Women`s organizations precarious participation in the MInistry of Health and health policy making processes in Peru

• In Event: Welfare, Participation...Clientelism?

Abstract

The last two decades have shown important gains to women`s rights to health promoted by national and international interests to find ways to incorporate organizations from civil society into political institutional structures, and to boost political legitimacy, stability. As well as to incorporate women and women`s issues into policy making processes. This paper looks at the precariousness of emergent practices and structures to incorporate civil society organizations within public institutions such as the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA). Based on semi structured interviews with key actors and official documents/reports, my research explores political processes and institutional alternatives developed in Peru for the advancement and promotion civil society`s participation in policy making processes in the last couple of decades.

By looking at the place and position of civil society organizations within the organizational structure, policy formulation procedures and decision making capacity, I explore some inconsistencies between a discourse in favor of democratic governance reforms and legal, political and rigid administrative structures. Furthermore, I discuss how political institutions (such as MINSA) and institutional processes in place can open or close opportunities to influence/enact policies and to incorporate actors and issues traditionally excluded from political and policy process for instance women´s organizations and women´s health rights. In sum, although civil society and women`s organizations in particular have been recently identified as key actors in governance processes and included into public institutions; their participation, procedures/practices and processes remains unstructured and precarious.

Author

• Ruth Iguiñiz Romero, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia