CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Cuban women: a leading role in the Revolutionary project

Cuba was the first country to sign and the second country to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (on March 6, 1980 and July 17, 1980, respectively). From the very moment of the triumph of the Revolution, policies have been developed and programs implemented not only to eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender, but also to make women direct participants, on an equal footing, in the project to transform Cuban society.

The Republic of Cuba's National Action Plan for Follow-Up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, adopted by the Council of State in April of 1997, has effectively and increasingly contributed to fostering government policies aimed at the support and promotion of women, guaranteeing their participation in the development process under the same conditions and with the same opportunities as men.

Cuban legislation includes a number of provisions that guarantee the rights of women, such as the right to health care, particularly with regard to sexual and reproductive rights; to education, social security and assistance, housing, employment, equal pay for work of equal value, and access and promotion to management positions, without discrimination.

Some indicators reflecting the results achieved:

The maternal mortality rate in Cuba has decreased from 70.4 per 100,000 live births in 1970 to 34.3 per 100,000 in October of 2003.

In the year 2003, women made up 44.9% of the workforce in the civilian public sector. They represent 66.4% of all junior college and university graduates, 72% of the workforce in the educational sector, 67% in the health care sector and 44.6% in the scientific sector.

Women currently occupy 31% of management positions, which is double the figure registered in 1975.

The participation of women in the bodies of the People’s Power and in successive electoral processes has gradually increased. There are currently 219 women deputies in the Cuban National Assembly. Cuba is one of the top ten countries in the world in terms of the percentage of women in Parliament, with a rate of 35.94%

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