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09 Mar 2006 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 09, 2006
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Red Cross Lobbies
for Extra Funding
Yesterday, with San José still reeling from Tuesday's massive taxi strike (TT Online, March 8), 40 Red Cross ambulances lined Avenida 2 near the Legislative Assembly to show the organization's support for a bill under consideration by the lawmakers inside.
(Click for more)
Study Focuses on Women
Working in Informal Labor Sector
In observance of International Women's Day yesterday, Minister of Women's Affairs Georgina Vargas joined a group of women and men to inaugurate a new training center for women in Los Yoses, east of San José, and hear the results of a study that investigated the role women play in the informal labor sector.
(Click for more)
U.S. Allows Costa Rican
Pepper Exports
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced yesterday that it has amended its regulations to allow the importation of certain peppers from Costa Rica and the rest of Central America without treatment.
(Click for more)
March 09
Cultural Festival
Masks, acrobats, music, watercolors, concert by Los Rojas, 11 a.m., Gold Museum amphitheater, underneath Plaza de la Cultura, San José. Conference on coins in auditorium.
International Fruit Festival
Exhibits, fruit and vegetable stands, lectures, concerts, food, crafts, sports and cultural activities. Brazil, Poland and other countries participating, March 9-20, Orotina, northwest of San José. Info: 428-0080.
Calacas Blues
10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, east of San José.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Red Cross Lobbies
for Extra Funding
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
Yesterday, with San José still reeling from Tuesday's massive taxi strike (TT Online, March 8), 40 Red Cross ambulances lined Avenida 2 near the Legislative Assembly to show the organization's support for a bill under consideration by the lawmakers inside.
William Guzmán, a member of the Red Cross committee in Desamparados, south of San José, told The Tico Times only vehicles and drivers scheduled to be off-duty yesterday participated in the protest, so emergency services were not interrupted. The participants were supporting bill 16032, which would assign ¢80 ($0.15) from every monthly telephone bill in the country to the Red Cross.
Of these funds, the bill, if approved, would allow the organization to address its serious needs for fuel, equipment and new vehicles. Many Red Cross ambulances are more than 20 years old, Guzmán said.
President Abel Pacheco submitted the bill to the assembly Monday, following approximately six months of work by Red Cross leaders and Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) legislator Federico Vargas, according to Guzmán.
As the Red Cross volunteers gathered outside, the Social Affairs Commission inside approved the creation of a subcommittee to study the bill, according to a statement released by the assembly late yesterday. This group now has 15 days to prepare a report on the bill for the commission, which also approved a motion to ask the Comptroller General and Government Attorney to evaluate the project.
The work of the Red Cross includes responding to accidents and natural disasters, search-and-rescue operations and accident-prevention campaigns. The organization receives funds from the annual Tico Bingo fundraiser, local governments, private donations, traffic fines and cigarette and alcohol taxes. However, some of the nation's Red Cross chapters have had serious financial problems; for example, the chapter in the Caribbean port town of Limón came close to shutting down in late 2004 (TT, Dec. 10, 2004).
Study Focuses on Women
Working in Informal Labor Sector
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
In observance of International Women's Day yesterday, Minister of Women's Affairs Georgina Vargas joined a group of women and men to inaugurate a new training center for women in Los Yoses, east of San José, and hear the results of a study that investigated the role women play in the informal labor sector.
Sociologist Marcela Umaña presented the conclusions of her study, “Socioeconomic Determinants of the Income of Women Working in the Informal Sector.” This sector, which includes industrial, commercial and service jobs, is characterized by informal accounting practices and a lack of benefits for employees.
Umaña interviewed and observed 10 women in the Central Valley area who work in beauty shops, sodas and as seamstresses, among other jobs.
These jobs, commonly held by women, have certain traits in common, Umaña explained. They don't require a high level of education, are easy to begin and allow them to take care of children and a household while working.
Unfortunately, they also have some disadvantages in common, such as offering little room for advancement and providing inconsistent income.
The women in the study also tended to lack control over their income, Umaña said. “Often times, women think money is ‘a men's thing' and leave their spouses to make businesses decisions,” she said.
Umaña's study is part of a United Nations Development Programme (PNUD) project in Costa Rica and four other Central American countries.
The project, which was initiated last year and will last four years, will use studies like Umaña's to identify sociological factors limiting women's economic development, said María Flórez, the director of the PNUD project in Costa Rica.
Using findings from these studies, PNUD will make recommendations to the Costa Rican government on how to create more economic opportunities for women. Vocational trainings and resource centers like the one inaugurated yesterday are ways Flórez said the government can help strengthen women's presence in the labor market.
U.S. Allows Costa Rican
Pepper Exports
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced yesterday that it has amended its regulations to allow the importation of certain peppers from Costa Rica and the rest of Central America without treatment.
This change took effect March 7, according to the Web site of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, http:// aphis.usdas.gov.
To be eligible for export to the United States, the peppers must be grown in approved locations, and producers must be properly registered in Costa Rica. In addition, the peppers are subject to pre-harvest inspections, trapping and shipping procedures. These measures are designed to prevent the introduction of disease-bearing pests, such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, to the United States, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in San José.
The launching of pepper exports to the United States was an important Costa Rican concern during the negotiation of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which prompted the Inspection Service to accelerate its efforts to revise and approve the regulations for pepper imports, the statement said.
The same process is under way to permit Costa Rican tomato exports to the United States.
-Tico Times
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