Latin America and the Caribbean Gender Innovation Lab

On March 19, 2024, the LACGIL organized jointly with the Global Solution Group (GSG2): Distributive Impacts of Markets and Institutions, and the Agriculture and Food Global Practice, the Digital Information and Market Access for Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Rural Guatemala (DIGITAGRO) BBL. The first half of the BBL presented the findings of the DIGITAGRO project by Javier Romero (Economist at the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice) and Viviana Maria Eugenia Perego (Senior Economist at the World Bank’s Agriculture and Food Global Practice). In the second half of the BBL they received comments from Benu Bidani (Practice Manager of the World Bank’s Global Unit in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice) and the discussants Ashwini Rekha Sebastian (Senior Agricultural Economist at the World Bank) and Dahyeon Jeong (Economist in the Development Impact Evaluation department of the World Bank).

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On September 12, 2023, the LACGIL co-hosted with the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) team of the Social Sustainability and Inclusion (SSI) Global Practice, the LGBTI Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean webinar. According to the World Bank’s Equality of Opportunity for Sexual and Gender Minorities (EQOSOGI) initiative, despite some legal and social advances in the past two decades, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people continue to face widespread discrimination and violence in many countries. In this session, Minister Antonia Orellana from Chile, Karen Lloyd from J-Flag Jamaica, and Ayat Soliman, Christian De la Medina Soto and Julia Braunmiller from the World Bank discussed civil, political and economic inclusion of LGBTI people in the LAC region.

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On June 1, 2023, the LACGIL along with the World Bank’s Education Global Practice hosted a Brown Bag Lunch event on Educational Underachievement Among Boys and Men: A Latin America and the Caribbean Perspective BBL. The first half of the BBL focused on the findings of the global World Bank report on Educational Underachievement Among Boys and Men. The second half of the event consisted of a panel discussion, where the audience heard from Gary Barker (President and CEO of Equimundo Center for Masculinities and Social Justice), who shared his experiences in addressing social norms to improve boys’ outcomes and Matthias Eck (Programme Specialist in the Section of Education for Inclusion and Gender Equality at UNESCO) who identified the key findings for LAC countries from his UNESCO report on “Leave No Child Behind: Global Report on Boys’ Disengagement from Education.”

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On May 9, 2023, the team organized a Brown Bag Lunch (BBL) on Putting Research into Practice: Promoting Women & Girls’ Economic Participation in Uruguay. Using data is vital to create adequate solutions to increase women and girls’ economic participation. The speakers reflected on the solutions they have developed and stakeholder engagements they have conducted in Uruguay to increase the use of parental leave and create a smooth school-to-work transition for girls entering the work force. 

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On March 14, 2023, the LACGIL along with the Disability and Inclusion team hosted a webinar on Creating Safe Communities for Women with Disabilities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The session brought together experts who have worked on the issue of disability rights for women and who could have showcased the necessary changes that societies within Latin America and the Caribbean must undertake to create safe communities for disabled women in the region.

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On February 2, 2023, the LACGIL co-hosted with the the World Bank’s Invest in Childcare Initiative on Comprehensive Care Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. Women’s disproportionate participation in unpaid care work and lack of access to quality, affordable childcare often leaves them with less opportunity to engage in paid labor or be more productive. The session focused on the key components of Comprehensive Care Systems, and reflected on the process and challenges of building such systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, guided through examples of the region.

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On December 6, 2022, the LACGIL along with the Social Sustainability and Inclusion team held a panel discussion on How Can Governments Address Gender-Based Violence In Latin America and the Caribbean. Almost three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, gender-based violence continues to be a permanent challenge for Latin American and Caribbean countries. The session focused on identifying the policy gaps when addressing gender-based violence, and the solutions governments can incorporate to address the issue. 

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On October 20, 2022, the LACGIL hosted a webinar with Assistant Professor Laura Cuesta from Rutgers University on How Child Support Policy Can Help Alleviate Poverty. In Latin America and the Caribbean, children in single-parent families are disproportionally poor compared to two-parent families. The session focused on the role of child support and best practices in developing a child support system that ensures the well-being of children in the region. 

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On June 22, 2022, the LACGIL joined the Inter-American Development Bank to host a panel discussion on Women, Work, and Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. The session delved into the economic challenges and opportunities that are specific to rural, Afro-descendant, migrant and indigenous women within Latin America and the Caribbean.

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On April 21, 2021, LACGIL’s co-leads Lourdes Rodriguez-Chamussy and Jacobus De Hoop presented an ongoing LACGIL behavioral study in Uruguay examining how fathers can be encouraged to take parental leave. The session titled Childcare Solutions: Changing fathers’ attitudes and involvement in care and early childhood education also explored other behavioral approaches to include men in the co-responsibility for childcare. This event was part of the UFGE Childcare Solutions Miniseries. 

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On March 18, 2021, the World Bank office for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru and the LAC Gender Innovation Lab co-organized a webinar on How to Avoid Reversing Progress in Women’s Economic Participation. LACGIL’s member Javier Romero presented key findings of the LACGIL’s Gendered impacts of COVID-19 on the Labor Markets in LAC, which he co-authored with LACGIL’s member Emilia Cucagna. 

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On December 10, 2020, LACGIL co-hosted a webinar with the EAP GIL in honor of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The webinar, “What is the Impact of Women’s Economic Empowerment on Gender-Based Violence”, presented evidence on the relationship between gender wage gap and GBV in Brazil and results from an RCT of a public works program in Lao PDR. 

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