We believe that:

* According to the United Nations, women constitute half of the world's population, perform nearly two thirds of the work,receive one tenth of the world's income and own less than one hundredth of the world's property.

* Gender equity is a benchmark of a healthy society.

* Global capitalism aggravates gender inequalities and violence against women. For example, structural adjustment measures mandate 1) higher prices for food and utilities (as government food subsidies end and utilities are privatized), 2) deteriorating health care and limited educational opportunities (as "cost recovery" and "fee for services" measures are put in place), 3) cutbacks in government-supported child care and nutrition programs (to balance national budgets), and 4) credit to small farms and businesses restricted by banks.

* In developing countries hit hard by structural adjustment policies, 2/3 of the children who do not go to school are girls, and 2/3 of the world's illiterate people are women.

* While women retain the responsibility of maintaining the household, more and more women are moving into the paid labor market, often working for lower wages and under worse conditions than men. This results in what is referred to as women's "double burden." Although women comprise nearly 80% of workers in Free Trade Zones, for example, they are paid 20 to 50% less than men working in the same zones.

* Women are the main source from which community survival strategies and positive social alternatives emanate. Women's active participation in community solutions to the lack of government services, such as children's feeding stations, results in a "triple burden" of job, household and community work.

* Women have developed and are creating strategies for survival and collective resistance that bring them into positions of social agency in the public sphere and political agency in relation to the state.

* Women comprise the majority of micro-credit borrowers: 85% of FINCA borrowers in Latin America are women. Under the FTAA investment rules, it would be discriminatory to protect micro enterprises and small businesses, which are often owned by women, from competition with massive influxes of cheap imports.

* Investment in women's health, education and credit spurs economic prosperity.

Statements of Principle:

We believe that:

* Male domination of social, political and economic systems has persisted throughout the Americas for 500 years and more, resulting in gender inequities in all these systems.

* Violence against women has been, and continues to be, a violation of human rights that is perpetuated by gender inequities in social, political and economic systems.

* Governments should adopt and implement appropriate laws that protect women's rights and promote gender equity. These may include special police services for women who have been victims of violence, reproductive health services, and others. Governments should respect and support autonomous women's initiatives and organizations.

* All social and economic movements (including solidarity groups) should adopt and implement strategies that promote gender equity within their groups and ensure protection of women's rights in their work.

* The international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) should end the practice of conditioning their loans on the implementing of structural adjustment measures, given that these measures impact the lives of women so negatively.