCA), which are bound by the rights of the audiences.
The joker, allegedly innocent, satirizes a crime against sexual integrity based on non-compliance with a mandate: beauty. It is unacceptable to reproduce these words in any medium of communication, especially in this tragic social context towards women, evidenced by the acts of violence and femicides seen in recent years.
We continue to demand that the media commit themselves to promoting and respecting equality, avoiding content that reproduces forms of media violence against women, while respecting their integrity and their rights. These sayings are extremely dangerous and their mere existence is unacceptable. Violence towards women is, above all, a human rights issue, where the media have a huge task to do.
Lastly, there is concern about the lack of formal pronouncement by the Office of the Public Defender and of ENACOM, after more than two months of the corresponding complaints. From FUNDEPS we continue with the monitoring of the open processes, in order to continue with the monitoring of the functioning of these bodies.
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Contact
Emilia Pioletti – emiliapioletti@fundeps.org
Carolina Tamagnini – carotamagnini@fundeps.org
The work of trunk gas pipelines in Cordoba has Chinese funding
The largest infrastructure project in the province of Cordoba has Chinese funding. Two Chinese banks: ICBC and Bank of China will finance 80% of the 8,400 million pesos of the trunk gas pipeline work in the province.
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The map of the ten trunk duct systems had been divided into three groups. The first one assigned to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. The second to the construction company China Communications Construction Company and the Argentine construction company Iecsa S.A. And the third to the construction company China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau and the Argentine company Electroingeniería S.A.
One of the formalities that the province had to fulfill was to have the guarantees of the national government to access external financing and, at the same time, guarantee that debt with funds from the federal co-participation.
The works began on August 14 of this year by the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. This was the only company awarded that presented own financing for the work and does not depend on loans from Chinese banks.
In the month of October, the province placed a debt for 150 million dollars to 10 years of term.
And now in December the Chinese investments were confirmed. The gas pipelines in the provincial interior that will be financed by loans from the two Chinese banks were awarded to the transitory union of companies that formed the Cordobesa Electroingeniería, the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau and the port of Iecsa, in partnership with the Asian China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). In charge of the negotiation with the Chinese banks is the Minister of Investment and Financing Ricardo Sosa.
From FUNDEPS we are monitoring this project, we have met with officials of the Córdoba Agency for Investment and Financing (ACIF), and we have submitted requests for information to provincial and national ministries. The terms of the legislation that regulates access to knowledge of State acts have expired and there is still no response from the corresponding units.
The questions generated by a work of this magnitude are several. No details have been given of the agreements reached with Chinese banks, it has not been established how this project will effectively reach each of the municipalities involved, nor are the environmental impact reports known. From FUNDEPS, it will be sought that these infrastructure projects do not negatively impact the living conditions of the communities or the environment.
More information
Gas pipelines: Schiaretti reviewed with Prat Gay the progress of contracts with Chinese companies
Gas pipelines: the Nation signs guarantees for Chinese credits
Contact
Gonzalo Roza / Coordinator of the Global Governance Area
gon.roza@fundeps.org
Discrimination: the failures of virtual “denunciations” before the INADI
On the site Infobae, it was published with a note titled “Reversed roles: did the woman become more masculine in relationships?“, Which repeatedly incurs stereotypical and discriminatory comments and symbolic violence towards women. From this, a consultation was made with INADI, which did not have concrete results.
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The news in question is developed from an interview with a psychologist who, while highlighting the advances of women in the professional field, understands that these are spaces reserved for men, usurped by women, placing them in related tasks Home and care. According to the psychologist and writer Beatriz Goldberg, today’s woman is dislocating the man from her place. He has difficulty in finding the right role.’Women can and should have activities in all areas, But from the role of woman.If you ‘masculinize’, you lose your intuitive and intellectual capacity. ”
It is worrying to continue to think that the labor and professional fields, as well as the tasks of providing economic resources in the home, are exclusively male, and to the “masculinized” women, when they are part of these spaces or they appropriate those tasks.
Likewise, repeated references are made to the importance of not losing typically “feminine” characteristics, such as sensitivity or intuition. Likewise, denigrating comments are made, such as the reference to women as household appliances: “It is multiprocessor, it does everything, it is multiple”.
