Mechanisms to promote the advancement of women
National Machinery. While there is no national machinery for women, a National Policy on Women has existed since 1989.
WID Units or Focal Points in Technical Ministries. The National Agrarian Institute (INA) and the Secretariat of Natural Resources (SRN) began incorporating a WID perspective in their programmes during the Decade for Women 19761985. INA set up a small unit which has evolved into the Department for the Integration of Women and Rural Youth, with three technical staff in 1994. Its present mandate is the promotion of peasant women's enterprises. SRN also established a women's unit which exists today as the Unit for Women and Rural Youth (UMYJOR), for the promotion of training and productivity. The status of the two units has declined since the Decade for Women, and they have been adversely affected by the economic crisis and the lack of resources and coordination. The Office of Peasant Affairs, coordinated by SRN, promoted the establishment of a National Committee for the Development of Rural Women (CODEMUR), composed of representatives of peasant organizations, and public and private organizations working with rural women.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). About 40 NGOs provide support to rural women, mainly through small projects for income generation and other types of assistance. Some have begun to incorporate a gender perspective and gender sensitization in their work. In recent years, the Government has encouraged NGOs to fill some of the gaps in services that, due to the economic crisis, it can no longer provide.
