Region:Asia Pacific
Current UN Women Plan Period Afghanisthan:2018-2022
World Bank Income Classification:Low Income
The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. For this purpose it uses gross national income (GNI) per capita data in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency using the World Bank Atlas method, which is applied to smooth exchange rate fluctuations.
Least Developed Country:Yes
Since 1971, the United Nations has recognized LDCs as a category of States that are deemed highly disadvantaged in their development process, for structural, historical and also geographical reasons. Three criteria are used: per capita income, human assets, and economic vulnerability.
Gender Inequality Index:0.575
GII is a composite metric of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. A low GII value indicates low inequality between women and men, and vice-versa.
Gender Development Index:0.723
GDI measures gender inequalities in achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: health, education, and command over economic resources.
Population:209,497,025
Source of population data: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects: The 2022 Revision
Male:19,976,265 (9.5%)
Female:189,520,760 (90.5%)
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_1.1
Latin America and the Caribbean democratic institutions are strengthened, and States advance towards gender parity in political participation at all decision-making levels
In 2023, this outcome has important progress, even though no new laws or reforms to advance gender balance in decision-making were adopted in the current year, progress was made in setting parity as a key pillar for the strengthening of democracies and the advance of gender equality agendas in the region. UN Women advocated for the full exercise of women’s political rights, focusing on the promotion of legal measures and institutional mechanisms to ensure parity representation in decision-measures, a comprehensive mitigation of violence against women in politics, as inclusive political financing, through advocacy, capacity-building and knowledge production initiatives, contributing to build consensus towards parity democracies, including within the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament ( Declaration ), the Ibero-American Congress of Municipalities ( Declaration ), as well as the Association of Women Electoral Magistrates of the Americas ( Agreements ). At country level, progress was made especially in Uruguay in support to the legislative debate on the parity bill , which is expected to be considered by parliament in March 2024. Both through coordinated UN System’s advocacy , as through UN Women specific technical assistance and incidence within sessions of the Commission on Human Rights and Gender Equality of the Senate, arguments in favor of a parity law were strengthened.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_1.2
More women lead and benefit from national and local initiatives in political dialogue, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, human mobility, humanitarian action and climate resilience
The implementation of the Migration MPTF Joint Programme (IOM, UNODC, UN Women) in Costa Rica is allowing UN Women to strengthen the capacity of Costa Rican authorities to identify, investigate and prosecute organized crime affecting migrants in transit, and reduce the vulnerability of migrants to human trafficking and smuggling through a gender and human rights perspective. UN Women has been developing initial diagnosis in alliance with IOM to guide project implementation and capacity building processes are under implementation. UN Women has been advocating for the inclusion of a gender perspective in the implementation of all efforts of the Joint Programme. An important achievement has been in the inclusion of sex-disaggregated variables and specific questions for the analysis of the information with a gender perspective the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to produce gender-sensitive reports. This will facilitate analysis and decision making on human mobility to include a gender perspective by OIM , other agencies and possibly government counterparts.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_1.3
Ending Violence Against Women has advanced and a society free of gender stereotypes and discriminatory social norms is promoted with the engagement of women, girls, LGBTQ+ people, men and boys
In 2023, ACRO organized and supported 130 events, among webinars, high-level meetings, capacity building exercises and workshops, where more than 13,487 people participated and that reached 112,107 people. ACRO's activities benefited more than 70,496 women, girls, men and boys directly, and more than 166,814 indirectly. 224 partnetships were made as a result of ACRO's work, 92 with regional and governmental institutions, 36 with the private sector, 74 with civil society organizations, 8 with academia and 14 with other UN agencies. Finally, 174 civil society organizations had their capacities strenghtened, 6 advocacy and communications campaigns were launched impacting more than 88,100 people, 58 knowlegde products were developed and published, 3 laws and policies were adopted and strengthened in the region, and more than US$ 60 thousand was directly disbursed to civil society organizations.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_2.1
National care systems enable Latin America and the Caribbean women's economic autonomy.
