I recently attended the Council of Leaders of the League of Women Voters of Florida “Viva La Liga” in Tampa, Florida, and was privileged to also sit in on the Board of Directors meeting. This year’s Council focused on the Cuban experience. Eighty-four League members attended the two day Council.
The League of Women Voters of Florida, Oxfam Canada and the Global Democracy Programs of the League of Women Voters Education Fund have joined efforts to organize "Un dialogo entre mujeres: Cuba" (A Dialogue Among Women: Cuba). This dialogue will take place in Tampa, Florida on Friday, May 11 at 12:00 pm in the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel. The idea for this dialogue arose from the ongoing efforts of the LWVF's program "Sisters Across the Straits" and the LWVEF's ongoing efforts to highlight the importance of women in areas of decision-making. Our two guests from Cuba are Dr.
The League of Women Voters and the Inter-American Dialogue are organizing a conference to address the growing role of women in positions of leadership in judicial branches across the region – as prominent attorneys general, prosecutors, supreme and superior court judges, ministers of justice, and top flight lawyers leading the charge for judicial and other reforms. These women often spearhead transparency initiatives in their countries and are responsible for bringing human rights abusers to justice where impunity previously prevailed.
In the spirit of cooperation with women groups in Cuba, the League of Women Voters of Education Fund and the League of Women Voters of Florida are sponsoring "People to People" trips to Cuba to enable League members to learn about the country’s history, culture and social structure, and forge relationships with civic organizations and academicians at the University of Havana. The League certifies that the trips are in compliance with the license granted by the U.S.
The Gender Department of the University of La Havana (Catedra de la Mujer) organized the VIII International Conference "Women in the XXI Century" in La Habana between from May 16-19, 2011. The official opening took place on Monday, May 16 at 2:00 pm in the Aula Magna de la Universidad de la Habana; the work program took place in the Hotel Nacional.
The League of Women Voters and its partners Espaço Mulher and Fundación Mujeres por Colombia just concluded the Legislative Fellows Program (LFP) that over the course of two years involved 22 fellows from Colombia and Brazil; 15 fellows and 21 mentors from the United States, 20 hosting families and 24 hosting coordinators in 12 cities.
The League of Women Voters’ work in Latin America began in 1922. At that time, the League expanded its fight for women’s rights by convening a Pan American Conference in Baltimore, MD and extending an invitation to twenty-two delegates from Latin American nations. During the subsequent decades League volunteers have worked with emerging civic leaders in Latin America to share resources and skills in grassroots organization and activism.
In 2007 a small group of distinguished women political leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States met at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, for a roundtable discussion on the dramatic advances achieved by women seeking public office in the past ten years—and the challenges currently facing women in electoral politics.