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.

• 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.

4. Public policies

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 decision-making 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).