The Asociación de Funcionarias y Funcionarios del Ministerio de la Mujer y la Equidad de Género (Anfummeg), the staff association of Chile's Ministry of Women and Gender Equity, took aim at minister Judith Marín on Tuesday. In a public statement, the union criticized the cuts that the 2027 Ley de Presupuestos (Chile's annual Budget Law) bill makes to its own ministry.
According to BioBioChile, the objections focus on three measures: the closure of the Fundación para la Promoción y Desarrollo de la Mujer (Prodemu), a foundation for the advancement and development of women; less funding for programs aimed at women; and a cut of 26 posts in the maximum staffing of the Servicio Nacional de la Mujer y la Equidad de Género (SernamEG), the national women's and gender equity service.
The core argument is the contradiction. President José Antonio Kast's government has made increasing women's participation in the labor force a priority. According to the staff, the budget decisions push in the opposite direction. "That contradiction deserves an explanation", the association wrote.
The most sensitive case is Prodemu. The bill, which the Executive submitted to Congress last week, funds the foundation only until March 31, 2027. After that date it will have to stop operating, unless lawmakers amend the budget item.
The association highlighted Prodemu's on-the-ground work, especially with women in rural areas. It also questioned why the government would close an institution devoted to women's training just as it says it wants more women working.
The union also focused on care work. According to its assessment, it is mainly women who cut their hours, put off projects or leave their jobs to look after children, older adults, the sick or dependent people. That is why, they argue, the problem is not solved just by creating jobs.
They added a direct effect: the State employs many women. Shrinking specialized teams and closing gender institutions, they warn, also hits female employment within the public sector.
"We are witnessing the great incoherence of this Kast government", the association said, accusing the administration of weakening tools built over years to address women's job insecurity.
Minister Marín offers a different reading. According to The Clinic, she welcomed the fact that her ministry's budget grows by 1.7% and argued that Prodemu's problems date back further. "The damage was done under the previous administration", she said.
Marín blamed the decision taken during the tenure of Irina Karamanos, partner of former president Gabriel Boric, to move Prodemu's agreements out of the First Lady's office and transfer them to the ministries. The minister described that damage as "irreparable". Karamanos responded by accusing her of spreading "false soundbites" about her tenure.
Anfummeg closed its statement with a call to uphold the country's gender institutions and to advance shared responsibility for care among men, companies and the State. Prodemu's fate now rests with Congress, which must pass the Ley de Presupuestos before the end of the year.