UN Women has advanced the implementation of a regional agenda for the promotion of Integrated care systems . In this regard, during 2023 UN Women ACRO provided technical assistance and policy support to 14 countries in LAC region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay) to advance in policy and normative frameworks for integrated care systems. As a result, in 2023 Ecuador approved a specific legislation to implement a comprehensive set of care policies, becoming the fourth country of the region, -together with Uruguay, Costa Rica and Venezuela– with and specific law approved. In Colombia the law 2281 of January, 42023 that creates the Minister of equality and Equity and Equality stablishes the creation of the national care system. (art 6.). In Argentina Decree 89/2023 (February, 2) creates the Economic recovery, employment generation and social inclusion programme for domestic workers. Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru also have discussing legislative projects underway which counted with the advisory of UN Women. At local level the Municipality of Bogota adopted the agreement that regulates and institutionalizes the District Care System in Bogotá. Furthermore, additional national and local strategies, policies and/or action plans for the promotion of care have been developed and adopted in the region with UN Women’s support Overall and up to December 2023, this results in a total amount of 30 national and local strategies, policies and/or action plans for the promotion of care have been developed and adopted in the region within 11 countries with the support of UN Women. In terms of promoting the financing of care policies and systems , during 2023 UN Women ACRO supported the calculation of cost and returns of investment in care in 13 municipalities of , using the modeling and tool to design financing strategies of comprehensive care systems developed and launched in 2022. This adds to the existing costing exercises supported by UN Women in . As a result of these exercises, it is estimated that 24.8 million people will benefit from care services by 2030 in these 5 countries. Furthermore, using gender responsive budgeting tools, in 2023 UN Women was able to identify that from 2019 to 2021, governments of Latin America and the Caribbean allocated USD 4.17 billion in their national budgets on care programmes and policies. In terms of capacity building , with the support of UN Women until 2023, near 2,000 care workers had already been trained in the whole LAC region , reaching an estimated 1.85 million indirect beneficiaries. Furthermore, as part of its coordination role within the United Nations system UN Women partnered with UNDP-ILO-ECLAC-UN Women Interagency Initiative on Gender, Care and Social Protection to promote the 4th edition of the virtual course towards integrated care systems: training for action in public policy in the first half of 2023 through a 7 week length course. As a result, in 2023 more than 219 policy makers from national governments (45%), local governments (14%), civil society and women organizations (8%), trade unions (13%) and other policy makers (20%) reported to having increased their capacity to advancing the agenda and implementing integrated care systems aligned with the Buenos Aires Commitment resulting from the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. At regional level, in 2023 UN Women ACRO started the implementation of the project “Transforming Economies. Towards the Recognition, Reduction and Redistribution of Unpaid Domestic and Care Work in Latin America and the Caribbean” with the support of AECID. As a result, a comprehensive analysis of regulatory frameworks, policy instruments and mapping of good local practices in Latin America to promote the recognition, reduction and redistribution of care work has been developed serving as the basis for organizing a regional seminar of exchange of experiences that will take place in February of 2024. Also at the regional level, during 2023 UN Women continue to work to consolidate Care as a political priority and commitment in the intergovernmental sphere . In this regard, f ollowing up on the Buenos Aires Commitment adopted in 2022, UN Women together with ECLAC achieved to position Care as the main issue of discussion for the next Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean to take place in Mexico in 2025 through an agreement adopted during the Sixty-fifth Meeting of the Presiding Officers held in Santiago, Chile in October 2023. Furthermore, taking advantage of the special opportunity opened by the EU-CELAC Summit held in Brussels in July 2023, UN Women worked to position Care also at the center of the Bi-regional discussions . In this regard, UN Women in alliance with ECLAC and the EU-LAC Foundation and the support of the government of Argentina, promoted the adoption of a bi-regional Pact for Care between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union, with the aim of promoting cooperation in public policies and comprehensive care systems between the countries of both regions. The proposal of the Pact was presented during the EU-LAC Gender Equality Forum held in Berlin on May 11 and 12, convened by the EU-LAC Foundation, where, in addition to Argentina, the