IWD: ITUC launches women in leadership campaign

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has launched the Women in Leadership Campaign to strengthen women’s leadership in labour unions. ITUC Global insisted that strengthening women is essential to advancing gender equality in the world of work and society at large.

In commemorating International Women’s Day, ITUC said: “In this important moment, the ITUC is also proud to announce the launch of the ITUC’s new campaign on Women in Leadership. Women remain underrepresented in decision-making roles in political, economic, and social spheres, including in trade unions. Strengthening women’s leadership in unions is essential to advancing gender equality in the world of work and society at large.”
Worryingly, ITUC noted that many of its affiliates are yet to achieve gender parity in leadership, which underscores the importance of the launch of the campaign.

It explained that the new campaign aimed to increase women’s representation in the highest decision-making bodies of ITUC affiliates by the next ITUC World Congress in 2027 and forms part of the ITUC’s Democracy that delivers campaign.

ITUC calls on governments to accelerate action towards the unfulfilled promises of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA).

“We will be stepping up our efforts locally, regionally and globally to create a world where gender equality is not a distant aspiration but a lived reality for every woman and girl. The ITUC is committed to it now and always,” it said.

On International Women’s Day, ITUC said it stands in solidarity with women workers, their trade unions and all progressive allies around the world, in the struggle for gender equality, women’s rights, and social and economic justice for all.

It added: “Within the current context of rising authoritarianism, a surge in far-right political forces, attacks on democracy and shrinking civic space, our struggle is now more crucial than ever.”

Adopted 30 years ago, BPfA remained to date, the blueprint for gender equality and women’s human rights. However, the promises made have yet to be fully realised for millions of women around the world.

ITUC noted that while significant strides have been made in all critical areas of action of the BPfA, immense challenges remain, saying, “These have intensified due to a global pushback from transnational movements – including among conservative religious, civil society groups and state actors – seeking to undermine, erode, and even roll back hard-won gains on women’s rights and gender equality.”

It stated that the concept of gender and gender equality has been under attack in recent years as these movements gain ground. It added: “This backlash has led to restrictions on reproductive rights, an increase in gender-based violence and harassment, threats to gender equality education and women’s access to education and rising populist rhetoric that hardens or maintains conservative patriarchal norms, fuelling misogynistic, antifeminist, anti-LGBTQI+ and anti-reproductive rights sentiment.”

ITUC further noted that trade unions have played a pivotal role in fighting for gender equality in the world of work and beyond ensuring that all people regardless of gender, class, race, migrant status or other grounds can participate on equal terms.

It, therefore, restated its commitment to continue to lead the charge for the full implementation of the ambitious goals set out in the BPfA. Indeed, the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will review the implementation of the BPfA.

ITUC said it is critical to ensure that the upcoming Beijing+30 Declaration supports workers’ demands for a New Social Contract grounded in a gender-transformative agenda and is fully aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Agenda, in particular SDG 8 on decent work, SDG 5 on gender equality and SDG 4 on education and vocational training.

The ITUC calls on governments to advance gender equality for social justice, democracy and peace to build a world free of all forms of gender-based discrimination, including intersecting forms of discrimination, extremism, violence and intolerance.

It also charged governments to affirm workers’ rights as human rights by upholding the ILO standards and the fundamental principles and rights at work, in particular the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining and the right to strike.

According to the trade union body, governments should establish universal access to gender-transformative social protection and quality public services and ensure decent work for women, including through adequate investments in national employment policies, worker-led formalisation, public investments in comprehensive care systems and regulation of the digital transition.