MARÍA JOSÉ BECERRA MORO| ENGENDERING SOCIAL SECURITY AND PROTECTION 1. Introduction  1 Latin America has developed a variety of social security system mechanisms that ensure income levels that pro­vide minimum quality of life levels, provide access to so­cial services and their promotion, as well as ensure the universalization of decent work. Three major components responsible for the success of the system are considered here: a) non-contributory social security aimed at those li­ving in extreme poverty by means of transferable programmes and public subsidies that are normally financed from general income tax revenues; b) contributory social security that seeks to protect workers and their dependents during periods of both work and unemployment. Unemployment and dis­ability benefits as well as pensions, health insurance and the associated benefits and protection mecha­nisms that cover maternity come under this heading; c) regulation of the labour market – in this context meaning the protection of the individual and the collective rights of workers, which fulfil a crucial role in the reduction and amelioration of the risks associ­ated with unemployment and a lack of decent work. Progress in the protection of citizens has been achieved in many countries of the region, resulting in extended coverage to groups that were excluded up until a few years ago. In part, this has been achieved thanks to the increased public investment in social security, which, since 1990/1991, has increased by an average of five per cent, reaching up to 18 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2007/2008. Though it is a significant advance, it is still inadequate if one considers that the region is placed seven percentage points below member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop­ment(OECD) whose investment in social security amounts to 25 per cent of their GDP(ECLAC 2010; Cecchini and Marinez 2011). Alongside the extended social security cov­erage, a gender perspective was gradually incorporated into social security policies. Various factors explain this process, some of the most important are(ECLAC 2010): 1. Thanks to ECLAC researcher Coral Calderón M. for her help with the re­ferences and to the sociologist Hugo Soto Ojeda for his valuable comments. a) women are participating in higher numbers in politics and in decision-making processes. A good example of this is the access women have to decision-making processes at the highest levels in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and Jamaica; 2 b) the adoption of national laws covering equal rights, the implementation of gender-budgeting, and the integration of gender perspectives in planning proce­dures. Although these mechanisms exist at the min­isterial level in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay, Venezu­ela, and the Dominican Republic, in smaller and less well-developed countries – especially in the Caribbe­an – they are part of the ministries for social security and are associated with social or family assistance; c) the increased rate in economic participation by wo­men that has occurred in urban areas – from 42 per cent to 52 per cent between 1990 and 2008 – while the population of economically active men has re­mained unchanged at around 78 per cent; d) the continuing rise in the educational levels of wo­men, equalling that of men in all but some countries and geographical regions where women of indige­nous and African descent have been left out. 2. The Impact of the Economic Crisis: Astonishing Resilience Because of the Social Protection Schemes in Place … In 2009, 183 million people were living in poverty in Latin America – a third of the region’s population – of which, 74 million were classified as living in extreme po­verty(ECLAC 2010). 2. In Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru, the number of women forming part of the executive branch of government has reached 30 per cent. In Co­lombia in 2009, a minimum quota of 30 per cent for women in govern­ment was achieved, with the executive branch having the highest percen­tage. In Costa Rica, a parity law for the cabinet was approved(43 % of the current cabinet are women). The first cabinet of President Bachelet’s government in Chile in 2006 was 48 per cent female. Meanwhile, a mino­rity of women in positions of executive power can be observed in Brazil, Haiti, the Caiman Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, where they account for percentages under 15 per cent. Regarding legislative power in 2010, female representation only reached 22.2 per cent, with the highest levels of participation found in the Carib­bean(22.1 % and 29.4 % between 1990 and 2009). On inspecting the participation of women at the highest judicial levels of power over the past decade, an increase from 8 per cent to 19 per cent can be noted, a figure that includes the increase over the past four years(ECLAC 2010). 2