WASHINGTON – The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) is celebrating its 80th anniversary on Monday acknowledging that it has made a significant contribution towards the political, economic and civic development of women in the Americas.

But CIM has also noted that while the gender gap has been addressed and amended in many respects, women throughout the Americas were still victims of "pervasive and persistent discrimination".

"We are particularly mindful that the advocacy of the CIM has been instrumental in promoting and sustaining women's groups in our Hemisphere as well as in other international fora, such as the Commission on the Status of Women within the United Nations," said CIM president Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, who is also the Labour and Women Affairs Minister in Antigua and Barbuda.

"This year, the anniversary bears a special significance, as we reflect with great pride on the reality that eight decades have passed since the founding of our Commission in 1928 - forged in the smithy of those heady, yet harsh days when female suffrage was still a dream; and women in the Americas faced unspeakable discrimination in all spheres of their existence."

The CIM president said that women throughout the Americas have much to celebrate, adding "our very ability to celebrate eight decades of CIM history today is only made possible by the myriad sacrifices of many unsung and unstoppable women who were determined to ensure that their rights as women were taken seriously.

"Today, the universality of female suffrage throughout the hemisphere could unwittingly minimize the courage and strength of the early pioneers and the visionary role they played in ensuring women's political and civil rights," she said recalling the work of various pioneers such as Doris Stevens, one of the founders and the first President of the CIM.

"Through its magnificent history, CIM has transformed the role of women in the Americas and ushered in a quantum leap for the political, economic and civic possibilities that women are able to attain. Generation after generation of CIM delegates have assiduously built on the arduous work of the past to cement the gender agenda at the level of the Americas and beyond."

Quinn-Leandro said that within the Inter-American system, 2008 is made even more significant because it also marks the 60th Anniversary of the formation of the Organisation of American States (OAS).

"We salute the remarkable longevity of the CIM, predating the existence of even the OAS. This speaks volumes to the tenacity of the women of the Americas to ensure that gender-based discrimination is eradicated from our midst.

"We are cognizant that the gender gap has been addressed and amended in many respects. However, in some cases, pervasive and persistent discrimination against women can still be found throughout our region."

But she noted that further violations of women's human rights still persist, and in some cases, on a disturbing scale.

"This calls us to vigilance, as we continue to adhere to the objectives and functions of the CIM, working to ensure that each and every woman in the Americas fully enjoys her rights. As part of that portfolio of rights is our engagement with the struggle to eradicate poverty, in conjunction with our commitment to encourage sustainable development in the hemisphere,” she said.

In his message to the organisation, OAS Secretary General Jose Miquel Insulza said that throughout its history, the CIM, as an inter-American organisation for the defense of women's rights, has repeatedly demonstrated its capacity "to promote them, build consensus, and design strategies to transform social and legal realities often inimical to women's interests and prone to forms of gender-based discrimination".

"We take great satisfaction in being able to state that the work of nearly a century has resulted, among other things, in women's access to the leadership of some of our countries through popular election, a development we hope to see continue throughout the Americas," he added.