The following document deals with the Inter-American Development Bank’s Gender Policy and Action Plans, and the international standards on women’s human rights with the purpose of developing a comparative analysis between both instruments. This analysis is motivated by the few complaints with a gender component that has been submitted to the IDB’s accountability mechanism, MICI.
From the Argentine Open Government Civil Society Collective, we request that all levels of the State take special account of transparency, participation and collaboration policies in public decision-making to manage the current crisis. At the same time we make ourselves available to collaborate, inspect, monitor and contribute to public decision-making.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
Communiqué of the Collective of Civil Society of Argentina of Open Government in relation to Covid-19
To the national government, to the provincial and municipal governments, and to all the judicial and legislative branches of Argentina;
The Covid-19 pandemic at this point represents the most important challenge we have faced in decades, both globally, regionally and locally. Its impacts are substantial not only in health matters, but they significantly affect our economies, public services, institutions, the educational system, the inequality of our societies, the systems of protection of rights and many other crucial areas for development and well-being. of our peoples.
The measures taken jointly by the different governments of our country have so far mitigated part of the health effects of the pandemic and prepared our health systems for a possible increase in the number of infections. This enormous community effort, crystallized mainly in social, preventive and compulsory isolation, implies that our public institutions must continue to implement emergency measures that involve a large amount of public resources. Some examples of this are budget reallocations, large-scale purchases and contracts, transfers of funds to sub-national governments, expansion of social aid programs, and subsidies or exemptions to the private sector, among others.
The scope of these challenges is not exclusive to our executive powers, but rather that our legislative and judicial powers also face demands for which they were not fully prepared. In both cases, their effective operation is vital so that the responses to the pandemic adjust to democratic parameters and protect the rights of society as a whole, and in particular of the most vulnerable groups.
We know that the challenges and difficulties in this context are many, and that is why we believe that collaboration is necessary to strategically think about desirable and possible actions for governments to face the pandemic and recovery in the coming months in an open, transparent and participatory, facing the citizens who expect answers and who also have knowledge to contribute. In this framework, the principles of open government must be considered as a necessary part of the solution and as a way to provide agile responses in the pandemic response process.
As a first step, it is essential that the State, at all levels and powers, guarantee access to the necessary public information so that citizens can monitor and participate in an informed manner in emergency public policies. This implies guaranteeing the open information and accessibility of all the information related to sanitary measures, the use and distribution of public resources, public purchases made, programs aimed at protecting the most vulnerable groups, etc.
It is also essential to promote the full operation – by remote means if necessary – of all public institutions, especially of deliberative bodies such as the National Congress, provincial legislatures and deliberative councils, and the judicial powers of the nation and the provinces.
In addition to the necessary democratic control over the measures taken by the executive powers in this emergency situation, the legislative and judicial powers have non-delegable functions that must be resumed shortly to prevent the impact of the pandemic from deepening.
In turn, the full participation of citizens should be the way in which the different governments seek the solutions that this context demands, taking special consideration by the voices of traditionally excluded groups and communities. The process of formation and implementation of public policies must be based on evidence and on active listening by citizens as basic inputs to reach the most inclusive decisions possible.
On the other hand, in order to guarantee the effectiveness of sanitary measures, the government must pay special attention so that basic civil rights, such as the right to privacy or freedom of expression, are not violated, especially in the digital space. In situations where the use of databases is proliferating, it is essential to ensure unrestricted respect for people’s privacy. This implies that its activity by digital means or the use of mobile applications is free from undue interference from the public forces.
Lastly, the fight against corruption must occupy a central place on the public agenda in order to ensure that economic resources are allocated fully and efficiently to face the pandemic. Public monitoring of the use of public emergency resources, particularly in the area of public procurement, must be sought by the control bodies and made available to the public through the publication in open formats of all its details, such as the amounts, suppliers and types of processes. The resources that are diverted due to the effects of corruption differentially affect the most vulnerable groups in times of normality, which deepens in these contexts.
The organizations of the society involved signatories make ourselves available to collaborate, inspect, monitor and contribute so that, also in times of crisis, our governments respect the values of open government, can mainstream this paradigm and continue working in public decision-making based on evidence and guaranteeing transparency.Open Government Collective Argentine Civil Society.
