Preface
The Asian Regional Consultation on Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women offered the ILO’s constituents and civil society an opportunity to survey progress made after the Conference, and to point to areas in which more needs to be done. The consultation, organized in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Employment of the Republic of the Philippines, was held in Manila from 6 to 8 October 1999, bringing together representatives of governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations from 23 countries and one special administrative region . The common understanding that the consultation produced will help guide the ILO’s work in the region, and represents a real and valuable contribution to the global follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women.
That conference, held in September of 1995, was the largest ever convened by the United Nations, and trained the eyes of the world on Beijing. It brought together the representatives of more than 189 nations and more than 2,500 non-governmental organizations, while a parallel NGO forum drew another 30,000.
The Beijing Platform for Action that the Conference adopted identifies 12 critical areas of concern. It proposes actions in each of them that would, if taken, help achieve equality between women and men. It is a compass that points us in the direction of a fairer society, a document that maps out a future that offers the world’s women the justice they deserve, but too often fail to receive. It also clearly sets out the responsibility of the United Nations system for ensuring that the advances it points to become reality. At least half of the 12 areas identified as critical are especially relevant to the world of work, and therefore to the International Labour Organization. These are:
The technical report produced for the Asian regional consultation showed clearly that, although progress has been made, there is still much to be done. It pointed to some advances: the gender gap between labour force participation rates narrowed in a number of countries between 1990-97; and, in the normative sphere, new legislation targeting sexual harassment as well as a gradual move away from protective measures towards legislation promoting equal employment opportunities. However, it also noted that women were still disproportionately represented in poverty. The Asian financial crisis marred the lives of millions of women, with job losses pushing many back into informal sector and agricultural households where they had to cope with lower incomes and heavier burdens for themselves, their children, parents, and possibly their husbands who had lost their formal sector jobs.
The report formed the basis for three days of informed and informative discussion, and for a common understanding that will guide the ILO’s work towards gender equality in Asia and the Pacific. The common understanding endorsed by participants in the closing plenary session addresses issues in three broad areas: globalization, employment, women and the girl child; women’s rights in the world of work; and power-sharing and partnerships.
It is important that we do not allow the results of these deliberations to gather dust. Gender equality is not a vague ideal to be reached at leisure: it is a question of justice. It is simply unfair that women should be discriminated against and denied equality of opportunity for no other reason than we are born women. Gender equality is the responsibility of all. It is an injustice that can affect more than half the world’s population. Each one of us has a responsibility to end it.
This is a responsibility that the ILO takes seriously, and the ILO Director-General has used International Women’s Day both this year and last year to renew the Organization’s commitment to it. There is not a single issue with which we deal which is not a women’s issue, and not a single issue which should not be viewed in this light.
Mitsuko Horiuchi
Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific
International Labour Office
Updated by TN. Approved by BKL. Last update: 5 June 2000.