“Full and meaningful civil society participation in the design of the Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Against Gender-Based ViolenceReforms that combat gender-based violence are essential for fostering an inclusive society and government that respects human rights and promotes gender equality. Technical specifications: Commitments... was not only a priceless contribution in terms of concrete expertise, but it also represented the promotion of integrity and transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More in the Ministry’s public management.” – Dr. Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, Minister of Women, GenderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... and Diversity of Argentina

Transparency, accountability and participation are guiding principles of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity (MMGyD), and it is implementing actions accordingly, including the recommendations to incorporate the gender and diversity lenses in the fourth open government action plan 2019-2022, which was jointly created by the MMGyD and the Chief of the Ministerial Cabinet’s Secretariat for Innovation (SIP in Spanish). For the first time, the State is mainstreaming the gender and diversity lens into the open government agenda. This collaboration is part of Argentina’s membership in Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More, which the country joined in 2012 and co-chaired in 2020, led by Santiago Cafiero, Chief of the Ministerial Cabinet.

Argentina has ratified the majority of international and regional human rights treaties and is actively implementing the 2030 Agenda. However, gender-based violence remains a pressing issue in the country. Official data show that there were 268 lethal victims of gender-based violence in 2019. As in 2017 and 2018, there was 1 femicide per 100,000 women.

To tackle this issue, Argentina’s MMGyD launched its Action Plan Against Gender-Based Violence in 2020. The plan includes 27 measures and 144 actions that engage 46 national agencies in over 100 commitments that were co-created to implement the established actions. This public policy adopts a comprehensive approach and aims to address the structural issue of violence against women and the LGBTI+ community in a federal, multi-agency, crosscutting and intersectional manner. 

The participatory forums created to design the action plan as spaces where the demands of women, the LGBTI+ community and the State’s met, and the State’s responsiveness and prioritization of these demands also contributed were fundamental. We understand that the best way to promote open government is through learning, listening and acknowledging issues and their affected parties. We are instituting a management system that is based on co-creation, partnerships and joint efforts in collaboration with those who work every day to build better standards for citizens and to strengthen democracy. 

With this firm belief, in early 2020, we hosted nine federal participatory forums across Argentina to 1) foster exchanges and pool the various approaches to prevention, integrated attention, and protection of the victims of gender-based violence and people who are close to the victims of femicide, transicide and hate crimes, and 2) tackle the barriers that prevent efficient interventions. These efforts are tailored to meet the cultural diversity of each region. Meanwhile, the Ministry published an online questionnaire associated with the work lines developed in the forums and a feature to receive proposals via email. 

The experience, knowledge and expertise of social and community organizations were an essential contribution to the action plan. The voices of the victims of gender-based violence, as well as women groups and LGBTI+ collectives were key to the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive.... This was the first-ever process that took a federal approach and that included such openness to civil society.

English translation of graph: Level of participation by participatory and federal entities. / Virtual forums (purple), Face-to-face forums (teal), virtual questionnaires (light green)

Overall, 3,400 people from various social, academic, political, union and other organizations participated. All proposals and approaches that came up across the process were systematized and taken as key input to the design of the action plan.   

We at the MMGyD would like to thank every person, social organization, authority and official of the three jurisdictional levels, as well as the executive, legislature and judiciary branches that participated in the process and made the consultation and co-creation of the Action Plan Against Gender-Based Violence possible.

Featured Photo: Federal and participatory forum – February 13, 2020. Chapadmalal City, Buenos Aires, Argentina