Signatories:
Acción Colectiva
Amnistía Internacional Argentina
Asociación Civil Grupo Puentes
Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ)
Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC)
Datos Concepción
Democracia en Red
Educar 2050
Escuela de Fiscales
Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer (FEIM)
Fundación Americana para la Educación
Fundación Cambio Democrático
Fundación Conocimiento Abierto
Fundación Directorio Legislativo
Fundación Huésped
Fundación Nuestra Mendoza
Fundación para el Desarrollo de Políticas Sustentables (Fundeps)
Laboratorio de Políticas Públicas (LPP)
PARES
Poder Ciudadano
Red Nuestra Córdoba
Salta Transparente
TECHO
Wingu – Res Non Verba Asociación Civil
The objective of this document is to analyze the strategy, objectives and political motivations of the People’s Republic of China in Latin America and the Caribbean. This analysis seeks to complement the previous analysis carried out by the Regional Group on Financing and Infrastructure (GREFI) based on the Asian giant’s commercial and investment strategy in LAC, which led to the publication of “General Overview of Chinese Investments in America Latina: The cases of Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru ”in 2016. The document analyzes the Chinese political strategy in LAC by analyzing the relationship framework in certain multilateral and bilateral spaces in which China is present in the Region and in which it even exercises a leadership role. And special emphasis is placed on the Belt and Road Initiative promoted by China, and the role that the LAC region has to play in it. (Only in Spanish)
After the Mauricio Macri government will use the acquisition of debt with multilateral credit organizations as the main source of financing for its management, prioritizing the relationship with the International Monetary Fund and the United States government, it is prudent to ask ourselves: What has been the China’s role in this scenario? How is the relationship with the Asian giant outlined in the new government of Alberto Fernández?
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
Since the consolidation of China as an influential player in the international system and one of the main economic powers, Argentina has had a relationship with ups and downs but in constant communication. The use of China as a counterweight actor against the constant influence of the United States is not a strategy used only by Argentina, but also by most of the countries in the region.
In this geopolitical scenario, China presents itself as an actor that cannot be ignored beyond the efforts of the West. However, the Mauricio Macri government slightly changed the trend that had been prevailing during the Cristina Fernández government, which could be described as almost preferential.
During the Macri government, relations with China have gone from having a strong bond to going through some ups and downs, since the beginning of the administration, the closest approach to the United States tended to a distance with China. This was reflected in the reconsideration of agreements previously signed during the previous government, which implied a pause in several projects. The guiding idea of the foreign policy of the then President Mauricio Macri was “the reintegration of Argentina in the world” which involved giving a more relevant role to multilateralism. From there, the various international tours and the search for support in the world produced a departure with the Chinese giant with whom he had a very deep strategic cooperation agreement.
Faced with the exhaustion of international credit and the inevitability of the link with China, in the middle of his term, Macri resumed the dialogue interrupted for two years and continued with the stage of deepening the strategic cooperation proposed by the Fernández de Kirchner government, with the Holding of the G20 Summit in Argentina and new modified cooperation agreements were signed. By the end of the term, the relationship had already been fully resumed, which was evidenced in Argentina’s attendance at China’s main initiative in Latin America in the Strip and the route, and 16 cooperation agreements were signed between the two countries. Finally, in June 2017 Argentina is outlined as a potential non-regional member to the Asian Investment and Infrastructure Bank -AIIB- along with other Latin American States, in order to find financing for the country’s large public infrastructure works such as dams in Patagonia .
In this context, the government receives President Alberto Fernández, who is also going through an exceptional situation of public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The truth is that, months after his administration began, Fernández had to decide who would be the Argentine ambassador to China, a decision that would indicate the course of action of foreign policy with the Asian country. Fernández’s decision was innovative since he appointed Luis María Kreckler, a career diplomat with a career in embassies such as Brazil and Germany, as Argentine ambassador to China and as political advisor to the embassy along with Sabino Vaca Narvaja, renowned political scientist of the Program of Sino-Argentine Cooperation and Linking from the National University of Lanús and academic specialist on China.
From this designation it is observed that the Fernández government seeks a balance in the relationship with China, that is, the maintenance of a strategic association with the Asian giant but without reaching full dependence. The appointment of a diplomat with a career as Kreckler may imply prudence when proposing a foreign policy strategy that generates an international balance of political interests that may be presented by political scientist Vaca Narvaja.
For his part, President Fernández has declared that China’s role in the global order is inescapable and that during his term he will seek to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Association that could be extended to the Belt and Road Initiative.
