Latin women caucus

Delegates from Latin American and Caribbean countries including Brazil, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Argentina and Puerto Rico met this afternoon at the United Nations to caucus, deciding prominent issues and what to lobby to the UN.

The caucus was part of the UN's week-long focus on reducing violence against women, and the delegates (all women except for one Puerto Rican man) shared different programs and NGOs aimed toward this goal, alongside efforts to tweak the document "Declaración Sindical 52º Período de Sesiones de la Comisión sobre la Condición Jurídica y Social de la Mujer de las Naciones Unidas."

Much of the hour-long meeting was spent on delegates' introductions and a discussion of which language to use, because the room's 40 attendees represented five languages.

The caucus will continue tomorrow, with the language still undecided. Most representatives from the Caribbean only speak English, and a handful in the room did not understand any English, so the meeting ended with a tentative agreement to speak slowly in both languages with translation as necessary.

Read an overview of issues the UN considers pressing to Latin America.

Photo: Inetours.com