Line Bareiro, consultant in the Gender Affairs division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), has written this report as part of the 2015-2017 Cooperation Program between ECLAC and Spain’s International Development Agency, to support the preparations for and monitoring of the XIII Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The paper echoes the recommendations made by the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to the states of Latin America and the Caribbean, up to and including 21 July 2016, prior to XIII Regional Conference on Women.

The report has three parts:

• The first presents a methodological and conceptual introduction to the autonomy, empowerment and rights of women as expressed in the CEDAW
• The second is an analysis of the progress made and challenges to come in guaranteeing women’s rights, according to the recommendations made there, and
• The final part consists of the author’s conclusions, pointing to the important role played by the CEDAW for measuring the region’s advances and the work still to do. Here she stresses the fundamental importance of women’s equality in the implementation of the Regional Gender & Sustainable Development Goals Agenda.