About Us

Under the ILO objective of promoting Decent Work and the Employment Sector's objective of promoting quality and productive employment and income for both women and men, the Gender Promotion Programme (GENPROM), was established in Employment Sector in 1999 and integrated into the Employment Policies Unit in 2004. The Programme was aimed at increasing capacities of the ILO staff and constituents in the formulation, monitoring and implementation of more gender responsive policies, programmes and technical cooperation projects for employment promotion. The Programme has promoted a "life-cycle" and "rights-based" approach towards gender equality in the world of work: a life-cycle approach redresses gender-based discrimination at different stages of life, and a rights-based approach is principled in gender equality as a fundamental human right at work. The Programme has developed a knowledge base and tools addressing emerging gender and employment issues, and undertaken advocacy, advisory services, as well as technical cooperation activities promoting more and better jobs for women and men.

Over several years, a wealth of experience, lessons learned, tools and resource materials have been developed to assist the ILO constituents -- government policy-makers and planners, employers' and workers' organizations in undertaking gender analyses of labour market and employment patterns, raising their awareness on gender concerns in employment promotion, and providing direct assistance to poor working women in particular in the informal economy.

In the Employment Policies Unit the Programme's accumulated knowledge will contribute to developing pro-active policies for promoting gender equality in employment. Former GENPROM staff members are currently actively involved in a number of gender mainstreaming activities within the Employment Sector. Through membership in taskforces and gender mainstreaming strategy teams they are assisting various departments to fully incorporate the gender dimension into employment promotion. Staff members are also continuing to provide technical assistance to projects in the field and to mainstream gender into employment policy advice.

Why focus on Gender and Employment?

Globalization has created both unprecedented economic opportunities as well as deepened social inequalities and personal insecurities. Both women and men have been affected. However, gender inequalities persist and it is overwhelmingly women who suffer the most:

• With 54 per cent of working age women in the labour force as compared to over 80 per cent male participation, the world is not making the most of its female talents and potentials.
• Poverty is increasingly feminized. Women constitute 70 per cent of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor.
• Half of the world's labour is in sex-stereotyped occupations, with women dominating those occupations which are lowest paying and least protected.
• More and more women are entering paid work but more jobs have often not meant better jobs. In developed countries, most new employment has been in part-time jobs, while in developing countries women have gone mainly into the informal sector and home-based work. Globally, women earn 20-30 per cent less than men.
• Women continue to be mainly responsible for the "care economy". If the value of the unpaid, invisible work done by women - approximately US$11 trillion per annum - is included, global output would be almost 50 per cent greater.
• Some women have breached glass walls and ceilings, but worldwide they hold only 1 per cent of chief executive positions. The majority experience the effects of the so-called "sticky floor" - on the bottom rungs of their occupation.
• More women are creating their own businesses, which are important sources of employment. But the policy, regulatory and institutional environments are often unfriendly to women entrepreneurs.
• Women are increasingly migrating, both legally and illegally, for employment. Female migrant workers are among the most vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. The international trafficking of women and children (boys and girls) is one of the most serious and fastest growing problems today.
• Women continue to have less access than men to investments in skills, knowledge and lifelong learning. In a world increasingly dominated by information and communication technology, gender inequalities lead to new forms of social exclusion.
• The gender gap is graying into a poverty trap: women face a much higher risk than men of a drastic drop in living standards when they retire. Yet, women account for the majority of the over-60 population in almost all countries.
• Men too are facing growing employment insecurity. In some countries, open unemployment rates are higher for men than for women, and new job opportunities are more women-friendly.