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_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.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_3.1
The legislative frameworks in LAC countries are aligned with international human rights standards on EVAWG and femicide/feminicide, and their implementation is monitored by women's civil society organizations, including youth and women facing multiple forms of discrimination.
UN Women contributed significantly to the strengthening of the capacities of government institutions for the development and strengthening of their national legal frameworks to prevent and respond to violence against women, including femicide/feminicide, and hence, reduce the rates of femicide/feminicide in the region. UN Women continued its partnership with the Gender Specialized Network of the Iberoamerican Association of Public Ministries, (AIAMP, in Spanish) which is represented by public prosecutors from 22 countries (Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Uruguay and Venezuela), and the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention, two institutions that work towards creating and advocating for better human rights standards across the region. The 22 countries represented in the AIAMP increased their capacities to promote, influence and implement gender-responsive legislation, particularly legislation related to violence against women and girls in the context of organized crime, and on the investigation of sexual violence, through the support of UN Women. In addition, an enabling environment for civil society organizations to monitor and provide inputs to the development of ending violence against women legal frameworks at the national and regional level was created, by a small grants mechanism that disbursed, together with UNDP, USD 240,000 to strengthen the capacities of civil society organizations.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_4.1
Coordination of women’s organization’s peacebuilding efforts is strengthened.
In terms of formal peace processes, Colombia increased its efforts to implement Security Council Resolution 1325 through the elaboration of a participatory approach to develop their first National Action Plan and advocating for the meaningful participation of women in the ongoing peace talks with the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional). This was done with the support of UN Women and its technical assistance. The government announced gender parity in the composition of their delegation to the peace talks taking place in Caracas; and initiated the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) elaboration process with a commitment to adopt a participatory, intersectional approach, including through five in-country regional fora to gather inputs from women civil society organization, feminist and women's groups, indigenous and afro-descendant communities. To contribute to this process, UN Women supported the organization of the Colloquium "Peace and Security: a feminist approach to these two concepts" with the participation of 12 feminist organizations. In collaboration with the UN Mission of Verification in Colombia, the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the Joint United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-DPPA on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention, UN Women organized a Regional Meeting of Women Peacebuilders that strengthened the links and capacities of 40 women peacebuilders from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela to through identifying participation avenues in the ongoing NAP’s design processes (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia), strengthening capacities to influence formal peace processes (Colombia) and to actively participate in conflict prevention, transformation and peacebuilding efforts, including through capacity-development session on mediation and dialogue facilitation focused on community-level processes, particularly relevant for indigenous, afro-descendant women and human rights defenders. In Venezuela, more women and girls influenced two dimensions of the peace process: the humanitarian response and the informal dialogues on social cohesion. The gender multi-level mainstreaming strategy designed with assistance of UN Women achieved the effective participation of women in the humanitarian country team with two representatives of national and international women NGOs. Also, UN Women developed a consultation mechanism for women's organizations to ensure their participation in the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and its subsequent updates. The efforts for their integration were complemented by institutional gender mainstreaming capacity-building. Due to the gender analysis of the developed humanitarian situation, the gender approach was improved in the projects to be implemented by the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). Also, 205 humanitarian actors from 90 organizations increased their knowledge and tools to incorporate a gender perspective in the different clusters of the humanitarian response. To complete these efforts, 150 members of local and national women's, youth, and LGBTI+ organizations increased their knowledge of women's leadership across the nexus of humanitarian action, peace, and development. As a result, the Humanitarian Response Plan 2022-2023 included a chapter on the gender-differentiated impact of the crisis and refers to women's and girls' needs and capacities in the response. Their role as leaders in the recovery efforts has been more visible, but the formal acknowledgment by decision-makers remains a challenge. A capacity-building plan was achieved where 205 humanitarian actors from 90 organizations and agencies increased their knowledge about gender, and a strategy to improve 70 women's organizations' capacities to participate in the response effectively, increasing their levels of influence, visibility, and impact of women's voices. Women