These types of opinions and comments reproduce sociocultural patterns of behavior that stereotype, discriminate and subordinate women, demanding that they be reserved for certain spaces and meet certain characteristics to be considered as such. In addition, being a person placed in a space of authority for their professional qualifications, it is understood that the psychologist is a referent on gender issues and therefore, their sayings have more influence on the reader.
The acts described have their roots in social conditions of inequality suffered by women, rooted in society, with a strong symbolic content that reinforces such conditions.
Phrases enunciated by the interviewee as “the role of women in society is to be a woman” promotes the idea that men and women have roles determined only by being one or the other. In addition, the lack of reflection on the struggles of women’s movements, which after decades of activism achieved progressive equality before the law between men and women, made visible the barriers they have to accessing jobs or participation in professional life.
The complaint process
From the facts, it was decided to make a presentation in front of INADI, since this is a fact of discrimination against women, occurred in a digital medium. We use the process of consultation for discrimination, the most accessible on the body’s website. From telephone communications, we followed up on our claim, which was derived to the Platform by a free Internet of discrimination. Subsequently, it was presented to the medium producing the discriminatory content, as a concern but without any obligation, so the note was not modified or withdrawn from the website. Against this, INADI took no action in the matter and the case remained in mere consultation. The virtual mechanism, then, proves not to be effective, since the claims do not acquire character of denunciation.
In order for INADI to make its effective pronouncement, the complaints must be presented as complaints, which must be made personally in front of a delegation of INADI. It should be recalled that the Argentine State is obliged to carry out measures against discrimination against women, not only by local legislation, but also by the human rights treaties ratified by our country and constitutional hierarchy, such as the Convention On Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention of Belem do Pará.
More information
Contact
Carolina Tamagnini – carotamagnini@fundeps.org
Massive rejection of the reform of the Forest Law
Demonstrators warned that the proposed changes respond to “economic interests over the preservation of the environment”
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Members of various environmental, social, scientific and political organizations yesterday carried out a massive mobilization in the streets of our city to raise their rejection of the project of the ruling party that promotes modifications in the Law of Territorial Ordering of Native Forest. As it is known, the legislative treatment of the initiative of the Union coalition for Cordoba was postponed for February 2017 with the aim of seeking greater consensus. The march of the day began at the intersection of Cañada and Colón and then went to the Plazoleta del Fundador, near the Legislature, where a musical festival “For life and in defense of the native mountain” took place.
One of the artists who spearheaded this activity was the actor José Luis Serrano, creator of the character Doña Jovita, who for some weeks has been at the forefront of questioning the project. Meanwhile, the Coordinator in Defense of the Native Forest denounced that the changes promoted by the Province respond “to economic interests over the preservation of the environment”. In addition, he warned that “currently only 3 percent of the native forest remains, which puts at risk the lives of people who are affected by floods caused by the disruption caused by the dismantle.” For its part, the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps) prepared a document objecting to the Native Forest Bill, in its understanding that it is not “normatively adapted to the minimum environmental protection budgets enshrined in our National Constitution and The environmental laws that refer to this matter, both procedural and substantive aspects.”
From Fundeps criticized that in the proposal oficialista:
… the conservation of the native forest existing in the province according to the map of law 9.814 is not guaranteed; No technical and scientific basis is taken into account; No legal minimum parameters are observed, which weakens the protection mechanisms of the native forest; And a real and effective access to the right to citizen participation in the process of updating the Territorial Ordering of Native Forests is not assured.
Likewise, it was indicated that:
… the restrictive definition of native forests given by the project excludes fachinales, arbustales and bush; Mining, chemical dismantling and through the use of fire, and rolling, are allowed in high forest conservation categories; And does not incorporate all the layers of infractions in the OTBN map.
Source: Hoy Día Córdoba
Critical Observations on the Native Forest Bill
We present to the Legislature critical comments on the native forest law project in the province of Córdoba, with a lot of irregularities in the participation process and several questionable points in the wording of its text, which would imply a decline in the protection of native forests.
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In 2007, the National State passed National Law No. 26,331 of Minimum Budgets for Environmental Protection of Native Forests, as a base legislation, with equal protection for all inhabitants of the country. According to the constitutional mandate, the provinces are responsible for legislating either by equalizing or maximizing protection and include matters that they make to the specific or specific matters of each of them. Likewise, it establishes the national legislation and its Regulatory Decree No. 91/2009, each province must carry out its Natural Forest Management and update it every five years, through a participatory process and according to criteria of environmental sustainability established in its Articles and Annex .
