(December 4, 2024) Today, at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, the Sixty-Sixth Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbeanwith the participation of Ministers and High Authorities of the National Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women in the region, specialists and representatives of civil society.
Organized by ECLAC, in its capacity as Secretariat of the Conference, in coordination with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the meeting has become a key space to evaluate the progress and challenges of the region in terms of gender equality and women’s autonomy.
Ingrid Gómez Saracíbar, undersecretary for issues of violence against women in the Women’s Secretariat of Mexico, spoke at the inauguration, in her capacity as Vice President of the Board of Directors and host country of the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean; José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC; and Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for Policy Support, United Nations System Coordination and Program Results of UN Women.
Undersecretary Ingrid Gómez Saracíbar, who leads the meeting, said “we have made a lot of progress as a region. What began as a recognition of care work is today a commitment to the care society. What 20 years ago was a data gap, today are gender statistics, converted into maps, observatories and planning tools for public policy for development with a gender focus.” “See you in Mexico, in 2025, because it is time for women in Latin America and the Caribbean!” she noted.
The Executive Secretary of ECLAC, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, highlighted that “in recent decades, Latin America and the Caribbean has made significant progress in regulatory frameworks for gender equality and in the strengthening of gender institutions in the different powers of the State; However, countries face important challenges in terms of implementation and financing of equality policies. From ECLAC, together with you, the governments of the region, we have stated that it is time to make strategic investments and public policies to move towards substantive gender equality, in practice, and towards a caring society. Precisely this meeting seeks to give a sense of urgency to our collective action. Let us remember that, for example, in Latin America and the Caribbean one in four women (25.3%) does not have their own income, almost three times more than men (9.7%).”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, said that “in Latin America and the Caribbean, achievements towards gender equality range from quota and parity laws in many countries to the promotion of comprehensive systems and policies of care. The vision of Latin America and the Caribbean, consolidated in the Buenos Aires Commitment, is aligned with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and lays the foundations for a new paradigm of sustainable development. This is a time for reflection and action. It is also a time to involve all generations and youth, learn from the past and draw up strategies for the next 30 years.”
During the intergovernmental meeting, Ana Güezmes García, Director of the Gender Affairs Division of ECLAC, presented the document Action for equality, development and peace in Latin America and the Caribbean: draft regional report on the examination of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 30 years after its approval in synergy with the implementation of the Regional Agenda for Gender.
According to this report, to achieve substantive equality by 2030, urgent and transformative measures are required to accelerate the effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Regional Gender Agenda, strengthening the institutionality of the Mechanisms for the advancement of women and the architecture for achieving gender equality, as well as the mainstreaming of the gender perspective at the different levels of government and powers of the State, in order to ensure the increase in the allocation of financial, technical and human resources, budgeting with a gender perspective, monitoring and accountability with citizen participation, and development cooperation in its different modalities.
The sexual division of labor and the unfair social organization of care continue to be one of the main barriers to inclusive development with gender equality, shared prosperity and decent work, the publication maintains.
Half of women in Latin America and the Caribbean are outside the labor market, in contrast to the participation rate of men, which is close to 75%. Poverty also affects them disproportionately: there are 118 women in poverty and 120 women in extreme poverty for every 100 men in a similar situation. The feminization of poverty expands even further in indigenous populations, Afro-descendants and inhabitants of rural areas.
On the other hand, women spend almost three times as much time as men on unpaid domestic and care work.
The report records progress in terms of political representation, parity in education, mainstreaming of the gender perspective in climate action and in policies to prevent and eliminate violence against women, among other areas, but substantive equality in reality is still an aspiration of the region, he emphasizes.
For example, in the national legislative branch, women occupy only 35.8% of the seats and, at the beginning of 2023, women held 27.2% of elected positions in local deliberative bodies in the region, compared to 35.5 percent worldwide.
In 2023, at least 11 women were victims of femicide/feminicide every day in the region and girls and adolescents are especially exposed to gender violence with child, early and forced marriages and unions. By 2022, 4% of women in the region had married or had a stable union before turning 15 and 21.2% before turning 18.
During the two-day meeting, the delegations will examine the preparatory activities for the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean to be held in Mexico in 2025, and which will address “Transformations in the political, economic, social, cultural and environmental to promote the society of care and gender equality.”
“The care society is the horizon toward which we must advance. Overcoming development traps requires profound transformations that will only be achieved through intergenerational solidarity, strategic investments and regional cooperation. Promoting a society of care invites us to act and build a more inclusive, productive and sustainable future, where the well-being of all people is at the center of our policies. Looking ahead to the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC reaffirms its commitment to working in close collaboration with member states, regional and international institutions, and civil society organizations,” summarized the Secretary. ECLAC Executive.
The meeting will guide the region’s position regarding the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), through a special regional consultation session, within the framework of the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the approval of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). This space will allow the region to bring a common voice to the global forum (CSW69) and advance national implementation.
During the meeting, reports will also be presented on the Gender Equality Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean (OIG)a key tool for monitoring progress in the Regional Gender Agenda, and the Regional Fund to Support Women’s and Feminist Organizations and Movements.
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