A look at the challenges and strengths of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) in the last five years marked the beginning today of the eleventh congress of the women's organization, which will be held in Havana until tomorrow.

Havana, Cuba.- At the opening of the event, it was highlighted that during that period several public policies were approved to stimulate the incorporation of the sector into employment, the expansion of home support and care, and the empowerment of women.

The secretary general of the FMC, Teresa Amarelle, explained that the balance sheet presented at the congress represents the closing of a complex stage for the country in socioeconomic matters, in which women have been a fundamental pillar.

The report details that the FMC has boosted the exchange with Cuban families on issues related to social indiscipline, crime, and corruption.

It specifies that it is a strength of the organization to be able to count on 91.47 percent of integration, a figure higher than that achieved in the previous edition of the congress and which evidences the sustained growth of the membership, especially of young women who reach 14 years old in all provinces.

It emphasizes that the houses of orientation for women and families were consolidated as a space of resistance and creativity for the FMC, by improving its work with the increase in the number of people advised and the preparation for employment through training programs.

At the same time, it warns that instability and delays in the completion of structures persist in some grassroots organizations, as well as apathy, passivity, disinterest, and insufficient knowledge of the diagnosis of the community, of the problematic motivations that affect women and their families.

More than 300 delegates from all over the country are debating this Thursday on how to revitalize and strengthen the organization's role, in a context marked by the tightening of the U.S. blockade imposed on the island. (PL)