The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Time Use Initiative (TUI) association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Time Use Initiative (TUI), based in Barcelona, is a leading international organization dedicated to fostering public debate and the design of innovative policies to guarantee the right to time and balanced time management, understanding that its proper use is key to well-being, health and equality among all people, especially women.
TUI has extensive experience working at a global level advising governments, promoting pioneering initiatives and generating knowledge on the social organisation of time and, at the local level, occupying since 2021 the technical secretariat of the Local and Regional Time Network.
The agreement recognizes that equitable time management is key to moving towards more egalitarian, healthy and sustainable societies, in line with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Under agreement, UN Women and TUI commit to:
- Promoting debate and awareness-raising on the collective organisation of time and its impact on gender equality and social welfare.
- Generate and share knowledge, data, and research on time use in the region.
- Jointly develop knowledge products and publications.
- Support governments and key actors in the design and implementation of innovative policies on the social organization of time.
- Strengthen technical and institutional cooperation to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
As part of this commitment, specific actions will be developed such as research and technical publications, awareness-raising and training opportunities, as well as support for governments and civil society organisations in adopting good practices and policies that enable a fairer and healthier distribution of time.
UN Women’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Bibiana Aido, highlighted: “At UN Women, we are committed to time-use policies that recognize and redistribute care and bring services closer to where people live: in neighborhoods and cities. The view from the A local perspective is essential to reducing women’s time poverty. With this agreement, we are committed to building evidence to drive concrete action.”
For her part, Marta Junqué, director of the Time Use Initiative, added: “Time policies have become an element of political innovation to clearly improve people’s quality of life and equity. With this agreement, we at the TUI hope to contribute our experience to drive real change in the region, working with the States and also with the cities.”
With this Memorandum, both organizations reaffirm their commitment to work in a coordinated manner to advance towards greater substantive equality and generate impact on the daily lives of women and girls in Latin America and the Caribbean.
