Urge to close the digital gender gap to achieve women’s autonomy and substantive equality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Ministers for Women and other government authorities, together with representatives of the United Nations, international organizations and civil society, called today to close the digital gender gap in Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve the autonomy of women and substantive equality in a scenario of multiple crises that require bold and transformative solutions. They did so during the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Regional Conference on Women, which is being held virtually this Wednesday, February 8, and Thursday, February 9, 2023.

The purpose of the appointment is to examine the actions planned for the implementation of the Buenos Aires Commitmentapproved in November at the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbeanand carry out the special Regional Consultation Session prior to the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), whose main theme this year is “ Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.

The meeting was opened by José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); María-Noel Vaeza, Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); Ayelén Mazzina, Minister of Women, Gender and Diversity of Argentina, in her capacity as President of the Board of Directors of the Regional Conference on Women; and María del Carmen Squeff, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations and Vice-Chairperson of the Bureau of the 67th session of the Commission on the Legal and Social Status of Women (CSW67) designated by the Group of States of Latin America and the Caribbean.

In his speech, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs celebrated the recent creation of new mechanisms for the advancement of women in the region, in particular the new Ministry of Women in Brazil, the Ministry of Women and Human Rights in Ecuador and the Ministry of Equality in Colombia. “These advances undoubtedly contribute to strengthening the region’s institutional framework and gender architecture and promoting policies for gender equality, rights and autonomy for women in all their diversity,” he said.

“In the face of the development crisis and the palpable gender inequality that persists in our region, we need bold solutions. Some of those solutions are in the Buenos Aires Commitment”, highlighted the highest representative of ECLAC, who warned that “there is a digital gender gap that leaves women and girls out of strategic areas of education, technological innovation and job placement”.

The completion rate of women in secondary education is 6.1 percentage points higher than that of men in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, achievements like this hide uneven gender patterns across disciplines. In higher education, gender gaps become evident in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

In most of the countries of the region, the proportion of women graduated from STEM careers does not exceed 40%. The most critical fields are engineering, industry and construction (with 30.8% participation of women in higher education enrollment in 2019) and information and communication technologies, ICT, with 18% participation of women in enrollment higher education in 2019.

In addition, it is estimated that 4 out of 10 women in Latin America and the Caribbean are not connected and/or cannot afford effective connectivity (Internet access, availability of devices and basic skills for their use).

In the Buenos Aires Commitment, recalled José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, the governments committed themselves to “promote intersectoral public policies that include affirmative action measures to promote the participation, permanence, and completion of education for girls, adolescents, and women in the areas of science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

For María-Noel Vaeza, from UN Women, “CSW67 offers an extraordinary opportunity to shape a future in which technology contributes to transforming social norms, amplifying women’s voices, ending online harassment, preventing the perpetuation algorithmic prejudices, strengthen the economic autonomy of women and equitably distribute the benefits of digitalization to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is up to us that the digital revolution contributes to women enjoying full political, economic and social equality, and preventing it from widening pre-existing gender gaps and generating new inequalities”.

Minister Ayelén Mazzina assured that for “Argentina, the gender and diversity agenda is a priority issue” and called for addressing digital inequalities. “We have to distribute care to generate more opportunities for training and insertion in the world of work for women and diversities, so that there are more women working in dynamic sectors, such as science and technology. It is necessary to break with the stereotypes that make girls believe that they are not good at learning mathematics or hard sciences. We have to strengthen the foundations of a more egalitarian society and remove gender-based violence from homes, from politics, from Twitter and from all digital spaces”, she declared.

Ambassador María del Carmen Squeff agreed that “ICTs offer a large number of benefits, as we were able to experience in the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is also a space where gender inequalities are reproduced and amplified.” “Our countries have a long history in defending women’s rights on the international stage, which are reflected in the various documents adopted at the regional conferences on women in Latin America and the Caribbean,” the representative stressed and stated the total willingness of the Argentine mission to collaborate and guarantee that CSW67 is successful for the region.

During the first day of the meeting, Ana Güezmes, Director of ECLAC’s Gender Affairs Division, and Cecilia Alemany, Deputy Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean of UN Women and ai Representative in Argentina, presented the reference document Gender equality and the autonomy of women and girls in the digital age: contributions of education and digital transformation in Latin America and the Caribbeanprepared by ECLAC, UN Women and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

According to the report, in order to advance towards the autonomy of women in the digital era, it is necessary to incorporate the gender perspective in the transformation of the productive matrix and the digital transformation of the dynamic sectors of the economy. It is also necessary to design comprehensive universal care systems that promote greater digital inclusion of women; reduce the digital gender gaps to promote the autonomy and participation of women; and promote digital confidence and security for women and girls.

It is also urgent to promote the transformation of education for an inclusive recovery and to improve the situation of girls and women, especially in STEM areas; guarantee the rights of women in the digital workplace; strengthen governance and multisectoral alliances and reaffirm social pacts to guarantee compliance with the SDGs. In the same way, it is essential to produce information to make visible the situation of women in their diversity within the framework of innovation and digital transformation processes.

The 64th Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women is organized by ECLAC, as Conference Secretariat, in coordination with UN Women, and delegates from the 15 countries that make up the Bureau (Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Venezuela), in addition to other Member States and associates of ECLAC, representatives of the United Nations System Nations, intergovernmental organizations and civil society.