On March 5th, the first women’s forum of the People’s Congress took place, an unprecedented scenario who gathered more than 400 leaders with the intention of promoting discussions concerning the role of women in the Colombian, Latin-American and global scene.
With the participation of women from various regions, ethnic groups and territories the day began with a panel on the situation of rural and urban women in the peace context in Colombia. The panel counted on the participation of Marylen Serna, national spokeswoman for the People’s Congress, Sandra Solano from the Confluencia de Mujeres para la Acción Pública (Confluence of Women for Public Action), Claudia Korol from the Argentinean process Pañuelos en Rebeldía (Bandanas in Rebellion) and Paola Suarez from the Red popular de las Mujeres de la Sabana (Popular network of women from the Savanna).
A tribute to the Commander Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, in commemoration of the third year anniversary of his death, took place during the event. Furthermore, the recent deaths of leaders and companions Berta Cáceres from the indigenous Honduran process COPHIN, Maricela Tombe, a farmer leader from the Cauca department and William Alexander Oime Alarcón, indigenous leader and governor of the White River reserve’s village Yanacona, have been unanimously denounced. Similarly, the arbitrary detention of the indigenous leader Feliciano Valencia and the actual persecution of the social movement in Colombia have been deplored.
The labour of various organizations and women has also been recognized as having a crucial role in the creation of this first meeting in which women have been able to discuss and to debate on their role in the construction of a new proposition of an anti-patriarchal, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist country.
During the evening, the popular congresswomen assisting to the event were able to debate on the rights of the peoples, on the thematic of women and territories, on the women’s contribution in the peace construction and on the gender relations and resistance.
The day ended with the presentation of the book Feminismos Populares (Popular feminisms), the result of the systematisation of various feminists and gender experiences in Latin America.