Section Report 2002

Organizational status

Our board is meeting once a month, the number of Members is the same but we have increased the number of contacts and our presence is very strong in different NGO meetings.

Internal activities

We continue working with the implementation of our Programme, like: We opposed the signature of Inter American Convention against Terrorism of the OAS, for the General Assembly held in Trinidad and Tobago , in June 2002.

We are now working very hard against the establishment of the Inter American Police School in Costa Rica , this school by directed by officers of the USA , this school would be training for all Latin American, they said this will be done by the FBI. We are presenting our opposition to the President of Costa Rica next week.

Results: In this moment LIMPAL - Costa Rica has high prestige.

External actitivies

Costa Rica Section is promoting the non signing of some Multinational International Agreements MAI, (PPP -ALCA) and the non approve of the Regulation of Working Hours.

We have working in the Harassment Bill of Law that we have already delivered to the National Assembly. We have 21 women legislators that will support our Project. We have finished our Project of a Culture of Peace for Adolescent in San Jose , and now we are working with indigenous children in Talamanca at the Caribbean Zone.

In representation of the Junta Directiva some women have participated in external events of international and national character, many of the United Nations ONU:

·         Organizacion de Estados Americanos OEA

·         VI Conference of the Consulting Group for Migrants, of the Organization of American States OEA, carried out in San Jose, Costa Rica, February of 2001. Delegates Ana Esther Posada and Olga Bianchi.

·         Participation in the "Assemblies of the State", in distinct geographical locations of the Costa Rican territory: San Ramon de Alajuela, 20 October 2001; in Heredia 16 February 2002; and in the preparatory reunions that were carried out monthly, for the said activities: Delegates Livia Cordero and Olga Bianchi.

·         Regional Consult over Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Boys, Girls and Adolescents: February of 2001: Delegates Olga Bianchi and Nora Bruna.

·         Tri-annual Congress and the International Executive Committee, IEC of WILPF in Geneva, July/August of 2001: Delegates Olga Bianchi, who was elected International Vice President for Latin America.

Different special activities were started

·         March 8, 2001, a Forum was created covering the Project of Law for the Penalizacion del Femicido in Costa Rica, which was invited as the principal panellist to the Licda. Ivannia Monge of the Institute of Women and Vilma Meza of Licda took the theme of Interfamily Violence and the Law against the Sexual Molestation in the Workplace and School and, gave the project "Walking Together" to the public, which would tackle both themes and would take heed to situations or cases of women who had suffered whichever of these violations to their physical integrity.

·         A Workshop was formed about some of the Articles of the Protocol Faculty of the Interamerican Convention of Human Rights, known as the Protocol of San Salvador executed by Licdas. Vilma Meza and Ana Esther Posada.

·         Together with other organisations the "United Coalition for Peace" was formed, meanwhile various Public Squares were co-ordinated in the Square of the Democracy as well as in the Park of the Peace, condoning the acts of September 11 "The war is also Terrorism" and propagating the Peace and the dialogue. This Committee was formed as part of September of 2001.

·         Part of the Committee Co-ordinator of Support to the State of Palestine was formed, for the achievement of different public acts such as vigils, marches and others: Delegates Mitzi Stark, Olga Bianchi and Ana Esther Posada.

·         Participated in February of 2002 in the March of Protest against the"Mining of the Open Sky" in Ciudad Quesada: delegate Ana Esther Posada.

·         Part of the Committee against the Mining of the Open Sky was formed, which convenes once a month in different locations of the organisations that adjust it and in different geographical zones of the North Zone of Costa Rica.

