Demonstrating commitment and leadership on equal pay – an EPIC Pledging Event

The main objective of the event is to accelerate the pace towards equal pay for work of equal value, in line with target 8.5 of the SDGs.

Introduction

In September 2017, a strategic multi-stakeholder partnership, the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), was launched to assist UN Member States in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goal 8, target 8.5 which calls for equal pay for work of equal value by 2030, as well as Goal 5, as equal pay is central to the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The parties committed to EPIC will work together at the global, regional and national levels to support governments, employers and workers and their organizations, and other stakeholders, to make equal pay between women and men for work of equal value a reality, and reduce the gender pay gap. This will be supported through research and data collection, advocacy, knowledge sharing, capacity building, technical advisory services, data analysis and monitoring. Improving the collection of sex-disaggregated data on earnings and clarifying the merits and demerits of different methods to measure the gender pay gap are key to informing policy action and assessing its effectiveness.

The innovative work of EPIC will contribute significantly to challenging some of the main issues underlying gender pay gaps, by strengthening the evidence base for policy action, sharing good practices and lessons learned, promoting the business case for change in favour of gender equality, and by investing in initiatives already proven to lead to positive results.

One year after its launch, global leaders, including Heads of State, CEOs of multinational companies, Heads of employers’ and workers’ organizations, and representatives of renowned universities and civil society organizations will come together to publicly demonstrate their commitment to work together under the EPIC umbrella.

The main objective of the event is to accelerate the pace towards equal pay for work of equal value, in line with target 8.5 of the SDGs.

Pledging Criteria

All pledges should:
  • Be in line with the EPIC’s vision, mission and goals (see Annex 3 of the Pledge Note);
  • Be action-oriented, measureable and time-bound (objectives to be achieved during the period 2018-2022);
  • Be short, concise and specific (no more than 10 lines).
The EPIC Secretariat will screen pledges to ensure that they comply with the above criteria (see examples of pledges in Annex 2 of the Pledge Note).

Submission and screening assessment

Prior to the EPIC pledging event, and at the latest by noon GMT on 31 August 2018, all pledges must be submitted to the EPIC Secretariat epic@ilo.org for review and feedback. Any pledges not meeting the requirements will be returned for further amendments.

Final amended pledges must reach the EPIC Secretariat by noon GMT on 1 September 2018 to epic@ilo.org.

Publication

Participants whose pledges have passed the screening assessment will be able to publicly announce their pledge during the event.

After the pledging event

Registered pledges will be integrated into the EPIC plan of work, providing the EPIC Secretariat an opportunity to offer technical assistance, as needed, to the respective countries/organizations. Pledge makers will be invited to designate a focal point of contact regarding their pledges.

Please contact the EPIC Secretariat at epic@ilo.org for questions on the preparation or on the content of pledges.