Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Women's contribution to equality in Latin America and the Caribbean


The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has been monitoring progress of gender-sensitive public policies for more than a decade. Faithful to its mandate, ECLAC has proposed a rights-based development framework in order to produce positive synergies between economic growth and social equity in a context of modernization of production processes.

In the last few years, the Commission has drawn attention to the need to upgrade social protection and ensure universal coverage, the fundamental aim being to establish a fiscal and social covenant which will allow access to social protection mechanisms underpinned by a solidarity-based system of financing.

Against this background, Women's contribution to equality in Latin America and the Caribbean brings to the fore two key issues in the structural pattern of inequality between women and men: first, political participation and gender parity in decision-making processes at all levels, and, second, women's contribution to the economy and social protection, especially in relation to unpaid work.

See full Article.