Public
FTAA.soc/w/162/Add.1
October 24, 2000

Original: Spanish
Translation: FTAA Secretariat

FTAA - COMMITTEE OF GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES ON THE PARTICIPATION OF
CIVIL SOCIETY

CONTRIBUTION IN RESPONSE TO THE OPEN INVITATION

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN OF CHILE

Executive Summary.
Our Chilean Federation, affiliated to B.P.W. International, is made up of professional and business women. It seeks to contribute to the FTAA integration process in the following areas:
Civil Society
Professional associations
Market access (especially women in small business)
Social questions: This refers particularly to women and children
Gender discrimination: Violence. Training and employment. Facilitation and exchange of experiences between small business women at the regional level in countries involved in this integration process. Social benefits for informal workers.
Civil society: Social organizations included in ours involving two hundred women in Chile and one hundred and fifty thousand throughout the world are concerned about civil society, and are making efforts in this regard. They are seeking to unite their efforts at national and regional levels. They can be instrumental in communicating the progress made by the FTAA process in different areas.
Professional associations, including those for professional women, can make a contribution in specialized and sensitive areas because of their knowledge of and closeness to these areas. Special subjects, programmes and positive experiences can be useful for exchange, and/or as contributions between the countries of the region who belong to the FTAA. This would help in making a contribution as a result of the invitation to civil society to participate in this process.
Market access: Facilitation through change and adaptation of duties and customs arrangements in FTAA member countries for imports and exports. This will result in more facilities and greater opportunities for men and women in small business to sell their goods and services, increase production, and strengthen their micro or medium sized enterprises. Similarly, regional trade will allow as well as demand them to be more competitive. As a result, there will be greater demands on goods and services, and at the same time there will be exposure to different and perhaps better techniques.
For this reason, efforts must be made to achieve participation, and utilize the efforts of all the organizations in all member states.
Social issues: With regard to these issues, organizations such as the international federation, including those of our region, can make an important contribution because of the work they do with and for women throughout the world and in North and South America. This is so, because of their proximity to deprived social sectors where women need strength and encouragement. The Federation is involved with international bodies such as the FAO, UNESCO, ILO, WHO, which work on relevant issues. It serves a consultative function to these bodies, because of the knowledge of its members in their respective professional areas. Women and girls at work, employment, informal work, social benefits, health care, training and education, as well as the difficulties of small business women are areas in which valid and useful proposals can be made. The same can be said for social problems linked to abuse and discrimination.
Federation of Business and Professional Women of Chile
MARI CARMEN LANG – ELENA TORRES SEGUEL

Santiago, 03 October 2000-11-29

The Executive Council of A.S.O.N.G. CERTIFIES THAT FUNDACIÓN CITIVAS, A NON PROFIT NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION, HAS LEGAL PERSONALITY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH Ordinance No. 236 of the Ministry of Justice, published in the Official Gazette on 24 February 1970. This organization is affiliated to SONG.

ISRAELA ROSENBLUN                                           ELENA TORRES SEGUEL
SECRETARY