For the moment, the incipient government of Alberto Fernández, which has barely gone through 100 days of administration, has already had to manage a national health emergency crisis by COVID-19, and an economic emergency due to the still pending negotiation with the IMF. . In this context, everything that does not qualify as an emergency is automatically displaced from the government’s priorities. However, the relationship with the Asian giant has been strengthened with the donation of medical supplies from the Chinese government to Argentina in the framework of the bi-national cooperation established in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Likewise, when it comes to the People’s Republic of China, it is recognized that the symbolic has the same relevance as the economic. For what no less data has been the message contained in the input boxes from China where the famous quote by Martín Fierro written by José Hernández was found: «The brothers be united because that is the first law. Have true union at any time. « Although nuances can be expected in the relationship with the Asian giant, one thing is certain, the Alberto Fernández government is determined to strengthen the bilateral relationship, so we must wait to know at what cost it will be.
More information
- The economic and commercial relations between China and Argentina in the era of Mauricio Macri – Lin Hua (2017)
- Overview of Chinese investments in Latin America – GREFI (2016)
- China-Argentina relations under the Macri administration: do we change? -Fundeps (2017)
- Alberto Fernández explained why it is key to enhance the bilateral relationship with China – El Cronista (2020)
- Coronavirus in Argentina: a shipment arrived with Chinese donations for the Ministry of Health – Clarín (2020)
Author
- Florencia Harmitton
Contact
- Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org
On December 31, 2019, the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the city of Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020, the WHO Director-General characterized it as a pandemic, also highlighting the alarming levels of spread and severity of the virus. This exceptional situation puts the right to health and its interrelation with other rights in tension, at the same time that it challenges States and their health systems, especially for the protection of groups in vulnerable situations.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes that everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living that ensures him and her family health and well-being, especially food, clothing, housing, health care and the necessary social services (Art 25). Health, as a fundamental human right, is affected by social, economic, and environmental factors, among others; at the same time that it is interrelated to the exercise of other rights with which it is closely linked and on which it depends.
The isolation and social distancing measures are supported by the scientific evidence that is beginning to be collected about the outbreaks of contagion of the pandemic. They must respect human rights and especially protect marginalized and poor populations, who may be disproportionately affected. However, inequality in access to health services becomes more evident in this urgent context, which should challenge the entire society, and particularly those in decision-making positions, about the importance of having systems health benefits and the benefits of actively working to provide infrastructure for disease prevention.
Likewise, we all have the responsibility to comply with sanitary measures to protect ourselves and thus prevent the spread of the virus, the saturation of hospitals and health care centers. By reducing the risk of contagion to other people, who may or may not be within the risk groups, we are allowing current health systems to respond and provide adequate and immediate care to those who need it.
In this context, we share with you an analysis of the right to health in times of pandemic and the needs to protect the most vulnerable groups.
More information
Author
- Ana Carla Barrera Vitali
- Gaetano Vaggione
Contact
- Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org
On December 31, 2019, the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the city of Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020, the WHO Director-General characterized it as a pandemic, also highlighting the alarming levels of spread and severity of the virus. This exceptional situation puts the right to health and its interrelation with other rights in tension, at the same time that it challenges States and their health systems, especially for the protection of groups in vulnerable situations (only spanish version)
On April 9, the equal pay day between men and women was established in our country. As of today, we have large gender gaps that are far from closing.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
Women charge less than their male peers. That is a fact. What’s more, transgender people also get even less, or are directly excluded from the labor market. On March 16, the National Directorate of Economy, Equality and Gender of the Ministry of Economy of the Nation presented the report “Gender gaps in Argentina: State of situation and challenges“. There, it is evident that the total income gap between men and women (calculated as the relative variation between the average income of men and the average income of women) is 29.0%, and it widens for female employees. informal, reaching 35.6%.
So, we can say that the same is not charged for the same tasks. But we can also ask: do we perform the same tasks as men and women? The tasks that women mainly perform within the home, and that correspond to reproductive work, have historically not been considered as such and, therefore, have not been remunerated. The incorporation of women into the labor market has not generated a fairer distribution of domestic and care tasks within the home. Women are still responsible for most of these tasks and spend almost twice as much time as men, even when they work outside their homes. Situation that deepens if they study or if they participate in spaces of activism and / or militancy. In other words, they work double and triple days, but they earn less than their male counterparts. And there the inequality appears before our eyes.
Feminisms and women’s movements and sex-gender diversities and dissidents have been thinking about these gaps for a long time. The sexual division of labor, glass ceilings and walls are some analysis tools that have been developed to understand this unequal reality. To understand and transform it.
