The Cuban Women''s Federation (FMC) celebrates today its 55th anniversary working for equality and participation of that important sector of the population in all fronts of society.
 
At present, Cuban women play an essential role in society and the progress made in the full realization of equality achieved since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 is undeniable.
 
They represent 46 percent of women employed in Cuba's civil state sector; they are more than 65 percent of professionals and technicians in the country, and 39 percent of leaders are women.
 
About three million Cuban women are FMC members, and statistics show that about 70,400 young women joined the organization in 2014.
 
The only requirements to be a member of the organization are to be 14 years old and the principle of voluntariness, it is then when the young women have an encounter with the history of the organization.
 
The evocation of history was precisely what has marked the celebrations in 2015 of the 55th anniversary of the FMC, above all through the figure of Vilma Espin (1930-2007), founder and the eternal president of the organization.
 
Vilma Espin led the process of transformation of millions of women who until then had dedicated themselves to take care of their children and family. Those tasks were supplemented with studies and work, which allowed women to become necessary for the development of the nation.
 
Since its foundation, the FMC has had two of its main fronts in the brigades of health and social workers.
 
They are voluntary promoters who develop educational actions to improve the quality of life, and are important activists in epidemiological emergency situations.
 
They work within society in the early detection of problems, such as children's absence from school and family neglect to minors, as well as taking care of single mothers without a job and helpless elderly people, among others.
 
Last year, the organization held its 9th Congress, in which its role in community work and as an interlocutor with the government for the promotion of public policies aimed at empowering women were reaffirmed.
 
Recently, Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura stressed the presence of Cuban women in most sectors of society, becoming a majority in many of them, he said.