Join September 20 Webinar Celebrating 60th Anniversary of the Federation of Cuban Women

By Cindy Domingo
Co-chair, Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issues Committee

September 2020

We hope you will join WILPF’s Cuba and the Bolivarian Issues Committee and US Women and Cuba Collaboration in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), and our work in solidarity with their organization. The Zoom webinar will be held on Sunday, September 20, 2020 at 2:30 – 4:00 pm (PT); 5:30 – 7:00 pm (ET). View the full event flyer here.

The FMC’s members are composed of 4 million women and girls over the age of 14 years. Under this organization’s guidance, women and girls have made remarkable achievements towards equality in Cuban society. Guest speakers include Ambassador Ana Silvia Rodriguez, Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations, and Gretel Marante Rossett from the FMC. Please register at this Zoom link.

The FMC was established in 1960 under the new revolutionary government with Vilma Espin as its president. It is her face that is embodied in the FMC logo and, though she passed in 2007, she remains the “forever” president of the FMC. Espin served in the mountains as part of the July 26th movement prior to 1960 and eventually married former Cuban President Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel Castro. As a result of Espin and the FMC’s role, in 2017 Cuba ranked third in the world for having the highest percentage of women members of parliament while the US ranked 80th. Women have free healthcare, including reproductive healthcare, and they account for nearly 60% of the country’s students. Over 65% of Cuban women have graduated from institutions of higher education.  

The webinar speakers will talk about the leading role Cuban women are playing in the fight against COVID-19, including doing research to finding a vaccine, treating patients at the Cuban clinics and hospitals, and serving on the medical brigades dispatched to over 35 countries to battle the pandemic. WILPF has been sending delegations to Cuba for almost three decades and continues to work to lift the 60-year-old US blockade against Cuba. Visit our webpage to see what you can do to lift the blockade and participate in the Saving Lives Campaign that is calling for US-Cuba-Canada cooperation to fight COVID-19.