Today, the idea persists that women have a natural instinct to care. Jobs that involve care and are mostly performed by women are the worst paid. Gender stereotypes are in order in job interviews, tenders, and promotion and responsibility decisions. Men are not obliged to reconcile their life at home with work outside of it, women are. Women see their possibility of training, improvement and job promotion diminished (a phenomenon called the “glass ceiling”) in the years they have children in their care. Boys don’t. The law grants women longer work licenses to care for sons and daughters. But far from being a privilege, the latter not only results in discrimination when hiring or considering a woman for promotion. It also reinforces the stereotypes of a mother woman and a father only as a provider for a typical family, which should not take care of children under their responsibility.
Women not only earn less, but are forced to spend more. There is what is known as the “tax pink”. The market offers products that are directed towards women and that are ostensibly more expensive. These products range from a deodorant, a razor to a medicine, such as ibuprofen “fem”. However, they fulfill the same functions as for men. There is no factual difference to support a different price. Only stereotypes that oppress and harm women culturally and economically are reinforced. Likewise, the sexual and (non) reproductive health of cis women, trans people and any menstruating body is affected with the absence of public policies that transform free access to elements for menstrual management into a right.
Particularly, within the current conjuncture of the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be considered a hinge, break moment in global society. Not only in the ways of functioning of the economy and the way of executing the different interpersonal relationships, but, in turn, the veil is drawn on the multiple tasks of care performed by women. These are unpaid work. Thanks to this, it is that the man can enjoy a great wealth of time that allows him to train, get better jobs and have time for leisure.
All this reinforces the inequality that doubly affects women. First, because they work for their families for free, given the naturalization of this work due to the requirement of gender stereotypes. And second, they are subtracted from the time to access, like the men, spaces for training, leisure and self-care.
Along these same lines, we must not forget that the World Health Organization considers gender violence as a social epidemic. The Observatory “Women, Dissidence and Rights” of the Women of the Latin American Matria-MuMaLá reported that since March 12, the day the first measures of social isolation began, as of April 3, 15 femicides were registered.
Lastly, we celebrate the preparation of the report on gaps by the National Directorate of Economy, Equality and Gender of the Ministry of Economy and we urge the State and the private sector to produce and put into action, together with civil society, public policies tending to close gender gaps. This can only be achieved with the elimination of gender stereotypes, inclusion in the measurements of LGBTIQ + people, analysis of the economy with a gender perspective, democratization of care and the participation of women, gender and diverse and dissident sexes in the elaboration and decision making on those policies.
Authors
- Ivana Sanchez
- Constance Attwood
Contact
- Cecilia Bustos Moreschi, cecilia.bustos.moreschi@fundeps.org
Coordinated by the Circle of Environmental Policy (C.A.B.A.), and in conjunction with other specialists, We elaborate the Legislative Environmental Agenda 2020, giving account and analyzing the main bills on environmental matters that have parliamentary status.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
The 2020 Legislative Environmental Agenda is an initiative led by the Policy Circle Environmental, which is emerging as a fundamental input to publicize those projects of law that are in force and in the process of being treated in both houses of Congress of the Nation. With the participation of various actors and specialists, the content, scope and importance of those projects in parliamentary status, linked to environmental issues, energy and public health.
The main objective of the report, according to María Eugenia Testa (director of the Circulo de P. Environmental) focuses on the visibility of those projects presented by different legislators, as well as in promoting parliamentary debate on issues environmental. Our contribution consisted of specifically examining those related projects to the ratification of the so-called “Escazú Agreement”; noting the importance that its incorporation into the local regulatory system, particularly due to the circumstance of taking a step in assuming international commitments in this area. These would allow to incorporate monitoring and enforcement tools regarding compliance with those measures to effective access to environmental justice, citizen participation and access to information environmental.
We appreciate the invitation, highlighting the importance of implementing initiatives collaboratives like the Legislative Environmental Agenda. We believe that the incorporation of different perspectives in the analysis process, enriches the debate and promotes alternatives for development of public policies in environmental matters. Likewise, we believe that such contribution to society allows to make visible the existing projects in the congress, examine their content, participate in public debate, monitor the legislative process, among other virtues that they strengthen the foundations of a transparent and participatory democratic system.
Access the full report
2020 CPA Legislative Environmental Agenda
Contact
Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org