INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCILS AND
SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
(AICESIS)
“Women Empowerment”
UN ECOSOC High-level Segment
New York – 28 June-2 July
Report drawn up by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of France
(CESE)
in conjunction with the Councils of Spain, Italy, China, Bulgaria, Congo, Mauritius,
Senegal and the European Committee
-2The AICESIS position on gender equality and empowerment of women
The discussion theme for the UN Economic and Social Council's General Assembly on 5 July 2010 is
to be, "Current global and national trends and challenges and their impact on gender equality and
empowerment of women". This choice confirms the fact that equality between women and men is
both a cardinal social value and a prerequisite for development. As early as last March, the UN
Economic and Social Council's Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW54) discussed
progress and the remaining challenges to be addressed to implement the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action 15 years on from their adoption in 1995. This anniversary comes at a time of
great economic and social difficulties for millions of women and men from both the developed and
the less-developed world, who are victims of a financial crisis which reduced global economic
production in 2009 to a level unparalleled since the end of the Second World War.
It is significant that one of the key Millennium Development Goals adopted at the United Nations
Millennium Summit in September 2000 is that of "Promoting gender equality and the empowerment
of women", which means, in specific terms, eradicating the disparities between girls and boys in
primary and secondary education and eliminating inequalities between women and men with regard to
health. In this connection, reference must also be made to the UN CSW/ECOSOC Agreed
Conclusions on Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (2008) and
Eradicating poverty, including through the empowerment of women throughout their life cycle, in a
globalising world (2002), which stress how it is becoming increasingly clear that investing in policies
to help women and girls boosts productivity, efficiency and sustainable economic growth, and that
greater economic empowerment of women is a key factor in achieving the Millennium Goals and
eradicating poverty.
Gender equality therefore has multiple dimensions, which need to be approached holistically.
Governments certainly have a primary responsibility in this area, both in the developed and
developing countries. However, the social partners also play a role in promoting equality through the
social dialogue and collective bargaining, together with civil society, which, given the nature of the
issues concerned, must also be able to play a significant role.
This report draws, in particular, on the contributions made by a number of social partner
organisations, notably, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Italian CNEL and the
Economic and Social Councils of Bulgaria, France, Mauritius, Senegal and the Congo.
I
The context: although some progress has been made, there are still major inequalities
between women and men
1.
In industrialised countries the issues of work-life balance and the pay gap go hand in hand
with individual and collective empowerment of women in the workplace, institutions and
society. In these countries, the most striking aspect is the millions of women working on
atypical contracts such as part-time or fixed-term contracts, who are therefore even more
vulnerable to job losses, have no protection network and are in danger of falling into a
situation of poverty affecting both individual and family.
EN
-3In developing countries, over the past few years, significant progress has been made towards
greater equality between women and men in the development context. Gender equality is now
included as one of the subjects addressed in the dialogue with partner countries in connection
with development cooperation. In addition, work on establishing the gender equality
programme has also progressed. However, the situation is still worrying.
2.
In this regard, a number of indicators are worth flagging:
According to an OECD document, of the 113 countries which did not manage to ensure parity
between girls and boys in primary and secondary education by the target date of 2005, only 18
are likely to reach the target in 2015. In developing countries, girls have on average 11% less
chance of going to secondary school than boys. Health statistics reveal an even wider gender
gap. According to a European Commission report, in sub-Saharan Africa 60% of HIVpositive adults are women and among young people, 75% of the newly infected with AIDS
are girls. As the 2008 UN Millennium Goals Report observes, each year more than 500,000
potential mothers die in childbirth or following complications in pregnancy.
The injustice of this situation is exacerbated by the fact that in most of these countries, women
play an important role in society and the economy. In Africa, for example, women represent
52% of the total population, but do 75% of the agricultural work and produce and market 60
to 80% of the food. According to some estimates (Department for International Development,
2007), in Sub-Saharan Africa, farm productivity could be increased up to 20% if women had
the same access as men to resources such as land, seed and fertiliser.
Yet, globally, more than two-thirds of those who are illiterate are women. It has been
calculated that children whose mothers have had five years of primary education have a 40%
higher chance of surviving beyond the age of 5.
