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Achievements have been significant. Today women are a central force in this movement. Women’sparticipation and representation has increased, they have taken up positions of leadership andsignificant strides have been made to achieve parity in women’s representation in decision-makingbodies. In its Latin American section, for example, parity was established in 1997.Training schools have been set up to show the links between gender and class inequalities, whichhave helped women to challenge male-dominated structures and sexist behaviour within theirrespective organizations. Women’s specific concerns have also gained greater visibility on themovement’s agenda. When Via Campesina developed its political position on food sovereignty inthe late 1990s, for example, women argued that because women are primarily responsible for thewell-being of their families, food sovereignty must include a drastic reduction in the use of healthendangeringagrochemicals. Furthermore, they argued that because of women’s unequal access toproductive resources, food sovereignty could only be achieved by increasing their participation inagricultural policy-making.Most recently, in 2008, Via Campesina launched a high-profile campaign to end violence againstwomen, which it sees as a structural issue supported by both capitalism and patriarchy, includingsuch violence within the movement itself.This positive example of women advancingtheir own agenda within a broad-based socialmovement highlights the kinds of strategiesand alliances that women’s movements needto adopt in order to advance the social andeconomic rights of women and girls. Yet, oneof the greatest obstacles that confront genderequality agendas is the difficulty of workingwithin gender-biased political and governanceinstitutions—all the way from political parties tojustice systems and state bureaucracies—thatremain resistant to women’s equality claims andrequire deep institutional reform.TRANSFORMING STRUCTURESAND INSTITUTIONS FOR WOMEN’SSUBSTANTIVE EQUALITYChange in women’s lives happens when increasesin their resources, respect and agency reinforceeach other in a synergistic way: when resourcesand life chances enable an adequate standardof living for all women, as well as the time andresources for greater agency and voice; whenwomen can live their lives with dignity and respect;and when they are able to voice their interestsand participate on equal terms with men in alldecisions that affect their lives. This is the long-termgoal and vision towards which public action hasto move. Long-term change is enabled by bothsmall and big initiatives that transform structuresand institutions, to disrupt discriminatory normsand gender stereotypes, redistribute resourcesand create spaces and mechanisms for women toarticulate their grievances and act collectively toclaim their rights.The groundbreaking government initiativein Brazil, Chapéu de Palha Mulher (seestory: Making rights real), captures the keyelements necessary for such transformations.This anti-poverty initiative goes much furtherthan conventional conditional cash transferprogrammes (CCTs) directed at poor womenby setting out to change the structures thatkeep gender hierarchies in place and constrainwomen’s enjoyment of their rights. It provides:a three month course on citizenship and public55