The province of Cordoba sanctioned the Provincial Law of Territorial Ordering of Native Forests No. 9814 on August 5, 2010, in a process in which the participatory instance guaranteed by the national law was not respected. That legislation established a deadline for updating it that expired on August 5, 2015.
In apparent compliance with these regulations, at the end of September 2016, the provincial government decided to open a “dialogue table” in order to complete with the corresponding updating of the territorial planning of the native forests of Cordoba, seeking to overcome the irregularities of the process Made five years ago. However, the violation of the necessary conditions for the development of a sustainable participatory process was noticed. These shortcomings do not comply with the “Methodological guidelines for the updating of territorial regulations of native forests” approved by Resolution N 236 of COFEMA.
Recently, in the month of December 2016, the bill on the territorial organization of native forests was presented to the Legislature. That proposal is disconnected from the dialogue table insofar as it does not reflect the debates, contributions and discussions that were generated in the same.
From FUNDEPS we have prepared a document, “Draft Law on the Regulation of Native Forests and Regulation of Exotic Forests of the Province of Córdoba (Expte. 20811 / L / 16)“, as it does not conform to the minimum environmental protection budgets enshrined in our National Constitution and in the laws Environmental aspects that refer to this matter, both procedural aspects and substantive aspects.
We synthesize the main recommendations to the bill:
• Need to conserve the native forest existing in the province of Córdoba according to the map of law 9814 and only exceptionally allow the changes of land zoning, according to resolution 236/12 of COFEMA.
• Must observe the minimum legal parameters at the time of updating the OTBN, especially a real and effective access to the right to citizen participation.
• Extension of the restrictive definition of native forests.
• Reconsideration of the Ministry of Science and Technology as enforcement authority.
• Duty to expressly prohibit mining activity in high conservation categories.
• Duty to explicitly prohibit chemical dismantling and rolling practice in more conservative categories.
• Updating the OTBN map with technical – legal fundamentals.
• Limitation to sowing with exotic postures and reconsideration of environmental damage remediation with implanted species.
For these reasons we urge to generate an open and participatory process for the discussion on the updating of the forest law of the province of Córdoba and we suggest to adapt the project with the highest environmental legislation and to ensure at least the same level of environmental protection to our Native forests
Contact
Male Martínez, malemartinez@fundeps.org
The province of Cordoba in decline: implementation of electronic voting
On December 21, a draft law presented by the executive seeking the implementation of electronic voting was approved in the legislature of Córdoba. It is important to point out the dangers of such a system for our democracy.
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On December 21, the Cordovan legislature approved a controversial bill that calls for reform of the provincial voting system. Although at the national level this initiative seems to be ruled out, the provincial executive presented a project that was approved without difficulties.
Much has been debated in recent weeks, and we believe it is very important to join the voices that express the dangers of an electronic voting system in. At present, this system is in decline worldwide due to the shortcomings that it implies in the matter of control. The voting process is too central to our way of life to rely on uncontrollable mechanisms.
The approved project does not specify technical issues about the system beyond the implementation of the single electronic ballot; And recognizes the limitations of this system by prohibiting the use of electronic devices within a radius of 300 meters to control. In addition, computer experts have repeatedly expressed the dangers and shortcomings of electronic voting: no one can know for sure what the computer does, it is insecure, it does not guarantee the secrecy of the vote, it is more expensive, it erodes confidence in the Electoral system, limits the right to control elections and limits the capacity to be fiscal (not any citizen can do it).
It is noteworthy that in the province we already have a single paper ticket system that has been recognized as one of the best alternatives for the electoral system; In addition, it is used in the world, in countries like South Korea, Japan, Germany, Australia and Holland among many others. This system avoids the theft of ballots and is transparent to the elector. The change to an electronic system then implies a clear setback.
In this context, there is concern about the speed and lack of discussion in the treatment of a subject of key importance, as well as the lack of answers to the technical and legal objections that have been presented to this proposal.
