Woman retraining after childbirth, rearing
By Grecia Fiordalicia Pichardo
The Dominican Republic enjoys a high number of women serving as elected officials ― government ministers and vice-ministers, and ambassadors; our electoral system reserves a minimum of 33% of electoral seats for women and its estimated that this said percentage may rise to 50% in the very near future; Vice-President Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, is also the second consecutive woman to serve in that post.
Our government has also set aside 4% of the Dominican Republic’s GDP for education, which has allowed us to increase the number of public school teachers in our country to 90,188 docents, and the construction of about 10,000 classrooms each year, allowing more access to free education in our country. Our school systems also offer free breakfast, lunch and a snack to all students, which alleviate some of the worries and burdens faced by lower income families.
According to the World Bank, women account for about 39.8% of our labor force, while the International Labor Organization has found that women in the Dominican Republic hold about 55.8% of mid to senior level management positions, making the Dominican Republic the country with the highest percentage of female managers in the world.
Women represent about 50.4% of the over 161,000 people employed in the more than 65 industrial parks run by the National Free Zone Council of the Dominican Republic (CNZFE). Incidentally, the CNZFE is currently run by a woman and it offers a number of beneficial incentives to its employees, that include the technical training required to manufacture everything from cigars to intricate medical equipment produced in the CNZFE industrial parks, free shuttle buses to and from work, and free child care services where young children participate in early education programs that stimulate learning, curiosity and the development of their own interests. These incentives are offered as part of a social and corporate responsibility pact between the government and the private sector.
The incentives offered by the CNZFE are especially beneficial to women because it allows them to rejoin the workforce after having given birth or raising their children, while also receiving training in areas that they may have otherwise not received, without having to worry about arranging and paying for child care.
It’s worth noting that free child care is also offered at some public institutions and universities, like the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, where in addition to virtually free tuition, this service offers the university’s over 170,000 students, especially single mothers, a better opportunity to achieve their goals and continue their higher education.
During this past February, our government extended paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 14 weeks, allowing mothers more time to bond with their newborn babies with the hope that it will also encourage more breastfeeding; in line with the World Health Organization’s campaign to encourage this. Our national health care and insurance system also provides attention to pregnant women from gestation to childbirth.
Grecia Fiordalicia Pichardo is the ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Korea.