Women and Democracy in Central America: How the Local Government RegionalOutreach Strategy (LOGROS) Project Can Help to Promote Full and Equal Political Participation for Women

摘要

Although the transition to democracy underway in Central America offers women ahistoric opportunity to increase their political participation, women continue to face political barriers arising from deeply ingrained cultural ideas, discriminatory laws and regulations, double demands on their time as income earners and mothers, lack of education, and poverty. The U.S. Agency for International Development (A.I.D.'s) planned Local Government Regional Outreach Strategy (LOGROS) project can assist here by educating local and national officials as well as citizens on the need to include women in the democratic process and by providing training and technical assistance (TA) to women's organizations involved in the democracy movement. The easiest and perhaps most appropriate way of accomplishing this is by including women leaders, i.e., mayors, public officials, etc., and women's organizations in the Regional Municipal Network to be established during the project's first year.