Outcome LAC_D_2.6

More women business owners and enterprises implement a gender equality agenda aligned with the WEPs

In 2022, more women business owners and enterprises of Latin America and the Caribbean implement a gender equality agenda through legislative progress. A total of 4 governments have ratified the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment C190: El Salvador, Mexico, Panama and Peru. In El Salvador, the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment C190 was ratified on 7th of June 2022 and will enter into force on 07th of June 2023. In Mexico, the the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment C190 was ratified on 6th of July 2022 and will enter into force on 6th of July 2023. In Panama, the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment C190 was ratified on 1st of November 2022 and will enter into force on 1st of November 2023. In Perú, the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment C190was ratified on 8th of June 2022 and will enter into force on 8th of June 2023. Furthermore, in Costa Rica, the "Law for the Freedom of Choice of Employment for Women" was approved, which seeks to guarantee women the freedom to choose a job under the same conditions as men. For this great step, the prohibitions currently established in articles 87 and 90 of the Labor Code, which prevent women from performing work considered heavy or dangerous, were eliminated. This legislative measure was approved thanks to the support of the regional initiative for the elimination of discriminatory legislation on women's economic empowerment of UN Women and the General Secretariat of Iberoamerica. Progress was made in terms of SDG indicator 5.c.1 “Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment”. In 2021, states from 9 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, sent their responses to the voluntary questionnaire that measures the proportion of countries with systems for monitoring and allocating public funds for gender equality and women's empowerment, through three criteria. UN Women has advanced the elaboration of the first draft of the document, searching for inputs of existing information and advancing with the peer review process and have moved forward with the preparation of a specific report to analyze the progress of the SDG indicator 5.c.1 in Latin America and the Caribbean, complementing the Global report that will be prepared and launched by HQ. A total of 12 countries were analyzed in their compliance with indicator 5.c.1 of the SDG 5 for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thanks to this, it was possible to identify government policies and/or programs designed to favor gender equality, the implementation of planning and budgeting tools in the public finance management systems to contribute to the objectives related to gender equality was evidenced, and progress has been made in making public information available on budget allocations for gender equality and women's empowerment. This information will be systematized in a policy document "Gender Responsive Budgeting - A roadmap for its implementation from Latin American experiences", to be launched on the beginning of 2023, which econsiders the criteria and questions for measuring compliance with indicator 5.c.1 of the SDG 5 for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In Costa Rica, it was possible also to advance in women’s access to services, goods and resources, through the implementation of the SDG Fund Joint Programme on Social Protection, implemented by UNDP, UN Women, ILO and FAO, which supported national institutions responsible for implementing the Estrategia Puente al Desarrollo, which seeks to articulate multi-sectoral programs and services for families living in poverty. Specifically, institutional capacities were increased and people-centered, gender and environmentally sensitive institutional arrangements were adopted to close gaps in the social protection floor and promote women's economic empowerment. Argentina, Dominican Republic, Panama, Perú, and Paraguay, with the support of UN Women, are moving towards the implementation of a National Integrated Care System. As part of this process, UN Women has developed key actions such as training and dialogue sessions through the participation in high level events and panels, experts’ meetings, workshops, webinars and virtual launches. Also, a roadmap for the care system that defines the actions to be developed and a preliminary analysis of the supply of care services have been elaborated, including demand and cost of care services. It is important to note that most of the debates were conducted by various agencies, as ECLAC and ILO, and institutions working in alliance, in addition to the importance of the Global Alliance for Care in promoting and developing these discussions. In particular, in Dominican Republic it is being developed an SDG Fund with the purpose of supporting the design and implementation of the Care Communities pilot as part of the National Care Policy carried out by the current Government administration. Additionally, a report on the fiscal stimulus packages in Argentina with a gender focus was elaborated with support of the Regional Office. The document “Analysis of Fiscal Stimulus Measures during the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Gender Perspective” was prepared by Corina Rodriguez and her team in the framework of the Joint Program between UN Women and ILO “Promoting decent employment for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in the care economy”, because of its multisectoral strategy. Finally, in Costa Rica, 10 new companies are now implementing the gender equality agencia, since they signed the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs). This adds up for a total of 97 Costa Rican companies implementing a gender equality agenda. This number increases to 146 when companies that signed the WEPs at regional or HQ level and report implementation in Costa Rica are included. UN Women has continued to support companies on WEPs implementation through regional capacity building and good practices sharing regional webinars.