governments of Germany, Mexico and Spain added their support. The pact was also included in the Declaration of the EU-LAC Civil Society Forum held in Brussels in July, prior to the EU-CELAC Summit . Furthermore, the proposal of the bi-regional Pact for care was included in the commitment to advance gender equality signed by several women parliamentarians from the EU and Latin America during the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) held in Madrid in July 2023, urging "to strengthen bi-regional cooperation to ensure the right to care, to receive care and self-care in conditions of equality and quality and therefore, to advance in the consolidation and financing of comprehensive care systems" as well as in the Declaration of the Bureau of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly held in October 2023 in Santo Domingo expressing the "need to adopt a gender approach in the framework of EU - CELAC relations, promoting a bi-regional pact for care based on the European Care Strategy and the Buenos Aires Commitment that enhances cooperation on public policies and comprehensive care systems". Finally, in October 2023, the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, during the Sixty-fifth Meeting , agreed to encourage ECLAC and UN Women together with the EU-LAC Foundation, to promote the bi-regional pact for care "with the aim of promoting cooperation on public policies and comprehensive care systems with a gender perspective between the countries of both regions, within the framework of the implementation of the Buenos Aires Commitment and the European Care Strategy, and to promote cooperation initiatives in this area with other regions of the world". In 2024 the work to position the Pact will continue. Finally during 2023 UN Women ACRO continue to support care work at the global level, supporting the Global Alliance for Care which already reached 168 members (including national and local governments, international organizations, private and philanthropic organizations, and civil society organizations), becoming the largest multi-stakeholder engagement platform to date that promotes a transformation of the care economy globally. As part of the Alliance and in partnership with the EU-LAC Foundation, ECLAC and the National Women’s Institute of Mexico (INMUJERES) UN Women ACRO conducted a series of five interregional dialogues on Comprehensive Care Systems , to place the priority populations that receive and provide care at the center.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_2.2
Public and private financing advance gender equality through gender responsive budgets, policies, strategies and instruments
As part of the work to promote Public financing to advance gender equality through gender responsive budgets, policies, strategies and instruments , in 2023 UN Women ACRO finalized and launched the publication “Gender Budgeting. A roadmap for its implementation from Latin American experiences” capturing advances and main results of 12 countries of the region in including gender budgeting in their planning and budgeting normative and policy frameworks. The study shows how 4 countries (Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru) make gender budgeting mandatory within their Public Planning and Budgetary Laws while 10 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) integrate it in their long-term development strategies. Also 11 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Dominican Republic) have included instructions to advance gender budgeting within their call circular or budgetary guidelines within the last three years. Additionally, 7 countries of the region (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, México, and Dominican Republic) have institutionalized gender budget markers or gender budget classifiers that allow to track amounts specifically allocated and spent for gender equality, thanks to the strengthened budgetary instruments focused on transparency and accountability. For example, data shows that in these 7 countries exist allocations to policies to eliminate violence against women facilitating social control on this area. The data gathered, analyzed and presented in this document demonstrates the importance of the information development, systematization and availability to provide structured instruments to be used by countries as examples of good practices and move forward with its own strategies and tools. Also, the document is valuable because it shows the progress made in the region in terms of GRB, result of its promotion, and availability of technical assistance. The publication reached 1,116 total clicks by December 2023. Additionally, in 2023 UN Women also launched the digital platform presupuestoygenero.net collecting 296 documents in the library section classified by theme, type of resource, country and language. It also includes a tools section, with 162 tools, organized in 9 categories according to their use within the budget cycle. Furthermore, the initiatives section, was also updated with the information of 12 national gender budget initiatives, including a brief summary, bibliography of relevance and a template with the extended information. At the launching in March, the platform accounted for 4,262 