29.In summary, the Action Plan in force expresses the political will of the Cuban State, constitutes the cornerstone of the development of policies for women and provides continuity in the pursuit and development of gender equality in the country.

30.Accordingly, the Plan satisfies national needs while making it possible to comply with international commitments, in particular those emanating from the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

31.With regard to paragraph 41 of the concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Cuba (CEDAW/C/CUB/CO/7-8), in which the Committee calls upon the State party to enhance the collection, analysis and dissemination of comprehensive data, disaggregated by sex, age, race, ethnicity, location and socioeconomic status, and the use of measurable indicators to assess trends in the situation of women and progress towards the realization by women of substantive equality in all areas covered by the Convention, and encourages the State party to develop gender-sensitive indicators for use in the formulation, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and, when necessary, review of women’s and gender equality policies, we observe the following.

32.The National System of Statistical Information provides for the compilation, analysis and dissemination of demographic data through surveys and censuses, which includes information relating to the situation of women in all areas covered by the Convention.

33.Decree-Law No. 281 of 8 February 2011 concerning the “Government Information System” enabled the formation of technical committees on various aspects of information, including demographic. This committee has developed strategies and actions to gradually improve the compilation, analysis and dissemination of disaggregated data.

34.As part of this system, work is proceeding in close coordination with the Central Administration of the State on incorporating into national statistics the indicators contained in the Complementary Statistical Systems under their responsibility, based on a gender approach.

35.In this regard, the National Office of Statistics and Information, the Federation of Cuban Women, as national machinery for advancement of women, and the Centre for Women’s Studies are conducting joint activities to ensure a gender approach in the country’s statistical information.

36.An example of this is the preparatory work for the Gender Survey to be carried out jointly in 2016, which will contribute to developing a bank of demographic, social and economic indicators on women.

37.In addition, the past three years have seen the strengthening of the project and computerized application “An Overview in Figures of Children and Adolescents in Cuba”, begun in 2009 between the National Office of Statistics and Information and UNICEF. The line of action followed by this project is geared to the Millennium Development Goals. This tool provides users with updated data disaggregated by sex and by territorial locations in the country.

38.The customary publications of the National Office of Statistics and Information, i.e. the Statistical Yearbook of Cuba, the Demographic Yearbook of Cuba, and yearbooks for provinces and municipalities, exemplify advances in data processing in the country.

39.Cuba played a pioneering role in Latin America in pursuing what was then the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in the training of personnel, in carrying out time-use surveys, and in specialized publications and indicators of equality for women.