Download Women`s contribution to equality in Latin America and the

Women’s contribution to equality in
Latin America and the Caribbean
I. Background
•
Pursuant to Agreement 5 as adopted by the
Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference
on Women in Latin America and the
Caribbean at their thirty-ninth meeting
(Mexico City, 11-12 May 2006), the secretariat
of ECLAC is presenting an annotated outline
of the position paper to be prepared for the
tenth session of the Regional Conference
(Quito, Ecuador, 6-9 August 2007).
I. Background
Women’s contribution to equality in Latin
America and the Caribbean
(a) Analysis of women’s contribution to the
economy and social protection, especially in
relation to unpaid work performed by women,
and to political participation;
(b) Gender parity in decision-making at all levels.
II. Annotated outline
Introduction
• First, reference will be made to international
agreements relating to unpaid work by women and
participation in decision-making, in particular the
Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, International Labour Organization
agreements relating to gender equality and paternity
and maternity rights, and decisions adopted at
United Nations world conferences and summits.
Reference will also be made to the incorporation of
these mandates into the constitutional and legal
frameworks of the countries of the region.
II. Annotated outline
• Second, the document will explore the underlying
substantive factors that have led the Presiding
Officers to devote particular attention to these
two issues.
• Third, attention will focus on the common thread
running through this analysis, namely, the
importance of the unpaid work performed by
women as a contribution to development and as
an explanatory factor for their mode of
participation in the economy and in democratic
decision-making.
Part One
Analysis of women’s contribution to the
economy and social protection,
especially in relation to unpaid work
performed by women
1. Conceptual framework
• The framework composed of the concepts of
unpaid work performed by women, the care
economy and time use will be introduced, and
the rationale for the study will be examined in
relation to the specific aspects of paid and
unpaid domestic work performed by women,
linkages between reproductive and productive
work, the importance of such work for economic
and social development, and women’s
participation in decision-making. The concepts
of “public” and “private” will be explored from a
gender perspective.
2. Diagnostic assessment
• The ways in which reproductive work
influences women’s —especially domestic
workers’— access to the labour market will be
examined, with special emphasis on their
access to social protection in the context of
globalization and ongoing changes in labour
affairs and conditions.
2. Diagnostic assessment
• The main aspects of the care economy as it
affects the home will be reviewed, as well as its
extension to certain areas of public affairs,
including health care, childcare and elder care.
• The available empirical data drawn from
household and time-use surveys conducted in the
region will be systematized. Attention will be paid
to relationships among access to the labour
market, the wage gap, labour-market
segmentation and sex-differentiated rates of
domestic activity.
3. Current status of information
resources
• The status of current efforts to gather and use
statistical information will be examined,
together with methodological and institutional
arrangements needed to strengthen the
production of information for use in public
policymaking.
4. Public policies
• The study will include an analysis of existing
public policies in the countries of the region.
This analysis will cover policies geared
towards reconciling the demands of family life
and work as well as policies that inadvertently
have negative implications for motherhood
and the sharing of family responsibilities.
5. Unpaid work in the areas of
health, childcare and elder care
• The preliminary findings of research on the
care economy conducted with financial
support from the Spanish Agency for
International Cooperation (AECI) in three
selected countries will be reviewed.
6. Conclusions and policy
recommendations
Part two
Political participation and
gender parity in decision-making
at all levels
1. Conceptual framework
• The following concepts will be
introduced: democracy, participation in
decision-making, affirmative action,
quotas and parity, and the way they
interact in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
2. Diagnostic assessment
• Women’s participation in decisionmaking will be reviewed, and a status
report will be provided on progress at
the parliamentary level, with special
emphasis on women’s participation in
the Executive branch and in municipal
governments.
2. Diagnostic assessment
• Up-to-date statistical information will be
presented on the pace and stability of
trends in women’s participation in public
office. Special attention will be devoted to
the status of indigenous and
Afrodescendent women and, where
possible, age-related and territorial
divides.
3. Current status of information
resources
• The focus will be on an analysis of
available information sources, including
methodological
considerations
and
problems relating to analysis and
dissemination.
4. Case studies
• Representative cases of good legislative,
political, organizational and other practices will
be analysed as a means of illustrating the diverse
range of situations existing in the region.
Examples may include the quota system in
Argentina, which was the first country in the
region to implement such a scheme; gender
parity in the Executive branch in Chile, in view of
its pioneering role in the region and the world;
women’s participation in Cuba’s legislature; and
the case of Colombia, which is the only country
using a quota system in the Executive branch.
5. Conclusions and
recommendations
III. Information sources
The document will be based on the
following sources:
1. Specific contributions from Governments
regarding good practices and sources of
statistical information on the topics
addressed in the position paper.
2. Studies conducted by the ECLAC Women
and Development Unit and other United
Nations bodies on its two main themes.
III. Information sources
The document will be based on the following
sources:
3. Specific studies conducted under the
Project on the Care Economy’s Contribution
to Social Protection, which is being funded
by the Spanish Agency for International
Cooperation (AECI).
4. Recommendations of the United Nations
Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
IV. Preparation of the document
The following stages will be involved in the
preparation of the position paper for presentation
at the tenth session of the Regional Conference
on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean
(Quito, Ecuador, 6-9 August 2007):
1.Presentation of the annotated outline to the
fortieth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the
Regional Conference on Women in Latin
America and the Caribbean (Santiago, Chile,
3-4 October 2006);
IV. Preparation of the document
2. Survey of member States to gather the
remaining information needed to prepare
substantive inputs (third quarter of 2006);
3. Incorporation of comments received at the
fortieth meeting of the Presiding Officers
(October 2006);
4. Preparation of substantive inputs for the
analysis of subjects covered in the paper
(September - November 2006);
IV. Preparation of the document
5. Incorporation of inputs received from
member States and drafting of the
preliminary version of the paper (December
2006 - March 2007);
6. Editing and translation of the preliminary
version (March and April 2007);
7. Presentation of the preliminary version at
subregional preparatory meetings in the
Southern Cone, Central America and the
Caribbean for the tenth session of the
Regional Conference on Women (May
2007);
IV. Preparation of the document
8. Incorporation of comments received at
the subregional meetings (June 2007);
and
9. Editing and translation of the final
version (July 2007).