Latin America and the Caribbean is a very unequal region and women predominate in the informal labor sector without social protection. This means that when they reach the age for retirement they do not have the required retirement contributions. According to the IDB (2023), only 55% of LAC women are in the formal labor sector vs. 75% of men.

 

Argentina is a country with a high level of ageing, with those over 65 years of age representing 11.8% of the total population. The majority of retirees are women: 64% vs. 36%. Men’s pensions are 15% higher than those of women. This is because many women had to complete their retirement contributions through a “moratoria” in order to retire, receiving the minimum value till when all the debt is paid. The government eliminated this possibility, so it is estimated that only 1 out of 10 women will be able to retire because they fulfill the requirements. The others will receive a Universal Pension equivalent to 80% of the minimum retirement. So with this new method most women retire will be poor or indigent. Currently, these pensions are not enough to survive, they have to choose to eat or take medicines.

She is a physician, feminist, Master in Public Health (Universidad del Valle, Colombia) and specialist in Epidemiology and Medical Statistics (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK). In 1989 she created the Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer – FEIM – which she chairs to date. FEIM is an NGO that develops research, advocacy, training, and promotes equality and women’s rights in Argentina, Latin America and the Caribbean and the world. She was a full-time professor at the School of Public Health of the University of Buenos Aires. In 1980 she participated in the creation of the Epidemiological Research Center of the National Academy of Medicine and was Head of Epidemiological Research until 1984. In 1984 she created the Women, Health and Development Program at the National Ministry of Health and Social Action and was Director of International Relations of that Ministry until 1989. Since 1990 she has been a member of the Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del Caribe – RSMLAC- and was a member of the Steering Committee from 1992 to early 2000. She participated in the International Conferences on Population and Development (1994) and on Women in Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). She was a pioneer in the study and prevention of HIV in women and coordinated the first study in Mercosur on violence and HIV in women.

 

She is founder and coordinator of the International Women and AIDS Group. As an NGO member, she was part of the first UNAIDS Policy Coordinating Committee, was a member of the UNAIDS Human Rights Advisory Committee and was a member and chair of the Coalition of Women and AIDS. She was part of the group and promoted the creation of UN WOMEN and was elected member of the UN WOMEN Regional Civil Society Advisory Group 2012/2016. In 2012 she created the Committee of NGOs on the Condition of Women from Latin America and the Caribbean (NGO CSW LAC), which she co-chairs until today. Since 2013 she has been a member of the Women’s Major Group, one of the 9 groups recognized in UN Women for Civil Society participation, in 2018 she was elected Operational Facilitator for Latin America and the Caribbean for the period 2019-2021.

 

From February 2020 until January 31, 2024 she was Co-Chair of the Major Group and other Stakeholders Coordination Mechanism – MgoS CM-. In 2019 she participated in the organization of the Civil Society Participation Mechanism in the Latin America and the Caribbean 2030 Agenda Forum and coordinated it until 2023.

 

In November of 2017, she created the Argentine Observatory of Women’s Rights Defenders for the G20. In 2018 she was elected head of the Argentine Delegation to the W20, a position she currently occupies. In addition, she is national coordinator of the C20 Gender Group. In 2020 she was appointed International Coordinator of the C20 Gender Working Group, -GWG-.

 

In 2019 she joined the Civil Society Advisory Council (CSAG) for the GEF and was elected to the Core Group, a position she held until its completion in July of 2021. In 2020 she was elected to the AC leadership group on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Rights and will continue until 2025.

 

In 2022 she was selected by open call as W7 Advisor under the chairmanship of Germany and was appointed co-coordinator of the subgroup “Feminist Foreign Policy”. In 2023 she was elected W7 Advisor and co-coordinated the gender-based violence subgroup and in 2024 she was elected W7 Advisor and co-coordinated the Labor group.

 

In 2023 she was appointed as Member of the Civil Society Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) and in 2024 she was elected as Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Federation of Aging -IFA- and member of the ACT Civil Society Steering Committee for UN Women. She is also currently a Gender Advocate for Diario Perfil.

 

She received different awards and distinctions: in 2017 the “Distinguished Woman Award”, granted by the NGO Committee for the CSW -Commission on the Status of Women of the United Nations. In 2013 she received the Dignity Award from the APDH and the March 8 Margarita Ponce Mention from the Argentine Women’s Union -UMA-. In 2011 she was recognized as one of the “one hundred people committed to women in the world” by Women Deliver and was chosen as one of the “150 women who move the world” by the international magazine Newsweek together with The Daily Beast. In 2005 she received the National Award for Outstanding Women in Health, Social Category, from the National Ministries of Health and Environment. In 2019 she was chosen by the BBC as one of the 100 influential women. In 2020 she was elected as featured in the social section of Apolitical. In 2023 she was distinguished as “Woman of the Year” by WEF Argentina. She is the author of 10 books and more than 200 scientific and popular science articles.