Ecuador: UN Calls for Women’s Ministry to Be Maintained

On Thursday, the UN Women Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean called on the Government of Ecuador to preserve the Ministry of Women and Human Rights without changing its focus.

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In a statement, the organization said it was concerned about the Ecuadorian government's proposal to transform the portfolio into a Ministry of Criminal Policy.

"This change of focus in the nature of the Ministry undermines its main mandate, which is focused on defending the rights of women and girls in Ecuador," the text states.

The international body recalled that the South American nation, as part of General Recommendation No. 28 of 2010 of the Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, should ensure the existence of strong and specialized bodies.

�� La Oficina Regional de ONU Mujeres para las Américas y el Caribe, a través de un comunicado en su cuenta de X, solicitó al gobierno de Daniel Noboa que preserve el Ministerio de la Mujer y Derechos Humanos sin modificar su enfoque.

��Aunque la administración del presidente… pic.twitter.com/ADdBgaMdIe

— Ecuadorplay (@EcuadorPlay) May 23, 2024

 The text reads, 

The UN Women Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean, through a statement on its X account, asked the government of Daniel Noboa to preserve the Ministry of Women and Human Rights without modifying its approach.

In line with the Ecuadorian government's communiqué of 20 May, which assures that this Ministry will not be eliminated, the UN requests that it be maintained "as an independent body, with a specific mandate and sufficient resources to fulfil the objective of improving the living conditions and the exercise of rights of Ecuadorian women and girls".

They also point out that this portfolio is the response to the historical demand of Ecuadorian women to coordinate and facilitate the mainstreaming of equality in public policies.

Although the administration of President Daniel Noboa affirmed that he will not eliminate the Ministry, feminist organizations insist on expressing concern about the announced changes and call the president a "misogynist".

The Ministry of Women's Affairs was created in November 2022 during the government of former president Guillermo Lasso and as a result of the femicide of lawyer María Belén Bernal, an incident that occurred within a police institution and shocked the country.