Gender equality and empowerment of

women in the implementation of the

MDGs: The Latin American and The Latin American and Caribbean PerspectiveCaribbean Perspective

New York, 2 July 2010

Antonio PradoDeputy Executive

SecretaryEconomic Commission for

Latin America and the Caribbean

The eradication of extreme poverty is unachievable without parallel progress

in education, health and gender equality

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of household surveys conducted in the respective countries.Notes: Students are excluded. Urban: Argentina, Bolivia (Pl. St. of), Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay. Rural : Bolivia (Pl. St. of), Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay.

LATIN AMERICA (15 COUNTRIES): POPULATION WITHOUT INCOME OF THEIR OWN BY GENDER AND AGE GROUPS, AROUND 2008

(In percentages of the totals for each gender)

The share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector has been rising on

average in the region…

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations Statistics Division, MDG indicators database.a For Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Jamaica the time series ends in 2006 and for Barbados, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago it ends in 2005.b Simple average of 15 countries: Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bol. Rep. of).

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: SHARE OF WOMEN IN WAGE EMPLOYMENT IN THE NON-AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, 1990-2007 a

(In percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations Statistics Division, MDG indicators database.a The number and which countries are considered for the computation of the regional average in each year differ according to the availability of data.

THE CARIBBEAN: SHARE OF WOMEN IN WAGE EMPLOYMENT IN THE NON-AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, 1990-2007 a

… and is higher in the Caribbean countries

But still many women do not have economic resources of their own

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 2010a Urban areas.b The number of countries used for the computation of the regional average varied throughout the different time periods laccording to the availability of the national surveys: 1994, 14 countries; 1999, 13 countries; 2002 and 2005, 16 countries; 2003 and 2008, 14 countries.

LATIN AMERICA: POPULATION OF 15 YEARS OF AGE OR MORE WITHOUT INCOME OF THEIR OWN, 1994-2008 a, b

(Percentage with respect to the totals of each gender)

42.839.3 37.7

34.931.6

10.512.5 13.8 12.7

10.4

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

1994 1999 2002 2005 2008

Mujeres HombresWomen Men

Women also tend to get hired for more precarious jobs

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of household surveys conducted in the respective countries.

LATIN AMERICA: URBAN EMPLOYMENT IN LOW PRODUCTIVITY SECTORS, 2008 (In percentages of total urban employment)

And wage gaps are still very unfavorable to female workersLATIN AMERICA (11 PAÍSES): WOMEN AVERAGE LABOUR INCOME AND WAGES AND

SALARIES IN COMPARISON WITH THOSE EARNED BY MEN, URBAN AREAS a

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of household surveys conducted in the respective countries.a Simple average of 11 countries: Argentina, Bolivia (Pl. St. of), Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Higher levels of education work towards gender equality

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of UNESCO-IEU.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: RATIO OF GIRLS TO BOYS IN NET ENROLMENT RATES IN PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, 2007

In the last five years the region has elected five female presidents, an unprecedented event that shows a change in the collective consciousness

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of Millennium Indicators Database, United Nations Statistics Division, http://millenniumindicators.un.org, last update 14 Jul 2009 , on the basis of information provided by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (website: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm).

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, OTHER REGIONS AND THE WORLD: PROPORTION OF WOMEN IN NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE BODIES IN 1990, 2005 AND 2009

(Percentages)

16 14

9

1619

26

5 610 10

7

13

69

20

12

22

59

1416

19

3

17

1

18

3

9

17 17 17 17 18 19 19 2022

29

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Women in national parliaments

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of Millennium Indicators Database, United Nations Statistics Division, http://millenniumindicators.un.org, last update 14 Jul 2009 , on the basis of information provided by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (website: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm).

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: PROPORTION OF WOMEN IN NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE BODIES, YEAR 2009

(Percentages)

04

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1517 17 18 19 19 19 19 20

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Gender Equality Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean

Eleventh session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin

America and the Caribbean

Brasilia, 13-16 July 2010

The key to ending the primary inequality between men and women is to change the social, political,

cultural and economic bases that underpin the sexual division of labour

What kind of State? What kind of equality?

•Proposals:• Reform the links between the basic institutions of society,

the State, the family and the market, through public policies.

• At the initiative of the State, take all the necessary steps, whether legislative, institutional, educational, health-related, fiscal or related to women’s participation in decision-making in order to do away with gender biases in the labour market and overcome the wage gap, segmentation and discrimination.

• Guarantee the rights of women in the labour market and within the family so as to create the necessary conditions for them to gain economic and physical empowerment as well as empowerment in all decision-making spheres.

• Build a solid institutional framework with the appropriate regulatory capacity.

What kind of State? What kind of equality?