Foreign Minister Presents Colombia's Progress on Gender and Environment Issues to the UN

During the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women, Colombian Vice-President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez presented the country's progress towards gender equality. He also explained how including a gender approach in the fight against climate change has contributed to the preservation of the environment in the national territory.

In general terms, the vice-president and chancellor assures that the current administration of President Iván Duque has made progress in creating a public policy to close gender gaps. Ramírez also recalled that in the country there are specific projects that have opened up employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for women.

Regarding the environment and its relationship with women, she assures that climate change mainly affects this population. Thus, he indicated that the Government is leading several strategies that help close the gender gap and protect the environment.

Ramírez highlighted the energy transition strategy led by President Duque, which already has several projects in which the axis of development is women. He also mentioned that the national Government set itself the goal of planting 180 million trees, a goal that has generated employment for 11,286 rural women, who are championing the environmental cause.

Finally, the official called on all countries to create strategies that benefit women and the environment.

Although the country has made progress in some areas affecting women, it should be noted that violence against women is still a high risk factor. On March 8, the Office of the Ombudsman warned that last year it dealt with 3,646 cases of gender-based violence. This means that, on average, there were 10 such events per day.

“We call on the community on the importance of respecting women and girls in all settings, protecting their rights and ensuring that they can reach their full potential; with special emphasis on the search for mechanisms to end all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls”, said the ombudsman, Carlos Camargo.

The figures so far this year are not encouraging either. According to a recent report by the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, 6,280 women were assaulted in January, resulting in a 29.6% increase over the same period in 2021 (1,438 cases).

Of this total number of violent acts, 2,914 women suffered from domestic violence, of which 2,144 were assaulted by their partners. On the other hand, 1,611 of these events corresponded to interpersonal violence.

One of the points of concern is the increase in cases of aggression in children and adolescents. In the global count, Medicina Legal reported 306 facts: 136 concern men and 170 women. In addition, it was warned that, in many of these situations, incidents of violence occur between the ages of 0 and 5.

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