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ILO: Progress on gender equality at work remains inadequate
Despite some progress made on achieving gender equality in the world of work since the 1995 Beijing Declaration on women rights, many challenges remain, including a motherhood pay gap.
ADDIS ABABA (ILO News) – Twenty years after the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, women are only marginally better off with respect to equality at work.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) also released a working paper on the “Motherhood Pay Gap" between mothers and women without children. According to “the motherhood pay gap: a review of the issues, theory and international evidence”, mothers often earn less than women without children, depending on where they live and how many children they have.
Women continue to experience widespread discrimination and inequality in the workplace. In most parts of the world, women are often in low-paid jobs; lack access to education, training, recruitment; have limited decision-making power; and still shoulder responsibility for most unpaid care work.
African perspective
Gender inequality remains one of the biggest challenges in Africa. Access to and ownership of resources, the high prevalence of violence against women (VAW) and girls, the lack of investment in social protection, and the limited financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment are some of the key gaps.
But the African Union declared 2015 “Year of Women Empowerment and development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”. The regional call advocates among Member States to integrate gender and women’s issues into macroeconomic policies and to give women more access and control over land, labour, finance, credit and markets. It also emphasized on more support for women’s entrepreneurship to enhance productivity in the rural and informal economy through skills development.
The International Women's Day offers a great opportunity to “Make it happen!'' and the ILO in Africa, together with its partners, is involved in different activities to mark the day:
In Madagascar, the UN System will mark the day under the national theme: "For the enjoyment of women's rights, are all responsible" in Toliara (South).
In Ethiopia, the African Union and UNWOMEN are coordinating a half-day awareness raising session on 7 March while the Women First Run (5km all-women run) with the theme “Empower a woman, empower a nation” will be held on March 15. The UN will sponsor 200 university girl students to be among 10,000 women participants.
In Tanzania a picture competition on Beijing +20 will invite UN Clubs, YUNA and UNA youths to participate.
In Uganda, the UN Women “HeforShe” campaign will be launched by the country's President.
In Zambia, a photo exhibition will herald the stories of gender based violence survivors.
In Egypt, a bazaar will showcase the work of women entrepreneurs and training on ILO guide Get Ahead will be organized for 100 women beneficiaries.
In Cameroon, an interagency conference with the national Theme, “Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action” will be organised followed by a parade.
In Zimbabwe, together with UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF and UNDP, the ILO will take part to the national event entitled: "@Beijing +20: The journey towards women empowerment in Zimbabwe: Successes and Challenges". About 5000 women are expected to attend to discuss various sub-themes including "Poverty and the Economy-Agriculture, Mining, Trade and Tourism", "Violence Against Women" ; "Health"; AND "The Girl Child".
No equal pay, no justice
These awareness activities are more so essential because despite some concrete affirmative action measures, African women are still under-represented in top decision-making roles in the continent.
In general, women earn on average 77 per cent of what men earn, with the absolute gap widening for higher-earning women. The ILO has noted that without targeted action, at the current rate, pay equity between women and men will not be achieved before 2086, or at least 71 years from now.
In addition, the ILO says it appears that the unadjusted motherhood gap tends to be larger in developing than developed countries. In developing countries, evidence suggests that the sex of the child may matter as daughters may be more likely than sons to help with household and caring tasks, thereby reducing the motherhood gap.
“The overriding conclusion 20 years on from Beijing is that despite marginal progress, we have years, even decades to go until women enjoy the same rights and benefits as men at work,” concluded Shauna Olney, Chief of the Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch of the ILO.
The ILO has launched the Women at Work initiative alongside the Future of Work initiative, to place a spotlight on gender. The future of work means more women at work, and this future must deliver on gender equality.
Interviews by print, web or broadcast media can be arranged via the ILO Regional Communication team for Africa, Tel: +254 115 444 415, [email protected]
