ILO hinges future of work on women

FROM the International Labour Organization (ILO) came a verdict that despite progress in areas such as education and maternal mortality, the world has fallen short in bringing women’s employment, earnings and working conditions in line with those of men.

According to the Chief of the ILO’s Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch, Shauna Olney, globally, the labour force participation rate for women is 50 per cent, compared to 77 percent for men, saying having more women in the labour market is not enough but the quality of jobs is equally very paramount.

While explaining why achieving gender equality is crucial for the world of work, Olney argued that when women are better off, the world becomes a better place for all.

Reflecting this reality, 193 countries have included gender equality as a core element of the newly adopted U.N. 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Consequently, 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) articulate gender-responsive targets and Goal five, to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, remains a stand-alone priority.

Worldwide, women earn approximately 77 per cent of what men earn and continue to be primarily responsible for household chores and family responsibilities. While 51 per cent of ILO member States provide at least 14 weeks maternity leave, this still leaves millions of women without the fundamental right to adequate maternity protection.

She explained: “Many women are at risk of violence at home and at work. Violence at work affects women’s ability to access employment, remain in employment and impacts on productivity. Women are under-represented in decision-making positions at work, and while women manage over 30 per cent of all businesses, this tends to be concentrated in micro and small enterprises with only 19 per cent of women sitting on boards of larger companies. Only 5 per cent or less of CEO’s of the world’s largest corporations are women. There is still much to be done.”

To realize the world’s full potentials, she pointed out that cultural traditions and economic conditions cannot excuse discrimination and other violations of fundamental human rights.

“Countries, whether high or low income, cannot any longer afford to lose out on the social and economic potential of gender equality. Recent research shows that if women participated in the economy identically to men, this would add up to US$28 trillion, or 26 per cent, of annual global GDP in 2025. If money talks, people should be listening to these extraordinary figures,” she said.

Olney stated that ambitious policies that succeed in transforming gender norms and relationships in society and at work, and hence addressing structural inequality, are required.

Indeed, ILO equality Conventions, addressing discrimination, equal remuneration for work of equal value, maternity protection and work and family measures, including access to parental leave as well as quality and affordable social care services for dependent family members, provide the road map for action. Recent standards of particular relevance also promote decent work for domestic workers, the creation of social protection floors and the formalization of the informal economy.

More and more countries are adopting public policies that tackle the root causes and consequences of gender inequality and discrimination in all areas of life. “Sharing the care” has been a central focus of these measures.

She highlighted that the world must value the works that women do.

Her words: “There will never be gender equality until the work that women undertake is valued appropriately, and measures are being taken to address this concern. In Portugal, for example, a tripartite sectoral committee developed a Job Evaluation Method (JEM), which helped reduce the gender pay gap by tackling discrimination against women in female-dominated jobs that were traditionally undervalued. The Netherlands protects by law the working conditions of ‘marginal’ part-time workers, who are mostly women.”

The ILO has a leading role in guiding the transformation to gender equality in the workplace. In preparation for the centenary of the ILO and as an integral element of its engagement with the sustainable development goals the organization has established the Women at Work Centenary Initiative.

Meanwhile, ILO has begun a global media campagin on migration tagged ‘Reporting Fairly On Labour Migration’ aimed at encouraging fair reporting on labour migration by recognizing the best media coverage and accurate reporting on the topic.

It said this year’s International Migrants Day, which is slated for December 18, is particularly significant as it marks the 25th anniversary of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The ILO has launched this global competition in collaboration with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE), as well as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The competition will run from October 1st, 2015 and close on December 1st, 2015. Both Professional Journalists as well as Citizen Journalists working with video broadcast and multimedia formats are invited to participate in this competition by submitting a piece of their own work that demonstrates fair reporting on labour migration. Competition submission must have been created and published between the dates June 1, 2014 –December 1st, 2015 to qualify.

It said the entry for the competition is by filling out the online entry form by December 1st 2015 at 17:00, Central European Time.

It added that the only reports that have been published between 1 June 2014 – 1 December 2015 would be accepted.

On how the entries would be judged, ILO said a panel of five distinguished judges would evaluate the top 10 entries from both the Professional Journalist and Citizen Journalist

Entries must align with the basic ethics of journalism and both video broadcast and multimedia reports will be judged on the creativity and accuracy amongst other criteria.

The ILO will award a $1,000 prize to one winner from the ‘Professional Journalist’ and ‘Citizen Journalist’ categories for their exemplary work on reporting fairly on the topic of labour migration. Winners will be announced on December 18, 2015, marking International Migrants Day. Winning entries will also be featured on the ILO’s main website and promoted widely as an example of good practices worldwide.