We continue with the information of the Commissions:

Woman and life

The Commission initiated in March of 2001 a Project of legal consulting for women victims of Domestic Violence and of Sexual Assault in the Workplace called "Walking Together". The commission carried out workshops directed towards women of different organisations such as the Secretaries of the Woman of different Trade Unions, the Offices of the Women of the Ministries of Work and Health, the Defence of Inhabitants, the National Institute of Women, the OIT, and other instances of civil society. Various cases have been attended to, such as Interfamilial Violence, Sexual Molestation and Parent Responsibility, of which 12 are in force, between them recognition has already been achieved of some children by their fathers. Upon encountering gaps in the Law of Sexual Abuse in the Workplace and the Schools, the attendants formed a Committee of Proposals for Reforms, integrated by various institutions which during 2002 have been working every Monday of each week, to present in July spoken proposals to the Legislative Assembly. This project was already finalised in July of this year.

There has been very active participation in the National Network of Civil Organisations for Migrants, as much at a national level as at the international level. There has also been active participation in the monthly co-ordination meetings and in the excursions of visitation to the interior of the country; making an analysis of the Project of the Law for the Migrants; and of the Regional Network for the Migrants in which there are representatives of more than 11 countries from Canada to Panama and the Caribbean. Also part of the National Forum was formed for the Migrants integrated by representatives of the governmental institutions that look after the migratory situation. These include the Ministers of Work, Health, Education, Public Security, General Direction of Migration, General Direction of Statistics and Census, Hospitals, Institutions of International Cooperation such as OIM, FNUPA, ACNUR and representatives of different organisations of Civil Society.

Group of injured

Various exhibitions of material concerning "Children in the War, Children in the Peace" were found: Museum of the Children in 2001 and, in various Children's Libraries in San Jose, Heredia, in the National Museum of the day of the Abolition of the Army, in some schools and colleges and, distributed material about the "Culture of Peace", in schools and children's libraries. A campaign of the distribution of the material about "Playing in Peace" was carried out. Various purchases of didactic materials were made for persons in a state of detention in the Centre of Attention Gerardo Rodriguez and they gave gifts for the accused and their families on Mother's Day. They began mailing letters to the Governmental Delegations of the General Assembly of the OEA, for the reduction of military spending and future increase in appropriations for Human Rights. A campaign was opened by email, urging the attorneys to reduce military spending. They made different publications in the newspapers: Tico Times and Semanario Universidad, about the significance of nuclear arms in Central America, the Day of Hiroshima and, read in the radial program "Cause and Effect". It continued with the annual campaign of "Toy not War", by ordinary mail to different means of collective communication.

A letter against the war in Afghanistan was published in the Semanario Universidad. Letters were sent promoting the Culture of Peace to the governments of India, Pakistan, Peru and the European Union.

Peace education

In agreement with your intentions and goals, it has been present in different places executing your directed actions to the childhood sector and the adolescence:

1-       Participation in different workshops about Childhood and Adolescence.

2-       Participation in the Forum of Following the Rights of Childhood and Adolescence co-ordinated by the Defence of Childhood (the presence of EDPAZ in the forum permits monitoring the advances in the material and interacting with the rest of the present organisations).

3-       Capability of Pro Right Committees and Student Homework, of the colleges of the Canton of Abandoned, it strongly calls organisation of the COPRODES together for the students of secondary school, moreover, giving information about the Code of Childhood and Adolescence to a personal docent and administration, like the Juntas of Protection for Abandoned Children and Adolescents. Between 2000 and 2001 more than fifty different workshops have been dictated in different educational instances.

4-       Projects for the adolescent population and indigenous adults of Talamanca, Perez Zeledon and Siquirres for the fortification of their identity, prevention of adolescent pregnancy and early alcoholism, this year the project has been continued in the community of Talamanca.

5-       During 2000 and 2001, part of the National Commission against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Boys, Girls, and Adolescents was formed, CONACOES, and a Project of Radial Program for the Taxpayers was enlarged however it was not realised because the government eliminated CONACOES.

Summary

It is a great satisfaction the knowledge that without many economic resources, but with a great spirit of volunteering by the different men and women, our institution has continually had a strong national and international presence which from this instant has left us very grateful.

Challenges for 2003

Our principal object is to obtain the approval of Projects finance by the international agencies in order to continue working for Peace and Justice.