Over the past 20 years national mechanisms for the promotion of women has been established throughout Latin America. Despite the progress achieved, they need to be strengthened to ensure their success. Currently, those responsible for these mechanisms are building networks aimed at strengthening their political incidence and making gender equality policies a priority for all Latin American governments.

Those responsible for national gender equality policies, have stressed the need for greater interconnection to strengthen the policies. These alliances aim at positioning women’s interests in the regional agendas of Central America and the Andean Region where networks have been created to establish a greater dialogue on strategic gender issues and to give incentive to greater initiatives at the sub-regional level.

In March 2008, the representatives of the National Gender Mechanisms in the Andean Region (Mecanismos Nacionales de la Mujer en la Región Andina - MNMRA) met in Bolivia to create the “Intergovernmental Network of National Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women in the Andean Region”. The Network will deal with various relevant themes, which include institutional strengthening; women’s political participation; women’s rights, work, and sexual and reproductive health.

During an interview with UN-INSTRAW, Ximena Abarca, President ProTempore of the Andean Network and Executive Director of the National Women’s Council of Ecuador (CONAMU), emphasized that “the Network will focus on strengthening mechanisms by positioning them in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN). The next step will be to integrate gender issues into the CAN programmes and policies for the Andean region”.