Ministers and senior authorities of the mechanisms for the advancement of women from Latin America and the Caribbean attended on February 28 an information meeting on the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 68), organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and UN Women virtual.
CSW 68 will take place from March 11 to 22 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and has the primary theme “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by combating poverty and strengthening institutions and Financing.” a gender perspective.”
The briefing aimed to share progress and information from the region to support government participation in the CSW. The focus was on the Declaration of the Ministers and High Authorities of the National Mechanisms for the Advancement of Latin American and Caribbean Women for the CSW68, adopted at the 65th Session of the Chairpersons of the Regional Conference for Women, as a regional contribution to the global deliberations at the next CSW carried.
The meeting was attended by ministers and representatives from 25 countries in the region. At the beginning there were welcoming remarks by Ana Güezmes García, Director of the Gender Division of ECLAC, and María Florencia González, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations and Vice President-designate of the Group of American States of Latin America and the Caribbean, which represents the organization the work and negotiation process of the agreed conclusions, the intergovernmental agreement resulting from the CSW meetings.
María Noel Vaeza, UN Women's regional director for the Americas and the Caribbean, emphasized that “funding gender policies and institutions is very important for the region, especially after the pandemic, as poverty and inequality have increased.” We face the challenge “To address the issue from expanding fiscal space to creating and strengthening comprehensive care systems to consolidating gender institutions to address all challenges.”
The joint document was presented during the briefing session The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the regional gender agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean. Gender indicators until 2023, created by ECLAC and UN Women. The aim is to provide a reference report to promote decision-making that accelerates the achievement of equality and the full exercise of the rights of women, young people and girls in their diversity.
During the presentation, Ana Güezmes García emphasized that “it is a document that helps us break the statistical silence.” This is a region that is making progress in achieving gender equality but needs to accelerate it. To make these efforts a reality, we need better statistics and of course more and better institutions and funding for gender equality. For every 100 men in a similar situation, there are 118 women in poverty and 120 women in extreme poverty,” adding that “gender inequality and the feminization of poverty are a structural problem for countries and require transformative responses.”
Finally, Cecilia Alemany, Deputy Regional Director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean, returned to some figures from the joint document and warned: “Gender institutionality is advancing, but it has not yet been consistently consolidated at the ministerial level.” Region, and there are still huge gaps that require policies and funding with a gender perspective. In the region, almost 14% of young people between 15 and 24 years old are neither studying nor working, and for young women this figure doubles to almost 27%, which also affects their chances of earning their own income than theirs possible work integration over the course of their lives.”
The primary theme of CSW68 also serves as a framework for the commemoration of International Women's Day, defined as “Accelerating the financing of women's rights” in the Latin American and Caribbean region under the theme “Investing in women, accelerating progress. Equality” takes place every year on March 8th. Sufficient, regular and timely funding is crucial to strengthen gender institutions, women's and civil society organizations and so that women and girls, especially those facing multiple forms of discrimination, can exercise their rights and lead a better life without violence.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women within the United Nations. The meeting takes place every year in the second half of March in New York and brings together thousands of representatives of states, civil society, particularly feminist and women's organizations, and United Nations organizations from around the world.