Venezuela highlights achievements and advances in terms of guarantee and protection of women’s rights, under the leadership of a Bolivarian Government that gives relevance to gender equality and the rights of women in all areas of society, said this Thursday the Minister for Gender Equality, Diva Guzmán.
During his speech before the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) when exposing the 9th report of Venezuela on the Human Rights of women, Minister Guzmán highlighted the commitment and permanent work of the national Government and the authorities to guarantee the right of women to live in a society free of violence and the equality of conditions in different spheres of life.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly.
At the beginning of his presentation, Guzmán conveyed “the affectionate greetings of the Chief, of the Constitutional President, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and of the more than 16 million Venezuelan women who work daily for a better homeland, accompanied by a markedly feminist government.”
In this regard, he stressed that for the presentation of the Report he was accompanied by “a very high-level delegation from the Venezuelan State, which is reliable proof of the accurate commitment to this committee and to the defense and promotion of the defense of women.” .
“Together we have come to this historic place, to fight for human rights, voluntarily, to start a constructive dialogue on the 9th periodic report on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” she said.
Commitment to women’s rights
The presence of the Venezuelan delegation before the Committee “reaffirms the commitment of the Venezuelan State to women, to eliminate all forms of discrimination, and guarantee the enjoyment of their human rights, empowerment and comprehensive development.”
For Minister Guzmán, there are “enormous advances in the participation of women in the political life of the country, we have a presence of women in most institutions.”
“We have the presence, among others, of a Magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, of the Deputy Second Vice President of the National Assembly, three vice ministers of neuralgic areas, a representative of the Public Ministry, two representatives of the National Electoral Council. As well as a president of a National Public Industry,” she added.
This means, said the Minister. “A small representation of the large number of women who have implemented public policies for women’s rights to gender equality.”
we celebrate the forum
Minister Diva Guzmán, in her speech, celebrated the value of this forum, which represents “a fundamental space for women’s rights, and which, together with the Beijing Platform, constitutes a framework of action for the exaltation of policies of gender equality, and empowerment of women in the world”.
“For my country, this exercise represents respect for democratic plurality and ratifies the firm link between the State and the organized people.” Madam President, the historical heritage in resistance in our heroines and heroes and their sacrifice, ”she stressed.
24 years of hard work for equality
The Minister for Women and Gender Equality stressed that an egalitarian homeland “became possible with the refounding of the Republic in 1999, which is why it has been 24 years of hard work to consolidate and favor the construction of a democratic, participatory society , parity and protagonist.
In this sense, he affirmed that “changes have been cemented in the sociocultural patterns that sustain the history of gender inequality, and of the power relations over women, which has been the fateful inheritance of the capitalist, oppressive and patriarchal system.”
Sanctions and covid: women caregivers
Regarding the coercive measures imposed against Venezuela, Minister Diva Guzmán denounced that the illegal and arbitrary sanctions “constitute a new mechanism of political coercion against equality between States, sovereignty, self-determination, non-intervention and the universal and indivisible guarantee of human rights”.
Therefore, he stressed that the “Unilateral Coercive Measures, not only constitute a method of political coercion, but is executed as a neo-colonizing and criminal instrument, which constitutes a true crime against humanity, and which directly impacts the lives and rights of the women”.
“These attacks in the last ten years with lethal results surprise us and then comes the covid-19 pandemic that generated a change in daily life, evidencing gender inequality wreaking havoc in society and mainly affecting women, who in addition to their multiple daily jobs assumed jobs as caregivers for the life of their families,” she said.
“We will not tire of denouncing the permanent attacks against women in the last 10 years due to the unilateral coercive measures that they carry out as a colonizing and criminal instrument of the capitalist system,” she stated.
Egalitarian political changes
She highlighted the role of women, who have had an active participation to maintain a thriving democracy that does not undermine the achievements already achieved.
He recalled that with the change in the Legislative Power, the Judicial Revolution could be carried out with the promulgation of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), elements that constitute qualitative leaps and changes in national political behavior.
