Meeting of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Staff Network on Gender Equality highlighted strategies to address care policies in national parliaments
Parliamentary staff and representatives of national gender machineries from the Americas and the Caribbean met virtually today for the 7th Meeting of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Staff Network on Gender Equality. Today’s meeting, which focused on care policies in national parliaments, featured presentations on the key considerations of care-related parliamentary work and created space for peer-to-peer dialogue on current and future initiatives.
Highlights of the session included an expert panel with Ana Güezmes, Gender Division director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Alejandra Mora Mora, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), which was moderated by Chantal La Roche (Trinidad and Tobago), Parliamentary Legal Services Director. Ms. Güezmes and Ms. Mora Mora presented on care-related concepts and data used to advance the care agenda at the regional level, reflecting on the interconnections between regional developments and the work specifically within national parliaments.
The panel that followed began with an overview of ParlAmericas’ Briefing Document on Lactation and Daycare Facilities in Parliament, which references existing good practices in the region and provided context for panellists to speak in greater detail about the work being implemented in their respective parliaments. It was moderated by Haydeé Hernández Pérez (Costa Rica), head of the Technical Unit for Gender Equality and Equity of the Legislative Assembly and included presentations from the following parliamentary staff:
- Claudia Fuenzalida Cereceda (Chile), head of the Planning and Management Control Unit and head of Gender Affairs, Senate of the Republic and Regional Coordinator – South America of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Staff Network on Gender Equality
- Gracielle Fernanda do Nascimento Azeredo (Brazil), Legislative Analyst, member of the Permanent Committee for the Promotion of Gender and Race Equality and of the Working Group on Racial Affinity, Federal Senate
- Annie Carpentier (Canada), Deputy Director, Members’ HR Services, Human Resources Services, House of Commons
Participants were welcomed to today’s session by Senator Carmen Gloria Aravena (Chile), First Vice-President – South America of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network for Gender Equality and Sulma Campos Mata (Mexico), head of the Technical Unit for Gender Equality, Senate of the Republic, the latter of whom also provided concluding remarks.
