Major programme 140. Equality for Women

Summary of 1998-99 proposals and comparison with previous biennium (including funds from other sources)

140.1. One of the important changes in the world of work in recent decades has been the increase in the number of women in paid employment and in income-generating activities. Since the 1980s, women have been providing the bulk of all new labour supply in most regions of the world, while male participation rates have been consistently falling. However, although women’s employment has been growing, they still have higher unemployment rates than men and far outnumber men among the poor and the underemployed. Nor has the rise in employment opportunities for women been matched by an equivalent level of progress in their working conditions. Women are crowded into low-skilled, low-status, low-paid and atypical jobs under precarious forms of employment arrangements. Indeed, most of women’s work remains unpaid, unrecognized and undervalued and the unequal division of family responsibilities continues to hinder women’s employment and career opportunities.

140.2. The objective of this major programme is greater equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women in the world of work. With a view to achieving this objective, the Office of the Special Adviser on Women Workers’ Questions provides overall guidance and coordination for ILO programmes and activities as they relate to equality between men and women. Specific ILO activities to follow up the Beijing Conference will focus on: creating productive employment for women and eradicating poverty; improving the working conditions and social protection of women; strengthening organizations and institutions that represent and support women; and promoting the more widespread application and ratification of international labour standards that are of particular relevance to women, including the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). A major ILO contribution to the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women will be the International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women, of which a brief summary is given below.

140.3. The coordination activities of the Special Adviser will include participating in the design, monitoring and evaluation of ILO programmes and activities to promote the mainstreaming of gender equality issues in all ILO activities. Training courses will be organized for ILO staff and constituents, and workshops and regional and interregional seminars will be held to disseminate the experience acquired in addressing gender issues and mainstreaming gender concerns in economic and social policies and programmes. Advocacy will be carried out and promotional materials will be produced to raise awareness of gender-related issues. This work will be supported by a strengthening of the ILO’s information dissemination capacity and the preparation of policy guidelines, best practice guides and training packages. The Special Adviser will also be responsible for representing the ILO at conferences and seminars on gender issues organized by institutions within and outside the United Nations system. Close relations will be maintained with other United Nations agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, particularly with a view to collaborating in the implementation of the United Nations System-wide Medium-term Plan for the Advancement of Women (1996-2001).

140.4. The regular budget resources for this programme are proposed to be increased by two Professional work-years and one General Service work-year in order to ensure adequate ILO action to follow up the Beijing Conference. An amount of some $95,000 (which is some $24,000 less than the previous biennium) is included as RBTC resources, to be used for regional and international workshops and seminars, advocacy and other promotional activities.

International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women

140.5. At its 265th (March 1996) Session, the Governing Body approved a proposal concerning the establishment of an International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women. The programme will give a new impetus to the ILO’s longstanding commitment to promote full, productive and remunerative employment in conditions of equality. In doing so, it will also contribute to the successful follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and the World Summit for Social Development. The immediate objectives are: at the national level, to have enhanced national capacities and strengthened legal and institutional frameworks for improving the quantity and quality of employment for women; and at the international level, to have sharpened global concern for women’s employment issues and to have promoted a comprehensive and integrated approach to more and better jobs for women based on the systematic accumulation and dissemination of information and experiences between countries and regions.

140.6. The International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women is global in scope because women’s employment is a worldwide problem of concern to industrialized, developing and transition economies; and women’s employment is central to the achievement of gender equality and critical poverty eradication and sustainable development. A distinguishing feature of the programme is that women’s employment does not have to involve an “either or” situation: the programme emphasizes both the quantity and quality of jobs; and partnerships between women and men. It aims to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve an acceptable and feasible balance between more and better jobs; that more jobs for women does not have to mean less jobs for men, that “better” jobs can benefit both women and men; and that women’s productive and remunerative employment helps families, societies and economies.

140.7. The programme will involve technical cooperation and policy-oriented and applied research implemented at:

The national level:

The programme will be demand driven, with countries developing their own action plans within the context of their follow-up to Beijing and Copenhagen. While the programme will be flexible and dynamic to take into account national priorities and concerns, the distinguishing feature will be its integrated and comprehensive approach. The ILO’s long record of technical cooperation and research has shown that to ensure effective and sustainable impact, there should be national commitment and a range of mutually reinforcing or complementary components for: policy formulation and reform, action programmes or specially targeted interventions,  improving  the  legislative  framework  and legal literacy, strengthening institutional structures and mechanisms, enhancing the participation of women in decision making, strengthening the information and database, and awareness raising and sensitization.

The international level:

The programme will support and complement national efforts through: the preparation and widespread dissemination of information and guidelines on policies, programmes and best practices for providing more and better jobs for women; promoting and facilitating the sharing of information and experiences among countries and regions; mobilizing and galvanizing political will and broad-based support for women’s employment; and collaborating and coordinating with other international organizations.

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