More women business owners and enterprises implement a gender equality agenda aligned with the WEPs

In December 2021, the Women and Local Territories (MELyT) programme , successfully concluded. This program, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICD) and implemented by UN Women in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador Program aimed to improve the living conditions of women in three Central American countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals by increasing their access and used of products and services for female entrepreneurship and enhancing their financial inclusion. The programme resulted to be highly relevant as it is responding to historical gaps in women's economic autonomy, particularly in terms of access to business development services, financial inclusion, access to markets, as well as the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The direct beneficiary population of the programme is 600 women, and the indirect beneficiary population is defined as 4,800 women who belonged to the networks of women entrepreneurs. The programme resulted in the improvement of public policies and programs at the SICA (Central America System of regional Integration) level to increase women's access to productive resources, through the reinforcement of CENPROMYPE's programs and its five-year plan to strengthen knowledge management, innovation in business and financial services, enhancing the regional ecosystem for MSMEs and facilitating gender mainstreaming in entrepreneurship promotion regional policy. Additionally, tools were improved to target and provide more relevant services to women entrepreneurs. Particularly important was also the creation of the Emergency COVID19 Financial Facility launched by the Central American Bank of Integration (CABEI) of over 650 million dollars raised from partners such as the European Union or KFW-Development Bank of the Federal Republic of Germany , to support entrepreneurship as a mean to economically reactivate the countries in Central America, entailing four components: credit, guarantee fund, technical assistance, and capital venture. With the support and technical assistance and the provision of 1 million dollars as a guarantee Fund, UN Women achieved to integrate women as main beneficiaries of the Fund, accessing the four components of it Moreover, with the support of the programme UN Women ACRO produced a Regional Study on Financial Inclusion “Finance for all: experiences and innovative initiatives for women's financial inclusion and recovery with a gender lens in Latin America” launched at the III Financial Inclusion Forum- Finance for all: "Towards an analytical approach to financial inclusion", organized by AICS, UN Women, and BCIE in the framework of MELYT Program, with the participation of different international financial institutions such as CABEI, IDB, WB and the CAF, creating a space for exchange and reflection on financial inclusion, its social impact and gender focus in Central America. More than 529 people participated in the in Zoom Platform, and more than 150 people in Facebook Live, carried out on December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The study achieved to highlight innovative experiences and initiatives that demonstrate good practices in terms of strengthening women's financial capabilities and, as a result, provide greater economic autonomy for women and entrepreneurs in Latin America. Also, as a result of the implementation of the Knowledge management Strategy coordinated by UN Women ACRO, a Systematization of all the knowledge generated throughout the programme was elaborated and consolidated in an Excel Matrix that includes categories for easy use. The Systematization Matrix has been used to the development a document that highlights some knowledge products elaborated throughout the MELYT programme, and that classify them across the 5 pillars of the program's overall focus. This information was also used to elaborate a section in UN Women LAC website (https://lac.unwomen.org/es/que-hacemos/empoderamiento-economico/melyt/5-pilares) presenting the knowledge generated by the programme in a more visual way and facilitating learning and scaling-up of the programme’s experiences In 2021, the Win Win Programme, implemented in Costa Rica under the direct supervision of ACRO, concluded with new companies signing the WEPs in Costa Rica, making a total of 87 signatory companies in the country, out of which 85 were a direct outcome of the programme. Furthermore, as a result of the programme a capacity-building strategy for companies was developed and implemented through webinars, workshops, training cycles, and one-on-one technical assistance, which was implemented with key partners to reach more companies, such the Global Compact Network Secretariat (AED) and business chambers. An increasing number of companies in Costa Rica have not only made a commitment to WEPs but are also implementing concrete actions to advance gender equality in their organizations, value chain and communities. As a result of this process and based on results of a survey and data collected through the GGAT, 84% of signatory companies have already completed their diagnosis, 45% have a specific action plan, 61% are implementing actions related to non-discrimination and equal opportunities in the hiring process, and similar percentages have strategies to promote health and combat violence against women. 30% of companies also mentioned that they are publicly reporting on their advances on gender equality. As a result of the strategic alliances conformed through the programme, a group of organizations in Costa Rica are now actively promoting the commitment and implementation of WEPs as a mechanism to advance gender equality in the private sector. The Global Compact Network Secretariat, Alianza Empresarial para el Desarrollo (AED), was a key partner selected for the joint implementation of some activities of the programme to strengthen their capacities for supporting companies in WEPs implementation. AED has the willingness, knowledge, and necessary tools to continue advocating, training, and providing technical assistance to advance WEPs implementation. Business chambers have also been actively involved in the promotion of WEPs. UCCAEP, as union of chambers made a commitment to WEPs and called on member business chambers to also advance this initiative. The National Stock Exchange has been advocating for more companies of the financial sector to join the WEPs in the annual Ring the Bell ceremony. Additionally, CoopAmericas has the commitment and tools to promote the implementation of WEPs by more cooperative in the region. Moreover, the Programme