More information
Contact
Agustina Palencia, agustinapalencia@fundeps.org
The United Nations CEDAW Committee listened to civil society organizations
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is a body of independent United Nations experts that oversees the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
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All States parties are required to submit periodic reports to the Committee to account for compliance with international obligations undertaken with the signature of CEDAW. According to their experience and work, the organizations in each country can present a “shadow report” to give an account of the reality of women in the State, so that the Committee has the necessary tools for the elaboration of the Recommendations you have to make.
Following the completion of Argentina’s review process, the CEDAW Committee, at its 65th meeting, issued its “Concluding Observations“, reflecting the work of civil society organizations expressed through the shadow reports presented to the Committee . FUNDEPS participated in three reports, whose contributions were considered in order to achieve progress in the effective guarantee for the exercise of the human rights of Argentine women.
Media and symbolic violence
In conjunction with the Civil Association Communicating Equality, we developed a special document for the Committee based on our report “Gender Violence and Public Communication Policies“. In consideration of our observations, the CEDAW Committee recommended to our country, in paragraphs 18 and 19, “Stereotypes and harmful practices”:
“(A) Intensify its efforts to dispel the sexist attitudes and stereotypes of the state public authorities in the three branches of government;
B) Adopt a comprehensive strategy aimed at women, men and girls to overcome the culture of machismo and discriminatory stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society. Ensure that this strategy also addresses intersectoral forms of discrimination against women as defined in the Committee’s General Recommendation No. 28 (2010) on “Fundamental obligations of States Parties under article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women” Forms of discrimination against women “, paragraph 18;
C) Strengthen cooperation with civil society organizations in the fight against discriminatory stereotypes through awareness campaigns such as the “#Ni Una Menos” campaign; Y
D) To amend Act No. 26.522 (2009) on audiovisual media services, in order to provide the Public Defender with the power to sanction violations of provisions to regulate gender stereotypes and sexism in the media”
Women’s Health: Tobacco Use
Our work teams also participated in and supported the elaboration of the report presented by the Inter-American Heart Foundation, FEIM and other organizations, on public policies on tobacco control that currently allow the development of industry strategies aimed especially at women. With regard to what was requested in the “shadow report”, the Committee expressed concern about “high tobacco consumption among girls compared to children”. As a result, he recommended to Argentina in paragraph 35:
“(G) Ratify the Framework Convention of the World Health Organization for Tobacco Control, reduce high tobacco use among adolescents, particularly girls, and address the health consequences.”
Rural and indigenous women
In connection with the report by the Plural Foundation, in a coalition with Fundapaz, Redes Chaco and others, on the access to natural resources by rural women and peasants in the Gran Chaco Americano, which was endorsed by FUNDEPS, the Committee took several points And made several recommendations to Argentina in its sections 38 to 41 on rural and indigenous women, of which we can highlight:
“(A) Design specific programs aimed at ensuring sustainable development and combating the poverty situations faced by rural women, through the allocation of specific resources, employment opportunities, social protection measures and specific programs for women’s education Rural (…)
C) Adopt policies to prevent forced eviction and prevent violence, stigmatization and attacks against rural women in the context of large-scale economic development projects; Y
(D) Ensure that rural women are represented in decision-making processes at all levels of the agricultural sector, including those on disaster risk reduction, post-disaster management and climate change ( …)
A) Take measures to formally recognize land tenure and ownership of indigenous women and promote dialogue at the community level to eliminate discriminatory norms and customs that limit indigenous women’s property rights over land;
C) Ensure that indigenous women have adequate access to safe and affordable water for personal and domestic uses, as well as for irrigation;
D) To examine the current negligent handling of complaints about harmful pesticides, fertilizers and the use of agrochemicals submitted by indigenous women to the Ministry of Health, and to ensure that such cases are resolved in a timely and appropriate manner in accordance with the general recommendations Of the Committee. Recommendation No. 34 (2015) on the rights of rural women; y
E) Establish a mandatory and effective mechanism for consultation and benefit-sharing to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous women in relation to the use of their natural resources and land. ” From the recommendations made by the Committee, it is only to be expected that the Argentine State will take the necessary measures to guarantee the human rights of women and their effective fulfillment, something in which we will be working together with other organizations of civil society.”
Clarification: The translation of the fragments of the “Final Observations” is of own authorship.
More information
Contact
Virginia Pedraza, vir.pedraza@fundeps.org