BRIDGING THE GENDER DIGITAL DIVIDE IS ONE OF THE AGREEMENTS OF THE LAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Under the Declaration of the ministers and high authorities of the national mechanisms for the advancement of women in Latin America and the Caribbean for the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the countries of the region committed themselves to ".... promote intersectoral public policies that include affirmative action measures to promote the participation, permanence and completion of education of girls, adolescents and women in the areas of science, engineering, mathematics and technology...", as well as their full access to the emerging digital economy and its potential opportunities.

This within the framework of the development of the Sixty-Fourth Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women that took place on February 8 and 9, 2023 virtually.

The 64th Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women was organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), as Secretariat of the Conference, in coordination with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). Delegations from the 15 countries that make up the Bureau (Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Venezuela), as well as officials from 18 other ECLAC Member States and partners, representatives of the United Nations system, intergovernmental organizations and civil society participated in the meeting.

Ana Güezmes, Director of ECLAC's Division for Gender Affairs, in the closing session stated that, "...as a region, we have a clear path to advance towards a care society that, among other benefits, frees women from time and unpaid work so that they can fully participate in the labor market, receive training and have equal access to education and digital technologies...". She also remarked "...there is a clear and forceful agenda of priorities in the region. There are innovative proposals to address the multiple crises that undermine equality. There are bold solutions to close gender gaps".

The Declaration agrees to "promote the labor participation of women in all their diversity in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, eliminating occupational segregation and all forms of gender-based discrimination and violence against women and ensuring decent work and equal pay, particularly in emerging sectors, including the digital economy, which are key to structural change with equality and the decarbonization of economies." 

The Declaration will be made known to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Governments of the region as Latin America and the Caribbean's contribution to the negotiation of the agreed conclusions to be adopted at the 67th session of the CSW (March 6-17, 2023).

Source: https://www.cepal.org/

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