Eurasian Women’s Forum: Towards Peace, Harmony and Social Well-Being
“At a time when the global economy is still struggling to regain its footing after the massive financial crisis and other economic shocks, and with a new generation of wars and unrest and flows of desperate people around the world, the need for a discussion which aims “Towards Peace, Harmony and Social Well-Being” is urgent, said ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy, Sandra Polaski at the opening of the Eurasian Women’s Forum today.
24 September 2015
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“The discussion of Peace, Harmony and Social Well-Being is very much in line with the core mandate of the International Labour Organization, which is expressed in its preamble: “Universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice,” said Polaski.
An important element of social justice is equality between women and men. On this fundamental dimension, Russia and most of the CIS countries and many others present at this forum perform relatively well, compared to a world where gender equality remains a goal rather than a reality. Overall, in most CIS countries, women hold more than 30 % of top positions as legislators, senior officials and managers, which is above the global average. Nonetheless, there is still much room for improvement to come to full gender parity, said Polaski.
Today in most regions women equal or even outnumber men as university graduates and this is true in many CIS countries, as well. In Russia, 60% of adult women have attained tertiary education, which is the highest percentage in any G20 country.
As for women’s participation in the economy, the rates in the CIS countries is 54.5%, higher than the global average, and the gender gaps in labour force participation in CIS countries are smaller than the global gender gap. However, the labour force participation rates for working age women in over half of CIS countries have decreased over the last twenty years. Polaski called on the countries to take steps to reduce these downward trends where they exist, so as not to lose the relatively high level of women’s participation that was built up over earlier decades.
“I would like to assure you that the insights and messages from our discussions will also inform ILO efforts to build strong gender equality dimensions at the international level, including within the G 20 and BRICS frameworks, and we will work closely with your governments and social partners in advancing this objective,” she concluded.
The forum brought together more than 700 guests and participants from more than 80 countries of the world. On 24 – 25 September the Forum will discuss the issues of social well-being and sustainable development, international action to build trust and achieve progress, empowerment of women in evolving economic context, politics and social integration. Today ILO Deputy Director-General Sandra Polaski and Director of the ILO Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Dimitrina Dimitrova made presentations at the panel discussions on Women and Power: World’s Agenda of Sustainable Development and Women and the Evolving Economy. New Opportunities and Challenges.
An important element of social justice is equality between women and men. On this fundamental dimension, Russia and most of the CIS countries and many others present at this forum perform relatively well, compared to a world where gender equality remains a goal rather than a reality. Overall, in most CIS countries, women hold more than 30 % of top positions as legislators, senior officials and managers, which is above the global average. Nonetheless, there is still much room for improvement to come to full gender parity, said Polaski.
Today in most regions women equal or even outnumber men as university graduates and this is true in many CIS countries, as well. In Russia, 60% of adult women have attained tertiary education, which is the highest percentage in any G20 country.
As for women’s participation in the economy, the rates in the CIS countries is 54.5%, higher than the global average, and the gender gaps in labour force participation in CIS countries are smaller than the global gender gap. However, the labour force participation rates for working age women in over half of CIS countries have decreased over the last twenty years. Polaski called on the countries to take steps to reduce these downward trends where they exist, so as not to lose the relatively high level of women’s participation that was built up over earlier decades.
“I would like to assure you that the insights and messages from our discussions will also inform ILO efforts to build strong gender equality dimensions at the international level, including within the G 20 and BRICS frameworks, and we will work closely with your governments and social partners in advancing this objective,” she concluded.
The forum brought together more than 700 guests and participants from more than 80 countries of the world. On 24 – 25 September the Forum will discuss the issues of social well-being and sustainable development, international action to build trust and achieve progress, empowerment of women in evolving economic context, politics and social integration. Today ILO Deputy Director-General Sandra Polaski and Director of the ILO Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Dimitrina Dimitrova made presentations at the panel discussions on Women and Power: World’s Agenda of Sustainable Development and Women and the Evolving Economy. New Opportunities and Challenges.