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GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT

The ILO emphasizes the importance of integrating gender equality into employment promotion to enhance productivity, economic growth, and reduce poverty. Despite progress, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles and face socio-economic disadvantages, particularly in developing countries. The ILO implements a gender mainstreaming strategy and provides technical support to ensure gender concerns are integrated into employment policies and programs.

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Fabian Alberto Domaica
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5 views

GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT

The ILO emphasizes the importance of integrating gender equality into employment promotion to enhance productivity, economic growth, and reduce poverty. Despite progress, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles and face socio-economic disadvantages, particularly in developing countries. The ILO implements a gender mainstreaming strategy and provides technical support to ensure gender concerns are integrated into employment policies and programs.

Uploaded by

Fabian Alberto Domaica
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Gender and employment

Promoting decent and productive employment and income opportunities


equally for women and men is one of the key priorities of the ILO’s Decent
Work Agenda. Integrating gender concerns into employment promotion can
contribute to more effective boosting of productivity and economic growth;
human resources development; sustainable development; and reducing
poverty.

The ILO implements a gender mainstreaming strategy in employment


promotion in line with the relevant International Labour Standards1 and Global
Employment Agenda (GEA) , and as called for by 2008 Social Justice
Declaration , 2009 ILC Conclusions on Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent
Work , and the Global Jobs Pact .

Why integrating gender equality


concerns into employment promotion?
Despite some progress made over the last few decades in increasing women’s
labour force participation and narrowing gender gaps in wages, gender
equality in the world of work still remains an elusive goal. While millions of
women have become successful entrepreneurs, women are still grossly
underrepresented in the world’s board rooms. In particular, in the developing
world, women continue to form a large majority of the world’s working poor,
earn less income, and are more often affected by long-term unemployment
than men. This is due to women’s socio-economic disadvantages caused by
gender-based discrimination and their double roles of being a worker and a
care taker for the society. Women often have less access to productive
resources, education, and skills development and labour market opportunities
than men in many societies. Largely, this is because of persistent social norms
ascribing gender roles, which are often, slow to change. Furthermore, women
continue to undertake most of unpaid care work, which has become an
increasing challenge in their efforts to engage in productive work, both in
subsistence agriculture and market economy, especially in countries which are
negatively affected by environmental change and HIV and AIDS.
ILO’s life-cycle and rights-based
approach in promoting gender equality
in employment
A life-cycle and rights-based approach is promoted in promoting decent and
productive employment and income opportunities equally for women and
men. Girl child who faces discrimination in her early stages of life tends to
accumulate socio-economic disadvantages, which can lead to reduced
employability and higher poverty in her later life. Ensuring full human
resources development, through equal access to education and skills
development opportunities for youth could enhance their chances of higher
employability, in particular, for young women. In adulthood, increasing
employability of women and men through equal access to life-long learning
and productive resources can also enhance their chances of obtaining decent
and productive employment and income opportunities throughout their adult
lives. This can also lead to better economic security in their old age. Creating
inclusive labour markets adaptable to changing economic realities, but with
equity and minimum employment and income security, can create more
conducive environment for women’s enhanced labour participation and better
income security, especially for older workers and persons with disability.

What the ILO does


Over the past two decades, a wealth of experience, lessons learned, tools and
resource materials have been developed to address gender concerns in
various intervention areas of employment promotion. The ILO provides
technical support to the constituents through undertaking knowledge
development and advocacy, tools development, capacity-building, policy
advice, and technical cooperation projects for direct job creation, in particular,
targeting poor women and men in the informal and rural economy and in
post-crisis countries.

In order to institutionalize gender mainstreaming in all the areas of ILO’s work


in employment promotion, a Gender Mainstreaming Strategy has been
developed with an aim of ensuring that gender concerns are fully integrated
in formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of employment
policies, programmes, and other actions.

--------------------------------------------------

1. C. 122 Employment Policy (1964), C. 111 Discrimination (Employment and


Occupation) (1958), and C. 100 Equal remuneration (1951)
Highlights

1. Working Paper

Gender dimensions of national employment policies: A 24 country study


18 November 2013

The Working Paper is a joint undertaking of the Gender, Equality and


Diversity Branch (GED) of the Working Conditions and Equality
Department, and the Employment and Labour Markets Branch (EMPLAB)
of the Employment Policy Department (EMPLOYMENT).

2. Event

Promoting Women in the Labor Market - Asia and Pacific Regional


Workshop , Nostalg Ballroom, Oakwood Joy-Nostalg Center in Manila, Philippines
17-18 June 2013

The regional workshop, co-hosted by ILO, aims to share and discuss with
ADB, ILO and DMCs the outcome and recommendations of the studies of
the labor market, government policies and legislation conducted together
with the recommendations made in the regional synthesis within the
context of the global good practices reviews.

Promoting Gender Equality through Employment Strategies: ILO


Perspective , a presentation of Naoko Otobe.

3. Event

Multiple Global Crises and Gender: Rethinking Alternative Paths for


Development - An UNRISD Seminar
25 June 2012
UNRISD Seminar Series event with Devaki Jain, Naoko Otobe (ILO) and
Mariama Williams (South Center) and an introduction from UNRISD
Director Sarah Cook.
Palais des Nations. Geneva.

Gender dimensions of the world of work in a globalized economy , a


presentation of Naoko Otobe.
Key resources
1. Resource guide

Resource guide on Gender issues in employment and labour market


policies: Working towards women’s economic empowerment and gender
equality
12 May 2014

2. Harvesting Feminist Knowledge for Public Policy: Rebuilding Process

December 2011

3. Global economic crisis, gender and work: key policy challenges and options - Global
Job Pact Policy Brief no. 15

November 2010

4. Guidelines on Gender in Employment Policies: Information Resource


Book

14 December 2009

Provides guidelines on how to mainstream gender equality in specific


employment policy areas.

5. Globalization, economic policy and employment : poverty and gender


implications

01 March 2006

Employment Strategy Paper 2006/3

6. Measuring gender dimensions of the world of work in Bangladesh : a


training guide

01 January 2006

7. A Guide on Employment of Older Women Workers in Estonia


01 January 2004

Series on gender in the life cycle. Also held in Estonian

8. Preventing Discrimination, Exploitation and Abuse of Women Migrant


Workers - An Information Guide

01 June 2003

6 Booklets

9. Identification of economic opportunities for women’s groups and


communities

01 January 2002

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