visits reaching up to 20,472 visits in December, showing the increasing interest in its content. This was a result of a specific visibility strategy maintaining regular publications on UN Women social media. Visits include a wide range of countries including not only LAC region countries representing approximately 41% of total access to the knowledge platform (being Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile among the top 5 countries) but also the United States Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and China. This is particularly interesting considering that the platform has not yet been translated into English. Considering the Latin America and the Caribbean. Overall view of Latin America countries and other access countries are outside the region. The hashtag #PresupuestoYGénero created to follow-up on the discussions showed by December 2023 an increased from 7,547 to 11,446 interactions, from 1,464 to 2,289 shares and a total audience reach from 80,449 to at least 145,585 in social media. Furthermore, in line with the Global report “Strengthening public financial management to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment” UN Women ACRO produced in 2023 a regional report to analyze the progress of indicator 5.c.1, using the information provided by the voluntary reports of 10 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021 with UN Women’s assistance. The results proved that 20% of the countries were fully compliant with the indicator's requirements while the rest 80% were close to meeting mentioned requirements. The report was used as one of the main documents informing the regional consultation prior to the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), on the priority theme “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective ”, organized during the 65? Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in October 2023, at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) headquarters in Santiago, Chile. As of today, the report has reached 162 visits in UN Women LAC website. Also, in the area of Public Finance, in partnership with FLACSO Argentina UN Women ACRO organized the third edition of the virtual specialized course on Gender Responsive Budgeting for women in politics, reaching out to 300 women leaders in decision making position. By the end of the course 89,5% of the participants reported an increased knowledge of instruments and tools to promote and implement gender-responsive budgeting. Regarding the work with the private sector, a WEPs regional strategy was developed and implemented in close coordination with all LAC countries. UN Women ACRO provided technical support to 14 COs with WEPs presence through regular meetings with WEP focal points, bilateral meetings with country focal points to support strategies and plans in the territory, providing talks and training for companies from different countries, meetings with companies for WEPs submissions at the regional level. Furthermore, in collaboration with WEPs focal points UN Women ACRO organize the second edition of the WEPs cycle, including a set of 6 sessions addressing a diverse range of issues such as: Gender Procurement, marketing and communication without stereotypes, business case, new masculinities, monitoring & transparency, gender pay gap. reaching out 6,689 people registered and 14,630 views on Linkedin. The series had 880 viewers on Linkedin and 1,724 people connected on Zoom. A total of 24 speakers participated and 11 companies from the region presented good practices. In addition, panelists from 9 different countries in the region participated: Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Chile, El Salvador, Venezuela, as well as representatives from HQ and the Regional Office. ACRO also supported the supervision and execution of due diligence processes for approval and publication of new signatories throughout the region. As a result, during 2023, 254 new companies joined the WEPs, reaching 2,342 signatories throughout the region, making Latin America and the Caribbean being the leader region with the higher number of WEPs signatories in the world. Furthermore, the region is also positioned as a relevant and thriving region in WEPs issues, through the participation of our region in task forces and initiatives led by HQ, such as the WEPs focal points meetings and the WEPs 2.0 initiative with commercial banks in Ecuador and Bolivia. Accompaniment and technical assistance for the WEPs 2.0 process in Banco Sol and Banco Pichincha, through the review of tools used in the process and support for a workshop given to the Board of Directors of Banco Sol in Bolivia. The strengthening of alliances allows us to provide a solid and articulated response to the private sector on issues of gender equality and women's empowerment in the business world. Through the strengthening and joint work with UNGC (Global Compact) at the regional level, a work plan was implemented that included reviewing all the contents of the TGE (Target Gender Equality) accelerator to align them with the WEPsShowing 1 - 5 of 9
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References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
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