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Over the last three years, the economies of the countries of the Americas have been affected by one of the century's most profound financial crises, which, according to a number of studies,6 have had an unequal impact on women and men. These differences and inequalities in the effects of the crisis are limiting women's economic and social opportunities, as well as the levels of quality of life they had achieved in the prior period. Even though the economic crisis has had a different impact in different countries, it has been suggested that the progress obtained in reducing poverty and providing social services for the low-income population in the years before the crisis could be undone if policies and previous investments are not maintained.

Currently, women in the region continue to face limitations and conditions in exercising their economic citizenship, particularly now in the context of the effects of the financial crisis.

The condition of poverty among the women of the Americas continues to be one of the obstacles that limits their possibilities to achieve human development, reach satisfactory levels of economic security, and actively participate in their countries' political life. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 189 million people currently live in poverty, and exposure to poverty among women is higher than in men in the entire region.

In the majority of countries of the region, unemployment among women has increased as a result of the crisis. The information available through 2009 for 12 countries (ILO) shows that the female unemployment rate continues to be higher than the rate for men.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 44% of the employed urban population and 37% of the total employed population belong to and contribute to social security systems, a figure that has remained virtually unchanged since 2002, with significant differences between countries and between men and women. Only 15% of women and 25% of men between 15 and 65 years of age are affiliated with social security (ECLAC, 2008).

Although women have made significant strides in schooling and work classification, they continue to be the object of discrimination and exclusion in all spheres of economic life in the region. The costs of this inequality and negative discrimination against women are high for the economies, for growth, and for the consolidation of democracy in the region.

Within this context, CIM has prioritized the following areas of work:

• Increasing the benefit to women and including a gender-sensitive rights perspective in economic stimulation and recovery policies
• Promoting new visions of trade, competitiveness and innovation with markets from a gender and rights perspective
• Spurring gender-responsive labor policies from a rights-based perspective
• Advancing the social valuation of unremunerated labour in the economy of care with new inputs and perspectives