Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
ADDRESS BY AMBASSADOR LUIS ALVARADO
ON WOMEN´S DAY OF THE AMERICAS, AT THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE PERMANENT COUNCIL
OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
ON 24 FEBRUARY 2021
Thank you very much Madam President
The Delegation of the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of the Republic of Nicaragua, joins in the celebration of “Women´s Day of the Americas” and thanks the President of the Permanent Council for including the topic in the order of the day of this session and to the distinguished Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama and Santa Lucia, for their interventions.
The Woman of the Americas continues in her arduous struggle to obtain autonomy and equality in the economic, political, social and cultural fields, to be able to aspire to publicly elected offices in the organs of the State of their respective countries, and to ensure her participation in decision-making.
The woman of the Americas continues to face the challenge of domestic violence, violence against women and girls, Femicide, intolerance, social exclusion, and racial discrimination against indigenous and afrodescendant peoples.
Never more than now has the leadership of women become so decisive for their effective contributions to the response against COVID-19. Every day, women, whether on the frontlines or as health professionals, community volunteers, transportation and logistics managers, scientists, and many other occupations, continue to make critical contributions to contain the outbreak.
According to the UN-Women report of March 2020, worldwide women represent 70% of those who work in the health and social sectors and provide three times the amount of unpaid care, in comparison to men. This is why it is so important to include a gender dimension and gender specialists in response plans and budgetary resources, in order to generate knowledge on gender issues within response teams and provide priority support to women on the frontline, improving access to personal protective equipment and personal hygiene products that meet the needs of women workers and caregivers.
It is also essential to ensure that public health messages reach women appropriately, including those who are marginalized.
Most women work in the informal economy, where health insurance is virtually non-existent or inadequate, and income is not guaranteed, making them financially dependent on themselves. That is why the economic effects of COVID-19 have a strong impact on women, since they are the majority in informal jobs that are generally insecure and low-paid and which is why restrictions on circulation have put women's livelihoods and the basic needs of their families, at risk.
We face an international and regional context characterized by a serious economic crisis generated by the expansion of the Coronavirus pandemic. According to a Survey carried out in Nicaragua by M&R Consultants and published on 27 January 2021, regarding the perspectives of Nicaraguans on the current international environment, 92.2% of those surveyed consider that the pandemic has evidenced a lack of a spirit of solidarity from powerful countries, while 97.9% responded that governments should guarantee free access to health and vaccines.
In its wake, COVID-19 has caused great loss of human life, the disintegration of families, the loss of millions of jobs and severe consequences for women, as a result of the measures of social isolation that have been taken, which have generated an unprecedented increase in domestic violence and tension within homes, turning this situation into a sword of Damocles for women and girls and a great challenge for States. Therefore, it is important to continue strengthening public policies, legislative actions, regulatory frameworks, and penal provisions that allow us to effectively combat violence against women and girls.
Violence against women continues to constitute a global pandemic that must be stopped. For this purpose, the Government of Nicaragua has adopted public policies within the framework of the provisions of the Convention of Belem do Pará and has approved different legislative measures to deal comprehensively with this scourge, creating a Comprehensive Law against Violence toward Women and Reforms to Law 641 of the Penal Code, along with the creation of Commissaries for Women throughout the national territory, where women can present their complaints and coordinate police actions aimed at preventing and arresting those responsible for crimes.
Madam President, it is and has been the policy of the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity, led by the President of the Republic, Comandante Daniel Ortega and Comrade Rosario Murrillo, Vice President, to promote a culture of Peace, Tolerance and Harmony within the Nicaraguan family, that respects and advances the rights of women, in particular their right to health and work in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic that we are experiencing.
For this purpose, the national government has prioritized health investments within public social spending, through which we have obtained optimal results by taking the Family and Community Health Model to the neighborhoods and communities of the country, through Health Fairs, Mobile Clinics and My Hospital in My Community, counting on the strong support of women, through the Community Network. We have also allocated 59.3 million dollars for the Zero Usury Program, providing just-microloans that will be distributed among 160 thousand protagonists of this important program and over 40 social projects and 178 maternity homes.
In Nicaragua, women continue to play a leading role in the Nicaraguan society, due to their leadership skills in decision-making and their effective contributions to Peace, Reconciliation, tolerance and harmony, among Nicaraguans, with a view to the development of the Nation, to Reconciliation and harmonious coexistence among Nicaraguans, in order to face the challenges that still exist within our country.
As the Vice President of the Republic, Rosario Murillo, has stated.
“We are protagonists of work, protagonists of peace, which we defend with all our energy, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, we are protagonists of wellbeing, of life in harmony, of life in family, of life in good will.”
In terms of gender policies, Nicaragua once ranked #90 in the global gender index, has escalated to #5 worldwide in 2020, sharing the space with Nordic countries. We continue to be the best performing Country in terms of Gender Equity in Latin America, a product of the Nicaraguan Government's gender policies, that foster equality between men and women, not only as a fundamental human right, but also as a necessary condition for the development of representative and participatory democracy, which contributes to the construction of an increasingly just and equitable society, allowing us to combat poverty, social exclusion, strengthen peace and citizen security, all in benefit of the social, economic and cultural development of our country, and the preservation of its natural resources.
In the same manner, we occupy the fifth place in terms of participation of Women in Parliament and the first place with respect to the number of Women in ministerial positions, all of which is a result of the Policies promoted by the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity, including Law 50-50, that establishes Gender Equality among the list of Candidates for publicly elected offices.
With regard to publicly elected positions, women in Nicaragua occupy the most important positions such as: Vice President of the Republic, President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Vice President of the National Assembly, Office of the Attorney General, State Prosecutor, Minister of Defense, Ombudsman for Human Rights, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Women, Mayor of the Capital City. Likewise, they represent 59.7% of the Judicial Branch, 56% of the Executive Branch, 45.7% of Parliament, 46% of Mayors, 60% of Vice-Mayors and 50% of Municipal Council Members.
In the Executive Branch, 9 of 16 Central Ministries (56.3%) are headed by Women, to which must be added, 7 of 16 Vice-Ministers for (43.8%). Similarly, 14 of the 31 Decentralized Entities (45.1%) have Women at their helm.
Women occupy 57.14% of the Directive Board of the National Assembly, 40% of the Magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Council, 31.25% of the Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, 50% of the Comptrollers General and 57.14% of the Central Bank Board of Directors. Likewise, the leadership of more than 78,295 Women Community Leaders, Municipal Council Members, Mayors, Vice-mayors and Judicial Facilitators, Women Entrepreneurs and Public Servants, continues to be strengthened.
Through their voice, and their vote, Women are recognized, because in Nicaragua, they can choose and are elected, as full protagonists of the vibrant democracy that exists in our country, which is why, according to the M&R Consultants survey, the majority of Nicaraguans reject any type of foreign interference in the internal affairs of Nicaragua.
We are aware that there are still great challenges and the sexist pattern of violence and discrimination against women continues to be a reality in the hemisphere, the continuation of this state of affairs is inadmissible, therefore a goal, that as member states of this Organization we can trace, is to ensure that the Americas becomes a territory free of violence against women and girls. Achieving this objective will strengthen the family as the central nucleus of our societies and promote the stability, security and prosperity of the nations that achieve its eradication.
As a nation, we will continue to advance in achieving greater victories for Nicaraguan women, enhancing their leadership and integrity, strengthening their complementarity, respecting their dignity, and status as women, their fair and effective inclusion in the socio-productive and cultural development of the country, and above all, protecting their right to live in peace, in security, free from violence, in union with their family and their community.
Thank you very much Madam President.