Strategic Guidelines of the XV IACML for Advancing Gender Equality with a Decent Framework

1. Strategic Guidelines of the XV IACML for Advancing Gender Equality with a Decent Framework Hon. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro Minister of Labor, Administration and Empowerment, Antigua & Barbuda; President of Inter-American Commission on Women (CIM)

2. Background to the Study • The OAS recognized the need to integrate a gender perspective into Decent Work: • 2000 General Assembly: CIM’s Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality managed by the CIM • III Summit of the Americas, Quebec City 2001 • XII IACML, Ottawa 2001and afterwards

3. Justification • The purpose of the study, and its strategic guidelines, is to help build the capacities of Ministries of Labor to successfully mainstream gender into their policies and programs aimed at achieving decent work for all in Latin America and the Caribbean, in accordance with the mandates and agreements of the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML).

4. Gender Equality for Decent Work: Main Findings

5. Development and the Feminization of Poverty • Economic value of mainstreaming gender perspective into labor and employment policies: • Gender inequality limits economic growth and full development • Feminization of Poverty • Women’s economic participation reduces household vulnerability to poverty • Of the 22 million young people (ages 15-29) who neither work nor study, 75% are women. • By doubling women’s participation in the workforce among low income groups in Chile, the poverty level would be reduced by 2% and extreme poverty by over 12%.

6. Current Situation of Women in Labor Market • Difficulty in balancing work and family obligations • The need to quantify the social and economic contribution of unpaid work by women and promote its inclusion in national accounts • Training required for women in non-traditional areas: • Women constitute 90% of domestic service workers

7. Current Situation of Women in Labor Market • The most significant advancement relates to women’s participation in workforce: • Rise in women’s participation from 23% in 1970 to 52% in 2006 • However, this increase does not indicate greater access by women to decent work : • Female unemployment rates were 30% higher than that of men in the 1990s • In spite of women’s advancement in education, they continue to be concentrated in traditional sectors: “trade, hotels, restaurants”, and “communal, social and personal services” • Female employment is of poor quality • In 2006 51.4% of economically active women were engaged in the informal sector i.e. unprotected and insecure activities such as domestic services

8. Persistent challenges In order to achieve success and ensure sustainability in the efforts at embedding a gender perspective into the labor process, it is necessary to overcome the following critical obstacles:- • Violence against women • The limited participation of women in public and political life

9. IACML STRATEGIC GUIDELINES Hemispheric Strategic Guidelines Goals Immediate Objective • Decent work with gender • Equality • Increase women’s participation and employment • Reduce gender gaps with regard to informality and wages • Improve the quality of employment for women • Achieve the full entry of women into the world of work, free from discrimination and under conditions of equal opportunities • Ensure equal access to the benefits of social protection • Impact on the work - family balance • Increase participation of women in social dialogue schemes and trade unions High Level Dialogues Focal Points Network Institutional strengthening of Ministries of Labor, aimed at effectively mainstreaming gender in their operations, policies and programs Analysis of the Institutional Arrangements • Hemispheric • Horizontal Cooperation • Portfolio of Programs • Compilation of Instruments • Workshops Hemispheric Labor Observatory on Gender and Employment

10. Thank You!