Cuba works for a true emancipation of women

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 11(ACN) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called on Wednesday for Cuban women to be increasingly emancipated in the Revolution, during a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers that evaluated several of the measures included in the National Plan for the Advancement of Women, a presidential decree published on March 8 in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba.

The President advocated for making this Plan - which is a fundamental basis for the development of new policies in favor of Cuban women - more widely known as a way for people to identify with this important guiding document and support it.

In this working session, where the economic autonomy of women, one of the areas of special concern of the National Plan, was discussed, the Head of State also indicated to bring to this very space the issue of confronting violence against women, in order to address it within the Program. Let it be well present, led by the revolutionary civil society, by our political and mass organizations, and by the Government, said Díaz-Canel.

Among the measures included in the Program related to employment, the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, explained that periodic evaluations will be made on the employment possibilities in each territory and in the different sectors of the economy, in order to work with the potential of women without labor ties, especially young women.

In addition, she said, employers will be required to create conditions that allow the development of labor activity without discrimination of any kind, both in hiring and in the exercise of their job functions, with differentiated attention for pregnant women.

In this regard, Diaz-Canel condemned the sexist and beauty approaches that are manifested in some private businesses when employing women. Likewise, he advocated compliance with the Labor Code, both in the state and non-state sectors. In the latter, he said, the rights of women, the time established for the working day, vacations and maternity leave must also be ensured.

He stressed that another of the measures of the National Plan for the Advancement of Cuban women in the labor market is the periodic evaluation of women's participation in the non-state sector, with a view to better serving them.

In addition, the design of qualification and re-qualification programs has been foreseen, also in trades considered non-traditional for women. And to encourage the participation of rural women, especially young women, in various sources of employment, given the need to increase their presence in this sector. Central government agencies play an essential role in all these measures.

On the economic autonomy of women, Political Bureau member Teresa Amarelle Boué, secretary general of the Federation of Cuban Women, pointed out the responsibility of local governments in the generation of jobs for women, with emphasis on rural and coastal areas, often with few possibilities; as well as the need for them to make a periodic evaluation with the companies that operate in the territory on the new positions that are created to promote women's employment.

Amarelle Boué also referred to the feasibility of granting credits to women with certain incentives, so that they can invest, for example, in important sectors such as food production. All these horizons are opened with the National Plan for the Advancement of Cuban Women, which promotes equal rights and opportunities.