ABSTRACT
The institutionalization of a gender focus in state policy is a long, complex process. This chapter presents the experience of the Coordinadora Politica de Mujeres Ecuatorianas (CPME), one of whose strategies is to work with members of Ecuador's women's movement for a gender focus in public policy. CPME's reason for being is to implement the Women's Political Agenda, a document that includes an analysis of the situation of women in Ecuador and a series of proposals for change intended to bring about social and gender equity. In 1996, CPME developed a strategy of engagement with the state based upon 'Comisiones Tecnicas Bipartitas (CTBs). These were implemented during the short-lived administration of Bucaram and during the interim government. CPME worked on the design of policies for the training of educators and also coordinated with Consejo Nacional de las Mujeres (CONAMU) the training of a group of women as gender trainers within the Ministry of Education's teacher-training programme.
