Friday, October 16, 10:00am Caracas time (-5hrs BST).

Poverty hits women harder than men. Globally, women are paid on average 24% less than men, work longer hours and do twice as much unpaid work within the home (Oxfam). COVID-19 has worsened this situation, and by 2030 poverty levels are expected to increase by 12.6% among women, twice as much as among men (6.6%) (UN Women). Focusing on Latin America, we find that over 51% of poor people are women and one in three women have no income of their own. Here too, COVID-19 has come to accentuate this problem, standing to set the region back 10 years in terms of women’s participation in the labour market, as high-risk sectors (restaurants, retail, entertainment) account for around 57.2% of female employment (ECLAC).

In Venezuela, the situation is alarming. There has been a 70% fall in GDP between 2013 and 2019 and the average daily income is less than 1 dollar – USD $0.72. Of the 1 million people who have been forced to leave the country annually since 2017, men predominate. This means millions of women have been left alone to run households.  Currently, food supplies have become a major concern for 93% of the population. 72.7% of the country’s poorest households are headed by women, and 3 out of 7 families are severely food insecure. COVID-19 is only deepening this crisis (ENCOVI).

This webinar, the second organised by the emerging ASAP Venezuela chapter, will reflect on some of the most pressing consequences sitting behind these figures and the implications they hold for women in poverty.

We invite you to join us for this critical and lively discussion where three experts will talk about the following:

• Deepening female poverty in Venezuela due to the complex humanitarian emergency

Adicea Castillo. Professor at the Central University of Venezuela

• Female poverty and care economy

Rosa Paredes. Professor at the Central University of Venezuela

• Gender and economy in the long term of asymmetric dependencies

Carmen Ibáñez. Researcher and lecturer at the Free University of Berlin

Register here

Wednesday, August 26, 2020 – 11:00 (-4 GMT)

Venezuela’s institutional structures are facing a continuous deterioration that is leading the majority of the population into severe poverty, brought on by high levels of corruption. Yet, the problems Venezuela faces are not exclusive to this nation but are part of a wider, global problem. For instance, the country’s natural resources arouse attention from greedy foreign governments and corporations hoping to profit from Venezuela’s oil and other natural treasures but global institutions do not adequately control such interests. Poverty is also a source of unsafe, disorderly and irregular migration. This affects not only the people who move but also those they leave behind and the countries in the region where they arrive, which are likely to be suffering from significant levels of poverty themselves.

The causes and consequences of poverty exacerbation that Venezuela is experiencing are frequently presented and discussed but often using biased or incomplete information and assumptions not based on rigorous research. This webinar will discuss the pressing issues of poverty facing the country and consider their causal connections to global problems. It aims to explore where there are gaps in evidence and research focus, and how these can be addressed.

This webinar marks the emergence of a new ASAP Chapter and the event has been organised by a leading group of Venezuelan academics based at the University of the Andes (ULA, Venezuela), ULA Human Rights Observatory, Transparency Venezuela, University of Antioquia and Pontifical Bolivarian University.

We invite you to join us for this critical and lively discussion:

Wednesday, August 26, 2020 – 11:00 (-4 GMT)
Language: English 

Registration:  https://bit.ly/2X99bCQ

“Build Back Better: Reducing Vulnerabilities, Strengthening Justice”

On the 12th – 15th November 2020 ASAP Global, ASAP Brazil, Quinnipiac Albert Schweitzer Institute and the Global Justice Program at Yale University will be jointly hosting this years Annual Justice Conference, which will be taking place online.

The aim of the Conference is to gather national and international specialists in order to extend the academic studies concerning the battle against poverty, misery and vulnerabilities. The Conference will concentrate its activities towards the following subjects:

1. COVID-19 and its Unequal Impacts
2. Environmental Crisis
3. Historical Oppression, Colonialism, & Racism Today
4. Social & Economic Vulnerabilities, Universal Safety Net & Basic Income, Right to Development & Sustainable Development Goals (UN).

Registration details coming soon but find out latest developments – here