participants were able to put into practice their skills in two dialogue spaces facilitated by the UN Women Regional Encounter "The Care society: horizon for a sustainable recovery with gender equality" and the "III Meeting of the WEPs Business Community in Venezuela," where debates were facilitated among women civil society representatives, government, private sector, and academia from different political affiliations. Although the formal dialogue process still needs to have a mechanism to guarantee women's effective participation and influence on decision-making, UN Women implemented actions to increase their capacity to participate and influence the vital conflict prevention and social cohesion processes. With this objective, two Community Tables from La Vega and 23 de Enero sectors in Caracas allowed the participation of 57 Women Peacebuilders in training, actions for common understanding, and the development of collective action for inclusive solutions to local problems. Additionally, representatives from 33 women's organizations from different sectors took ownership of consensual decision-making tools designed to improve their communicational skills as mediators in their communitarian work and advocacy and political dialogue scenarios. As a result, more than 86% of the participants were interested in continuing to develop negotiation skills, which settles the basis for more women's voices in the negotiation process and social cohesion construction in Venezuela. Also, women civil society organizations improved their work on intersectoral approaches through the Professional Enhancement Course on "Building Peace from Diversity," designed to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences with traditionally excluded sectors, such as youth, indigenous, afro descendants, and LGBTIQ+. Consequently, 50-course attendees increased their awareness of the links between the WPS Agenda and their human rights work. Finally, as a critical driver to ensure equal participation of women and girls in development, social cohesion, and humanitarian efforts, two women community-based organizations received technical and financial support to lead gender transformative initiatives at the local level, strengthening their influence in the humanitarian architecture. Aliadas en Cadena (Zulia State) and PLAFAM (Miranda State) in Venezuela implemented community-based initiatives to respond to and prevent GBV, promote positive masculinities and prevent women and girls' human trafficking and sexual exploitation in partnership with youth and community-based organizations.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_4.2
A more gendered humanitarian response is ensured.
UN Women advanced in achieving a more gendered humanitarian response. To achieve this, a project proposal titled "Promoting Localized Gender Accountability to Address Inequality and Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Crisis" was developed and approved for implementation in Guatemala, Colombia, and Haiti. This mentioned-above project aims at strengthening UN Women's coordination mandate and its gender mainstreaming actions in humanitarian affairs. In August 2022, the biannual Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2022-2023 for Venezuela was published. The document consulted 22 women's organizations in the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO). Thanks to the UN Women-OCHA-Gencap joint work, the HRP includes the following: A gender chapter. A new gender coordination mechanism. A roadmap for integrating the gender approach in humanitarian action. As for the Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), gender focus was mainstreamed in the 2023-2024 Response Plan (RMRP), and a specific gender chapter was elaborated, reflecting that 92% of R4V partners incorporated gender equality measures in their planning, compared to 80% in 2021. Nevertheless, 15% of R4V partners did not conduct gender analysis to tailor their programs. Therefore, UN Women developed an action plan to strengthen gender mainstreaming for the 2023-2024 RMRP. Finally, humanitarian Response Plans were elaboratd in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, with the support of UN Women, Peace, and Security-and Humanitarian Action team.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-LAC_D_6.1
Global and regional setting of norms and standards on GEWE incorporates/is influenced by intergovernmental processes, with the full participation of women in their diversity
In 2022, women in their diversity fully participated in the setting of global and regional norms and standards on GEWE influenced by intergovernmental processes. The XV Regional Conference on Women was held from November 7 to 11, 2022, in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. It addressed the care society: horizon for a sustainable recovery with gender equality. This space brought together delegates from 30 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions. This conference concluded with the adoption of the Buenos Aires Declaration, a key instrument that provides guidelines on how to overcome the care crisis and move towards the care society, a proposal for social organization that enables recovery with equality and sustainability. In this context, a total of 5.590 regional gender advocates increased their capacity to participate and influence this process through their participation in the Conference and the 53 online and face-to-face events and meetings that were organized with the support of UN Women. In addition, Latin America and the Caribbean Civil Society Organizations were able to participate and give their inputs on the background documents prepared on the priority themes of CSW66 and CSW67 with the aim of incorporating their views and proposals, through the consultations organized by UN Women Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.Showing 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).
References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).