New York, 14 March 2019. The Secretary-General of the Federation of Cuban Women and Member of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba, Teresa Amarelle Boué, participated today at the general debate of the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS). During the event, she spoke about the progress the island has made in terms of social protection and gender equality, being considered as a benchmark in Latin America and the world regarding social indicators, despite the harmful consequences for Cuban women of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the government of the United States.
The senior official recognized that international instruments are not enough to transform the reality in which millions of women still live worldwide, but that there must be a real political will for their implementation within each of the States. She added that in the Cuban case, the new Constitution explicitly ratifies the principle of equality and non-discrimination, and guarantees and endorses human rights in accordance with the current reality and the transformations that have been taking place in the Cuban society.
Amarelle Boué enumerated the many achievements attained and spaces gained by women in Cuba, which represent 49% of the workforce in the civil state sector and 34% of self-employed workers. Their presence is higher than that of men in all levels of education, including higher education, where 65% of students enrolled and 66% of the teaching staff are women.
Regarding women’s empowerment, Cuba has experienced a sustained growth with 50% of women holding managerial positions. In the Parliament, 53.22% of the parliamentarians are women, and they hold two of the three highest positions of this body. They constitute 48.4% of the members of the Council of State, where 33% are Ministers. They represent 78% of prosecuting attorneys and 77.5% of professional judges, she said.
The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC, Spanish acronym), is a non-governmental organization with consultative status to ECOSOC. It gathers more than 4 million Cuban women. It holds that the struggle for gender equality is not only an issue in defense of the legitimate rights of a sector of the population, but an indispensable condition for sustainable development with social justice.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations