Leticia Artiles Visbal

ATENEA

Atenea (http://www.ateneareddesalud.org) has been the database on which the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (http://www.reddesalud.org) was built, starting in 1994, in Brazil, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Suriname, and Chile. It was an instrument aimed at monitoring the results of the action program implemented by the International Conference on Population and Development, held that same year in Cairo.

Atenea contains updated data on the social, political, and health situation of Latin American women. It includes statistics on sexual violence against women; male responsibility in sexuality and reproduction; participation of women’s organizations in decision-making instances; adolescents’ access to information and sexual and reproductive health services; quality of care in sexual and reproductive health services; unsafe abortion; AIDS prevention; and care for HIV-positive individuals.

Over twelve years of existence, the data consolidated by Atenea have shown substantial advances in national legislation, as they began to include the rights of children and adolescents and preventive measures against violence and the AIDS pandemic. However, the database also revealed gaps in legislation regarding male responsibility in sexuality and reproduction and in care for unsafe abortion. The quality of care in sexual and reproductive health services is also largely absent from regional laws, except in Brazil. Furthermore, the participation of women’s organizations in decision-making was incorporated only in Brazilian legislation.

Currently, the Women’s Health Network uses the Mira que te Miro platform (https://miraquetemiro.org/) for social monitoring of health and sexual and reproductive rights commitments of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development (Uruguay, 2013). It is a civil society exercise that contributes to accountability, transparency, and access to information about policies, programs, and services that demonstrate the fulfillment of commitments assumed by states in the new agenda representing the projection of the commitments made in the ICPD Programme of Action in Cairo in 1994 and in its subsequent review processes.

Author: L. Artiles Visbal