Promoting social inclusion, gender equality and sustainable re-covery after the COVID-19 pandemic

Context

Income, resources and opportunities are distributed very unevenly in Latin America. This trend has further intensified with the COVID-19 pandemic and especially affects vulnerable groups. In 2020, 44 per cent of women and girls were affected by poverty.

The lack of economic autonomy is one of the main obstacles to the social integration of women in Mexico. Although women make up nearly 50 per cent of the working population, more than half of them work in the informal sector and have no access to social security benefits or social protection.

Giving women and girls equal access to the labour market leads to greater economic and social inclusion and a more productive and sustainable society. Greater participation enables women to play a part in public life and change environments in order to establish fairer and more peaceful societies.

Objective

The Mexican Government has the framework conditions in place for the social inclusion of women and girls.

Approach

The project works towards more equal opportunities in three thematic areas:

1. Expanding the support system: The project improves the technical capacities of the government of Mexico City. Based on data evaluation, it is developing a model for providing social support for women who have become victims of violence, thus making it easier to integrate them into economic activities.
2. Promoting the economic autonomy of women: Together with the Secretariat of Economy, the project uses innovative funding methods to identify and support digital entrepreneurs. It thus promotes a public policy that expands social and economic inclusion.
3. Involving women in decision-making: This entails using instruments that provide innovative and participatory solutions for removing gaps and establishing the social inclusion of women and girls. For example, the project is creating opportunities for co-creative participation to lay the foundations for the supply system in the state of Yucatán.

Last update: May 2023