In order to untie the structural challenges of gender inequality and achieve the economic autonomy of women in Latin America and the Caribbean, a new economic, social and fiscal pact between the States, the market and society is required, a new pact that promotes gender equality as a central element for a transformative recovery and that allows progress towards a care society.
These were some of the reflections shared by Nicole Bidegain Ponte, Social Affairs Officer of ECLAC's Division for Gender Affairs, during the high-level Euro-Latin American meeting on women's economic autonomy “Two continents united for equality”. The meeting was held on March 3 and 4, 2022 in Paris and was organized by the Ministry in charge of equality between women and men, diversity and equal opportunities in France and the Gender Equality Policies area of the EUROsociAL+ European Union Programme.
Nicole Bidegain Ponte added that investment in the care economy has a positive impact on the rest of the economy and that a fiscal pact is key to guarantee sufficient resources for equality policies and promote the participation of women in strategic sectors for a sustainable recovery.
The objective of the meetings, organized in the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was to create a space for Europe-Latin America dialogue to share good practices on women’s economic autonomy and highlight the role of the Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women for progress towards more egalitarian societies. The event was attended by 12 ministers and representatives of the Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women in Europe and 13 ministers and representatives of the Ministries and Mechanisms of Latin America.
The Social Affairs Officer of the Division for Gender Affairs made a presentation at a workshop with the authorities of the Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean about the challenges for the economic autonomy of women in the region and the ECLAC recommendations to promote a transformative recovery with equality (available in Spanish), carried out on March 3, 2022.
On March 4, 2022, Bidegain Ponte participated as a panelist in the session about the regional vision on women’s economic autonomy in Latin America, together with María Noel Vaeza, Regional Director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean, and Alejandra Mora Mora, Executive Secretary of the CIM/OAS.
Bidegain Ponte highlighted ECLAC’s initiatives to make visible and value the unpaid and care work carried out mainly by women in Latin America and the Caribbean and promote a fair social organization of care.
The Social Affairs Officer of the Division for Gender Affairs pointed out that ECLAC is accompanying the countries of the region in the implementation of the commitments of the Regional Gender Agenda. In this context, she highlighted that in the Santiago Commitment, ECLAC Member States agreed to implement gender-sensitive countercyclical policies in order to mitigate the impacts of crises on women's lives and promote strategic sectors such as the care economy.
Nicole Bidegain Ponte made a call to participate in the preparatory process for the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, whose central theme will be "The care society: a horizon for sustainable recovery with gender equality" and will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November 2022.
More information:
Presentation “Challenges to untie the structural challenges of gender inequality and achieve women’s economic autonomy in Latin America and the Caribbean”, March 3, 2022 (available in Spanish).
Presentation “Challenges and opportunities to untie the structural challenges of gender inequality and achieve women’s economic autonomy in Latin America and the Caribbean”, March 4, 2022 (available in Spanish).
