Ministry of Labor and INTEC will investigate the situation of domestic workers in the Dominican Republic
The Ministry of Labor and the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo -INTEC- signed a collaboration agreement to promote policies in favor of gender equality in the labor market and investigate the employment situation of women in the country, especially that of paid domestic workers.
The agreement, signed by Max Puig, Minister of Labor and Miguel Escala, rector of INTEC, includes research processes with the support of the Dominican Labor Market Observatory of the Ministry of Labor, accept interns, recognize theses in areas related to human resources and the participation of the public institution in the Talent Fairs that INTEC organizes every two years.
The Ministry of Labor will promote gender training on behalf of its staff, through scholarship facilities in its specialization programs, the Gender and Development Master's Program, unique in the country, part of the "Erasmus Mundus" program, by the GEMMA Consortium and with support from the European Union.
Escala explained that INTEC, through the Center for Gender Studies, conducts research on the situation of women in different areas. "The university favors the incorporation of women into science and engineering careers, which turn out to be among the best paid."
Puig said that equal opportunities and non-discrimination of gender in the workplace are strategic axes of the Ministry of Labor. "More and better jobs translate into more and better companies; The essence of decent work is that it is for everyone ".
Lourdes Contreras, director of the Gender Studies Center of INTEC, affirmed that "the incorporation of domestic work to Social Security is a challenge". It is estimated that in the country there are some 250,000 domestic workers of which some 230,000 are women. According to Puig, it is projected that through these workers, Social Security coverage would increase by almost half. At present the system covers about 4 million 300 people, 43% of the Dominican population approximately.
The objective of the agreement is to jointly promote actions to define policies that contribute to overcoming the discrimination that in the area of employment, wage gaps and job opportunities still face Dominican women.
The Center for Gender Studies of INTEC will propose concrete actions in areas of common interest, based on the agreement, which will also integrate the International Labor Organization (ILO). The CEG-INTEC is an academic body with the expertise required to address these issues from a human rights perspective.