In context of International Women’s Day, Costa Rican leaders on Monday signed a decree to create a commission to address the country’s gender unemployment gap.
The objective of this commission is “to seek inter-institutional and inter-sectoral articulation, dialogue and the establishment of public-private agreements, as well as the formulation and implementation of policies, strategic actions and government programs aimed at promoting the equal participation of women in productive processes, to generate inclusive economic growth, gender equity and the eradication of economic poverty,” according to the decree.
The document was signed by President Carlos Alvarado, as well as by the Ministers of the Status of Women, Marcela Guerrero; of Economy, Industry and Commerce, Victoria Hernández; of Public Education, Guiselle Cruz; and of Labor and Social Security, Silvia Lara.
Costa Rican authorities this week relaunched a campaign to support businesses and provide meals to tourism employees who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
The “Reactivemos la Esperanza” (Let’s reactivate hope) campaign targets tourism employees in Guanacaste, the province the Tourism Board says has been most affected by the drop in visitors that has resulted from the pandemic.
The program’s goal is to donate 200,000 meals during the next three months. Reactivemos la Esperanza has already donated nearly 100,000 dishes in a previous campaign.
“This initiative invites us to help each other, between Costa Ricans,” said Gustavo Segura, Tourism Minister.
The IMF approved a 36-month credit agreement for $1.778 billion dollars with Costa Rica, the entity reported Monday, which immediately released $296.5 million to stabilize the economy of the Central American country.
The money will be used to help “support Costa Rica’s recovery and stabilize its economy,” in addition to ensuring sustainable debt, the agency said in a statement issued by its Washington headquarters.
“The home-grown program supported by the IMF focuses on implementing equitable fiscal reforms to ensure debt sustainability, while protecting the most vulnerable,” the agency said.
“Looking ahead, the government’s reform agenda is designed to help promote inclusive and sustainable growth, including through innovative digitalization, climate-change mitigation and resilience building.”
Costa Rica will receive a three-year, $1.78 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund as part of the financial entity’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
“When a country borrows from the IMF, it commits to undertake policies to overcome economic and structural problems,” the IMF says. “Under an EFF, these commitments, including specific conditions, are expected to have a strong focus on structural reforms to address institutional or economic weaknesses, in addition to policies to maintain macroeconomic stability.”
Costa Rica’s objective is to stabilize country’s public debt and reach a primary surplus of 1% by 2023.
These are the law projects Costa Rica has agreed to as part of its IMF deal: