The strengthening of spaces such as the Women and Family Orientation Houses, the progress in the implementation of the National Program for the Advancement of Women, as well as the increasing number of women who hold key management positions and work in strategic sectors of the economy, are among the results that allowed Ciego de Ávila to ratify its status as an outstanding province in the emulation that the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) develops every year, on the occasion of International Women's Day.

This was made known to Invasor by Odelsys Valcárcel Pérez, general secretary of the FMC here, who said that today a greater participation of the female figure is achieved in sectors such as the civil state, where it occupies more than 50 percent; while the promotion of women to management positions of state entities, agencies and institutions represents more than 53 percent.

In the same way, in the recent constitution of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power it was achieved that 80 percent of the presidencies and vice-presidencies are occupied by women, in only two municipalities are men. To this is added that, of the mayors of the territories, in more than 60 percent of the municipalities, it is the women who run the economy and manage these instances.

The voice of the women of this land will reach the Cuban Parliament with equal force, after the general elections agreed for the coming March 26 take place, if they constitute 52.17 percent of the proposals of 23 candidates for deputies, a figure slightly less than the 55 percent registered nationally.

Valcárcel Pérez also explained that during the last year the 10 Guidance Centers for Women and the Family were strengthened, with the participation of more than 21,400 people who came to these sites in search of guidance or to join the programs of training given there, which in the entire province totaled 192 and covered various specialties. Thanks to these spaces, more than 1,000 Ciego de Ávila citizens, between women and men, were able to train for performance in different jobs.

To bring these spaces closer to the communities, 23 workshop houses were created, as an extension of the Orientation Houses, so that those residing in remote settlements do not have to travel to the municipal headquarters to consult specialists or access training courses.

Likewise, she specified, consultancies were established in the 10 municipalities to attend to all issues related to violence, since work is being done to mitigate the scourge that currently affects Cuban society. This objective also responds to the approval of the Comprehensive Strategy for the prevention and care of gender violence in the family setting, whose fundamental purpose is to guarantee a comprehensive and integrated response for its prevention and effective care, based on the cooperative work between the bodies and agencies of the Central State Administration, the different service providers, the social agents in the communities and the broad citizen participation.

Although since 2021 the National Program for the Advancement of Women was approved to, with the participation of the FMC, promote actions aimed at achieving greater comprehensiveness and effectiveness in the prevention and elimination of manifestations of discrimination against women, during the course of the Last year, more accurate steps have been taken in the territory towards the achievement of this objective with the creation of Temporary Groups in the different instances for the achievement of actions in the seven areas of work included in said program, among them, economic empowerment of women, access to decision-making and sexual and reproductive health.

One of the priorities has also been attention to vulnerable families, especially those of mothers with three or more children, in which joint work with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the Prevention Commissions to offer them employment has been key. , capacities in children's circles and semi-boarding schools for the care of infants.

Beyond the achievements, the general secretary of the FMC in the province recognizes that it is necessary to continue working on strengthening the organization, from being able to reach all the communities, given that there are still somewhere it is not possible to speak of a good functioning. In the same way, it will be necessary to continue adding women to the brigades of the National Association of Small Farmers, since the numbers of women who own land are low.

This year, 2023, will be a year of great challenges for the FMC that, on April 7, will launch the call for its XI Congress, which will look towards strengthening the structures at different levels and will be dedicated to working with young people as a continuation of the work of the organization and the Cuban revolutionary process.