ECLAC exposes the opportunities and challenges of water and gender gaps, in the presentation of the Institute for Equality and Equity for Sustainable Development, of the Universidad de Mendoza

On the occasion of the official opening of the Institute for Equality and Equity for the Sustainable Development of the Universidad de Mendoza, this event was held, in which the objectives of this new research instance were also announced, as well as its four directors: Gabriela Ábalos, Marcela Andino, Valentina Erice and Silvina Furlotti.

On Friday, December 1, the presentation of the Institute for Equality and Equity for Sustainable Development, of the School of Law and Social Sciences of the Universidad de Mendoza. In this instance, a warm welcome was given by the Dean of the School, Dr. Diego Carbonell, as well as presentations by each of its four directors, Dr. Gabriela Ábalos, Dr. Marcela Andino, Dr. María Valentina Erice and Dr. Silvina Furlotti.

After this session of presentations, the report on water and gender gaps, challenges and opportunities, by ECLAC, was presented, available at the following link. Here, Elisa Blanco from the Natural Resources Division, who was in charge of the presentation, emphasized the existence of four water and gender gaps in the region. The water and sanitation access and infrastructure gap, the first, has links to women's health, safety and education. For example, in Brazil, in rural areas, 37,8% of women without complete primary education do not have access to drinking water, versus 29% who have at least primary education. A second gap refers to the management and collection of water, with an impact on the use of time and job opportunities, where women in the region dedicate 2,6 hours of unpaid work per week, which usually involves cleaning work, grooming and care, for every hour that men dedicate. A third gap is access to water for agricultural production, where the limited ownership of agricultural land by women, as in Argentina (16,2%), negatively impacts their food security. Inequalities in access to financial resources, technical assistance and markets aggravate the situation, evidencing gender discrimination in various aspects. Finally, the governance and participation gap with an impact on collective management is highlighted. In Argentina, despite representing 44% of members in rural organizations, women hold the presidency in only 31%, highlighting challenges in the collective management of water resources. The ECLAC study sought to analyze how these gaps are being addressed, carrying out an analysis of 54 water and gender public policy instruments from 21 countries in the region. Throughout the presentation, in addition to showing these results, Argentine programs were highlighted such as “In Our Hands” of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, focused on strengthening capacities in irrigation technologies for women farmers, in addition to the Program Water and Women of the Mendoza Irrigation Department, which seeks to make visible the role of women in the use of water. You can review the presentation at next link  .

After the ECLAC presentation, Pablo A. Basz, from the United Nations of Argentina, spoke with the national panorama for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, and Irune Aguirrezabal Quijera, Director of the Ibero-American Program on Human Rights, Democracy and Equality , of the Organization of Ibero-American States.