Cuba celebrates International Women's Day with undeniable achievements in women protagonism in society and awareness of the challenges they still face concerning gender equality.
Havana, Cuba.- The secretary-general of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), Teresa Amarelle, highlighted the government's commitment to that purpose, which led to public policies to promote their integral development and guarantee the full exercise of their rights.
According to data from the National Statistics and Information Office, Cuban women make up 53.22 percent of deputies to Parliament and 49 percent of the labor force.
The female force's decisive role during the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is widely recognized in the country, where it is on the front line, representing 69.6 percent of those working in the health area.
They are also essential in research on new drugs and care protocols. Their involvement in obtaining five vaccine candidates that are going through different phases of clinical trials is remarkable.
However, the FMC secretary-general acknowledged to the press that there is still a long way to go, so the country approved the National Program for the Advancement of Women (PNAM) in November 2020.
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Guidelines for the National Program for the Advancement of Women Presented
This governmental agenda, made up of 44 measures, seeks to bridge the existing gaps in the search for gender equality, based on promoting education with these approaches aimed at families and communities, and public servants.
The program also includes aspects related to public policies for women's economic empowerment, facilitating care work, and the fight against gender violence and forms of discrimination, which cut across all the program's objectives.
In Cuba, we will not allow impunity in the face of violence against women, said Amarelle, and added that a gender observatory is being prepared to measure the impact of what has been done to improve the program's implementation.
CUBAN AUTHORITIES REITERATE COMMITMENT IN DEFENSE OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS
On International Women's Day, the Cuban President, Miguel Díaz-Canel reiterated the island's authorities' commitment in the quest for gender equality.
The Head of State tweeted, "Cuba will continue to fight for all rights for women, to whom we owe our lives and much of the work that sustains the Revolution. At International Women's Day, let's think about how much more we can do."
On March 8th, numerous congratulations have been conveyed to Cuban women.
The Permanent Commission of Attention to Youth, Childhood, and Equal Rights of Women of the National Assembly of People's Power joined the celebration and acknowledgment.
Never before has this celebration been held under such adverse conditions, after the impact in Cuba of the pandemic that has surpassed historical records of other health events humanity faced during the last year.
In the midst of these complex circumstances, Cuban women, once again, as Fidel said, have turned the daily effort into a feat, said the National Assembly Committee.
The Minister of Public Health, Dr. José Angel Portal Miranda, for his part, expressed in a letter his pride in the way Cuban women assume and fulfill their responsibilities wherever the Homeland and life demand them.
This has always been so in Cuba's history, and it is so now, in extremely complex times for the world and the country, as a consequence of the pandemic caused by COVID-19. And this is a new challenge that Cuban women face with courage and bravery, being infinitely human. (RHC)
