LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING SIGNED BY CICIG AND UNIFEM

Guatemala, 26 November 2009. In order to establish the parameters of inter-agency cooperation between CICIG and UNIFEM to support and strengthen the institutions of the State of Guatemala responsible for safeguarding the rights of women, adolescents and children, Carlos Castresana, CICIG Commissioner, and Gladys Acosta, Chief for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) signed a letter of understanding on behalf of both institutions on Wednesday 25 November 25.

The ceremony in Congress was attended by the following individuals as as witnesses of honor: the President of Congress, Roberto Alejos; the UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rebeca Grynspan; and the Chairperson of the Committee on Women, Delia Back. Rita Cassisi, UNIFEM Coordinator for Guatemala, and Congress members Elsa Beatriz Canastuj and Leonora Cu were also present at the signing.

According to the text of the letter of understanding, "the parties will collaborate to implement actions aimed at strengthening women's access to justice, especially the registry and systemization of data to analyze the impact of organized crime in the situation of violence and impunity in crimes against women.The parties agree to produce semesterly reports reflecting the results of these actions and promote their dissemination in the appropriate spaces."

According to the CICIG Commissioner, this is an opportunity for justice in Guatemala, and although it is an agreement within the UN system, the intention was to sign it in Congress for it to act as a witness of honor, jointly with the UNDP Regional Director, Rebeca Grynspan, and Representative Back.

UNIFEM’s Gladys Acosta stated, "Commissioner Castresana and I agree that one of the key issues is to understand what is the link between the organized crime that is prevalent in our region, especially Central America and more specifically Guatemala, and violence against women. Clearly, the primary responsibility to protect women lies with the State, but what happens when non-state actors sometimes have even more power than the State itself and cannot be controlled when that happens? Society must react very strongly and that is what we are doing today, (...) precisely a very strong reaction, so that these kinds of violations of women's human rights are not tolerated and that that they be addressed once and for all."

Rebeca Grynspan, UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean: "This is a very important moment, because we must not only fight violence, but also against impunity. To say no to violence, no to impunity. Paraphrasing the Commissioner: violence plus justice equals less violence. But violence plus impunity equals more violence. And indeed, the joint efforts of UNIFEM, a United Nations organization that fights tirelessly for the rights of women, and the Commission against Impunity, is exactly what we need to take this agenda forward.

We cannot accept that in the 21st Century two-thirds of the women who are murdered in Central America are still killed for being women. Their crime is being a woman and that is why they are killed. We must fight against that because we cannot build a culture of peace if we do not start with what is most essential, which is to protect the most basic rights of all people, and we know that women are often hurt in the places where they should be more protected: their homes, their communities, at school, at work. And I do not see how we are going to educate new generations in the culture of peace if every one of us does not start fighting the manifestations of violence early, from the environment. Let me finish by saying that impunity is not fought only in the courts, it is also combated in society."