“Other laws have been promulgated with a gender mainstreaming approach that identifies specific elements against discrimination and the eradication of all forms of violence, empowerment of women,” she said.
Currently, Guzmán said, “we are working to advance in the elaboration of the regulations of the Organic Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence, the Law of System of Care and the Law of Promotion for the use of Language with a Gender Approach”.
Among the most outstanding reforms in the Organic Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence, we can point out the inclusion of seven mandatory approaches, for the Bodies and Entities of the State, such as: gender, feminist, rights human, intercultural, integrality, generational and interceptionality.
He mentioned that work is being done on “four new legal classifications of multi-causal, gynecological, computer, and political violence, for a total of 25 forms of violence, as well as the creation of the National Commission to guarantee the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence”.
For the Minister, this new scenario has been important because the institutionality of the Venezuelan State has returned, which “opens routes to consolidate feminism in the country, among the many challenges that we must meet.”
homeland system
Among the achievements and advances, Minister Diva Guzmán highlighted the implementation of the Homeland System, “in which 21 million Venezuelans are registered voluntarily and without discrimination, and in which direct attention to the needs and demands of the town”.
He said that something relevant in this policy applied by President Maduro is to protect the family income, “where the main beneficiaries are women. Likewise, the Patria System has given way to the creation of the 1×10 of Good Government, which has allowed us to prioritize care.”
balance in education
Regarding initial, primary, secondary, general, technical and adult education, more than 1,200 teachers have been trained in the Gender Equality and Equity Diploma, in relation to university education, 34,266 teachers were trained in gender.
Science, employment and health
In terms of Science and Technology, Venezuela is among the three countries in the world with the highest participation of women in scientific research activities, occupying 50% of the total number of researchers by the year 2023.
The minister highlighted at this point that 50.40% of the economically active population are women, who also lead the sector of entrepreneurs with more than 60%.
Regarding the health issue, she denounced that the coercive measures “has left us unfortunate figures, let us cite some concrete examples, which also affect women, among them: the impossibility of acquiring parts and consumable parts for preventive maintenance processes and correction of the medical equipment necessary for the attention of specialized examinations and procedures”.
He explained that after sanctions, “international banks block Venezuela for the payment of more than nine million dollars, dedicated to the acquisition of dialysis supplies, aimed at treating more than 15,000 hemodialysis patients.”
“Banks like JP Morgan, return operations for 300 thousand dollars destined to pay for medical equipment. UBS Bank blocked the transfer of funds from Venezuela for the purchase of vaccines and medicines, ”he said.
Life expectancy, medications, disability
For Minister Diva Guzmán, despite the sanctions and their negative effects against the population and even more so against women, “life expectancy for women in 2022 reached 79.23% of life years, six points higher than those men”.
Regarding high-cost medicines, he stressed that the national government maintains a distribution system to guarantee the health of the people.
On the issue of women with disabilities, the minister stressed that there are 333,526 people with disabilities registered in the country, of which 47.46% are women who are being treated with medical supplies.
Plans: Humanized Childbirth, Breastfeeding and Seed
“We are developing the Humanized Childbirth and Breastfeeding Plan, which has 10,300 promoters, so far in 2023 the training and monitoring of 24,070 pregnant women during the breastfeeding period has been carried out,” he added.
He noted that in the last year the Seed for Life Plan has been developed at the national level, with which women and families of newborns have been called “to plant a tree for each pregnant woman, understanding the need to connect the human life to the care and preservation of wildlife”.
gender violence
Regarding the issue of gender violence, Guzmán indicated that more than 9,000 people have been trained in the Public Ministry in terms of receiving and processing complaints to raise awareness of that first contact with justice entities.
Finally, Guzmán extended an invitation to support Venezuela in its initiatives, “we especially urge you to contribute to the elimination of coercive criminal measures that hinder the possibility of continuing to develop public policies in favor of women and gender equality,” he stressed. .