II
Guidelines for a gender equality strategy
A gender equality strategy needs to combine two approaches: on the one hand, mainstreaming across
all development cooperation policies and, on the other, the adoption of a whole series of specific
objectives.
1.
In relation to mainstreaming, a key guideline for the gender equality strategy is that gender
issues should be integrated into all aspects of development policies. It is therefore important
that all the institutions involved in development cooperation, in the framework of the
principles and commitments defined in the 2005 Paris Declaration, point 42 of which
mentions the close links between development aid effectiveness and gender equality establish
effective dialogue with the key players during the preparation of aid programmes, and, in
particular, that public stakeholders, during the programme definition, management and
monitoring phases, bring to bear their own national equal opportunities mechanisms,
introduce mutual accountability mechanisms, use performance indicators, and make financial
incentives dependent on indicators that highlight the impact and results of the individual
initiatives undertaken and financed. In this context, greater synergy between public and
private development aid flows is needed. It is also important for partner countries to be given
-4better access to training, information and good practices on gender issues. In this way, gender
equality should be fully integrated into the implementation of development cooperation,
within both the European Union and the OECD and United Nations settings.
The European Commission in particular must continue to promote women's rights at
international level through its foreign and development policies. The gender dimension should
be included in all aspects of cooperation, with specific measures for women, promoting their
involvement in decision-making processes and their sense of initiative, and the capacity of
developing countries to take on the task of promoting equality should be boosted.
The gender dimension should form part of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP),
for action in crisis situations. In the field of humanitarian aid (ECHO), the Commission
should pay particular attention to women with children or dependent relatives in the event of
natural disasters and to women who have suffered violence at the hands of men in times of
upheaval.
2.
With regard to sectoral policies, there are a number of areas in which gender inequality is still
particularly acute:
a) access to education: this is an area where gender inequality is connected with women's
obligation to perform daily domestic work and with other traditional cultural practices.
Appropriate measures that can be introduced include the abolition of school fees and the
introduction of measures to promote both girls' education and adult literacy;
b) health: women have limited access to basic healthcare services, particularly in the areas of
reproductive and sexual health. Steps therefore need to be taken both to promote welfare
protection systems for women and to protect sexual and reproductive health
(i.e. HIV/Aids prevention campaigns and training for traditional midwives to reduce
infant and maternal mortality in rural areas);
c) employment and economic activity: very often, in developing countries, the majority of
women work in informal sectors where productivity and incomes are low, working
conditions difficult and social protection limited or non-existent. It is particularly
important to examine the share of public financing allocated for promoting the economic
and social emancipation of women and for equal treatment of women and men as
workers. To ensure and improve women's financial independence, both the quantity and
the quality of female employment should be improved, including support for the selfemployed. The risk faced by women of falling into a precarious situation must be
addressed and a fair distribution of family and domestic responsibilities encouraged.
Moreover, as regards the main barriers to gender equality in industrialised countries
(reconciliation of private and professional life and pay gap, atypical contracts), promotion
of proper representation of women in political, economic and trade-union decisionmaking bodies, in collective bargaining and in social dialogue is essential.
-5In both emerging and in many industrialised countries job protection networks need to be
strengthened, combating forms of insecurity and gaps in social protection networks
which, under the impact of the crisis, exacerbate conditions for working women. The
crisis is prompting the world economy to explore new sectors to encourage sustainable
economic growth. Of these, the green economy and the knowledge-based economy are
best placed to stimulate growth ensuring greater distributive justice, with due regard for
gender equality and, therefore, the parameters of the decent work agenda.
Another worrying fact is that women entrepreneurs, particularly when launching the
businesses they have set up, have difficulty in developing them, owing mainly to
insufficient market access. In this case, it is economic operators who are called on to
increase women's competitiveness and support their access to national and international
markets, in particular where women have limited resources, and to give priority among
suppliers to women entrepreneurs as a way of ensuring ongoing income for businesses set
up and managed by women.
d) farming: countries and the international organisations involved, working together with
cooperatives and cooperative organisations, have a key role to play in promoting farming
cooperatives by facilitating access for women to sources of funding, land and ownership
thereof, sustainable production techniques, investment in farm infrastructure and
irrigation, marketing mechanisms and financial support encouraging participation by
women in farming activities.
