The long road for an Inter-American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Rights is currently running a challenging phase, in which it is crucial to get the support from the members of the Organization of American States, including the United States.

In fact, from 2008 to 2010, the coordination of the Campaign for the Inter-American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Rights will work intensely with U.S. organizations in order to promote this initiative. “We hope that the Democrats win in the USA, because with them in the new administration the Convention would have more chances to be supported,” said Cecilia Olea, Associate Coordinator of the Campaign.

In 1999, the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights (CLADEM) proposed a campaign for the creation of an international mechanism for the protection and promotion of sexual and reproductive rights in the framework of the Organization of the American States.

What kind of mechanism? An Inter-American Convention.

Why an Inter-American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Rights? Latin American legislation is weak in many countries, and, in many states, governments are vulnerable to religious influences.

Therefore, the campaign’s promoters explain, a Convention is needed because it is a mandatory mechanism, and brings tools to ensure the protection of sexual and reproductive rights.

At the international level, some sexual and reproductive rights are recognized by the Convention of Belem do Para (Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women). However, the countries which signed this Convention have not always developed a national legislation for the protection of such rights.

For Clarena Cardona, spokesperson of the campaign in Colombia, the Convention of Belem do Para is not enough to guarantee sexual and reproductive rights.

Cardona argues that sexual and reproductive rights include legal unions of gays and lesbians, legal abortion, and labor status for prostitution (not forced prostitution).

Induced abortion and emergency contraception pills are illegal in most of the American countries. Moreover, their opponents find in the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San Jose de Costa Rica) judicial arguments — its fourth article states that the right to life has to be respected and guaranteed “from conception.”

The campaigners are looking for a Convention in which sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) have a human rights approach, that SRR are recognized as fundamental matters, and then, a Convention that acknowledges the interdependency between development, democracy, and sexual and reproductive rights.

The campaign’s strategy has two axes, which run simultaneously: carry out the process to the Convention, and to expand the debate on sexual and reproductive rights.

One of the initial activities was to have accurate and up-to-date information. For that purpose, each country involved in the campaign carried out a diagnosis of the situation of sexual and reproductive rights.

From the beginning, CLADEM understood that it would be a long process which needs partners to be successful. Therefore, its first phase was aimed at building partners, the next was to disseminate the proposition and organize debates, and then, finally, elaborate Convention drafts.

The campaign for the Convention is composed by national and regional networks of women and young people from Latin America, and also by NGOs. They are: Campaña 28 de Setiembre, Red Latinoamericana de Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, CIDEM, CLADEM, Comisión Internacional de Derechos Humanos para Gays y Lesbianas – Programa para América Latina, COTIDIANO MUJER, FLORA TRISTAN, Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del Caribe, Rede Feminista de Saúde, Red Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Jóvenes por los Derechos Sexuales y los Derechos Reproductivos, REPEM-DAWN, and SOS CORPO.

But the list is not finished. At the regional level, the campaign is finding new partners among various sectors, since sexual and reproductive rights are not only a concern of women and youth, but of all. To this end, a couple of weeks ago, the Second Dialogue between indigenous representatives and feminists was held in Lima, Peru.

At the national level, the campaigners are working on collecting and debating ideas to be included in the Convention’s draft through a strategy called “Write your Convention,” which is being implemented at national and regional levels.  Simultaneously, they are revising the “manifest” of the campaign, and promoting the Convention among the governments.

In 2007, a campaign’s representative spoke at the plenary of the Organization of American States meeting held in Medellin, Colombia. As a result of the presentation, Venezuela offered to submit the Convention draft, once the campaign has found enough support from national governments.