Federated Agrarian Cooperatives honor three Uruguayan women for their leadership
From different fields, ages and activities, the three are references, Stefanía Silveyra, vice president of the union, told El Observador, who assured that the honorees "are women who inspire, who give hope and who are committed to sustainable development," and that therefore decide to recognize them.
Those chosen were the Minister of Economy and Finance (MEF), Azucena Arbeleche; the young shearer Milagros Rodríguez and the president of ACI Americas, Graciela Fernández.
“US$ 5 million to give answers”
Minister Arbeleche was not present at the site because she was traveling abroad, but she shared a message virtually, in which she greeted rural women and highlighted the work they do in the field "with a lot of effort, commitment and pride." ”.
"I feel that as women we have come a long way in the process to have equal rights and opportunities, but we still have a long way to go," she said and maintained that there are still differences between the remuneration received by men and women, in the possibilities of accessing to positions of social, business and political responsibility.
He also recalled that the MEF entered into an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank to have a loan of US$5 million to "give concrete answers to women who need it, and that is why we are thinking of houses for women who are victims of violence." ”.
“Rural women do not collaborate, we work”
Rodríguez won the first prize in the contest for women shearers of the El Fogón cooperative. This rural young woman, who claims to want to live in and from the countryside, said that it is necessary to reflect and use oneself to overcome prejudices and entrenched customs, to strengthen the advancement of gender equity in different environments. And he called on men and women to think about equality and how necessary it is to value the role of women.
According to what he said, there are still lacks of opportunities in access to employment, participation and decision-making in the agricultural sector. He assured that there is an invisible work carried out by rural women that "is not seen or valued."
"Understand, rural women do not collaborate, we work," she stressed.
The "most terrible" inequality gap
For her part, Fernández added that "there is no dignified and decent work if there is no gender equity, there is no dignified and decent work if women and their contribution are not taken into account, which is historic. Without the work of women agrarian cooperatives would not exist".
As she said, it is necessary to strengthen oneself as a woman and for that, within the cooperatives, it is necessary to participate. Along these lines, she told the CAF members who were in the place, that with their presence they strengthened their fellow cooperative members, because they promoted participation.
On the other hand, he indicated that the American continent is currently going through the "most terrible inequality gap in recent years", which is due, in large part, to the arrival of the pandemic and how it affected the economy of the countries.
As reported, in America there are 4.5 million women who remain unemployed after the arrival of the pandemic. Unemployment in the region is 16.9%, he detailed, adding that of the 42 million people who lost their jobs in 2020, 30 million were men, who were reinstated in 2021.
The recognition of the three women took place within the framework of an activity in which several women members of CAF participated.
Source The Observatory