e) migration: the gender perspective, full respect for migrant women's human rights and
fundamental freedoms, the fight against discrimination and all forms of exploitation, the
right to healthcare and the fight against insecure working conditions and violence should
be included in public immigration policies and programmes in countries of origin,
destination and transit.
f) combating violence against women, in particular through reform of legislation in this
area, concrete measures to protect victims, training for police and legal personnel and
raising awareness in the media. The appropriate social, economic and legal measures
need to be used to reduce and eliminate the various factors that foster violence against
women, such as a lack of material resources, financial dependence, low levels of
education, persistent gender stereotypes, and difficulties in accessing the job market.
g) position in society: in many countries, women are marginalised in decision-making as a
result of social and cultural barriers stemming from traditional social structures which do
not promote changes in the traditional gendered division of power. In order to ensure that
women's fundamental rights are protected, legislation on gender equality must be
implemented effectively. A firmer commitment is required to achieve gender equality in
the decision-making process in the economic, political, scientific and technological
spheres. The situation facing women has barely changed in recent years. Clear targets
should therefore be set, with deadlines for achieving them, in addition to specific policies
and effective measures (such as positive action, equality programmes, specific training,
participation quotas, awareness-raising campaigns, etc.). In addition, in order to combat
-6gender stereotypes, there is a need to encourage entrepreneurship, innovation and
creativity amongst women in all sectors, self-employed, employees and the unemployed.
as an important tool to highlight the strengths women bring to society. Particular attention
should be paid to the situation in some countries of young girls in order to discourage
early marriage and motherhood.
3.
In order for these guidelines to be implemented, various measures will need to be introduced
to ensure that they are applied effectively. To this end, a number of proposals for priority
action are set out below:
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III.
to promote equal pay for equal work or for work of the same value, to enable women to
become financially independent;
to step up the facilitating role of the public sector in some countries, so as to build an
environment conducive to the affirmation and empowerment of women;
to adopt appropriate measures to cope with the adverse effect of the economic and
financial crisis which cater for women and incorporate the gender perspective, to the
benefit of both women and men;
to adopt legislative, administrative and financial measures to help women entrepreneurs
and women on the labour market, in particular to create a favourable macro-economic
environment;
to develop and promote gender budgeting and production and use of statistics broken
down by gender and age, as well as research into the financial situation of women;
to promote legal reform to ensure that the poor, women and men, enjoy equal protection
before the law;
to support countries to encourage them to ratify and implement the convention on the
elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
The contribution of the AICESIS and the Economic and Social Councils
Civil society organisations have a considerable role to play in ensuring that this is the case. It will be
crucial to specify how these organisations will be involved, both in actually carrying out the measures
and in monitoring their implementation. In addition, it is important to define indicators that will
enable the donor organisations to make aid payments dependent on the achievement of the gender
objectives. Each Council should regularly make proposals to overcome the obstacles faced by women
more particularly in the labour market. The issue of gender equality could be the subject of an annual
report.
The AICESIS therefore calls upon the Member States to include in the redefinition of GDP different
indicators which take into account differences between men and women, including care work carried
out by women as a source of wealth for all. If any progress is to be made here, it is essential for
gender statistics to be introduced.
The Economic and Social Councils and other similar bodies will have to discharge their consultative
role fully with regard to Parliaments and national governments to promote suitable collective
bargaining models, policies and laws. Moreover, in the knowledge that, thanks to the crisis, economic
policy decisions are having an increasingly direct effect on working conditions, particularly those of
-7women, the ESCs must encourage specific analysis and proposal activities in respect of the policies of
international financial institutions to verify and call for their compliance with the gender equality
objectives. They will thus be able to act as a "bridge" for civil society organisations operating at
national and international levels.
In addition, the AICESIS signals the need to strengthen the role of bodies such as the ILO in the
framework of a system reconciling the objectives of monetary and financial regulations with the need
for sustainable growth that fully incorporates the objectives of social justice and fighting inequality,
starting with discrimination against women.
Economic and Social Councils – by virtue of their nature and composition – could be in an ideal
position to become workshops for innovative practice and monitoring bodies helping to fight and
eradicate gender inequality.
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