More and Better Jobs for Women in Mexico

April 2000 - September 2003

"More and Better Jobs for Women" has become part and parcel of the Mexican Government's policy and programming, in which gender issues currently have a visible profile. The National Plan of Action is the outcome of active collaboration between GENPROM, the Ministry of Labour, National Commission of Women, other national and state agencies and employers' and workers' organizations. Committed to the Plan, national and state governments have been using their own resources to launch implementation. Various committees have been established at national and state levels involving several stakeholders, who have undertaken gender capacity building activities with support from GENPROM and the ILO Office in Mexico. With external resources received from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Spain, the National Plan of Action for More and Better Jobs for Women is now able to target:

• About 3,000 salaried women workers, line managers, supervisors, trade union and employers representatives in the "maquila industry" in Coahuila State, who have received training in labour rights, occupational safety and health, organizational and negotiation skills and gender awareness raising courses. The aim has been to empower women workers and enable them to better organize themselves to represent their interests and to improve their working conditions as well as to promote equal opportunities for women and men with regard to access and promotion; intensive training have provided for smaller groups of women workers so that they could replicate and continue assisting other women beyond the project's support; Government official have been trained on specific gender issues and have formed teams with the aim of strengthening gender mainstreaming in public administration;
• About 400 women in the urban informal sector in Guerrero State have been provided with entrepreneurship training and gender awareness, technical and financial assistance so as to to create microenterprises and enhance their profitability and viability. Enhanced access to market through an increased access to credit facilities, product development and quality control training as well as on commercialization techniques have been important element of this project.

The project has officially closed in September 2003, though some activities are still taking place under the initiative and responsibility of local counterparts in Guerrero and Coahuila. On the request of the Mexican Government and with the financial support of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Spain a new Phase of the Project has been opened in January 2004 to extent these "model schemes" to other 4 States and groups of beneficiaries.

For further information please contact:

Maria Gallotti, Employment Policies and Advisory Services Unit (EMP/POL), ILO Geneva

Email: gallotti@ilo.org

Or: ILO Office in Mexico, email: MEXICO@oit.org.mx web site : www.oit.org.mx