GB.265/4 - Governing Body

ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

GB.265/4
265th Session
Geneva, March 1996

FOURTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Action to be taken by the ILO to give effect to the
Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the
Fourth World Conference on Women
Beijing, 4-15 September 1995

1. At its 264th Session (November 1995), the Governing Body considered a report on the Fourth World Conference on Women⁽¹⁾ and decided, inter alia, to request the Director-General to submit to it at its present session proposals concerning the action to be taken by the ILO in giving effect to the Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the Conference, taking into account decisions taken by competent organs of the United Nations system concerning follow-up on the Conference. The Governing Body expressed strong interest in and support for dynamic ILO follow-up on the Conference.

ILO plan concerning follow-up on the
Fourth World Conference on Women

2. Seven of the twelve critical areas of concern identified in the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW), are closely linked to the ILO's fields of competence and mandate. These include:

women's increasing burden of poverty;
inequalities in education and training;
women's economic participation;
power-sharing and decision-making;
national and international machinery;
promotion of women's human rights;
promotion of the rights of the girl child.

3. These can be summarized under three main headings for the purposes of ILO follow-up:

(a) productive employment and poverty eradication;

(b) social protection and working conditions;

4. The ILO follow-up plan is closely linked to the strategic objectives and recommendations for action covered in the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women. It represents the ILO's continuing response to the global events of the 1990s, as well as the gender-related conclusions of recent United Nations conferences and summits. The overall strategic objective of the ILO follow-up plan of action is to ensure the integration of a gender perspective in all ILO programmes and projects and to promote equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women in the world of work through ILO means of action, including standard setting and monitoring, technical cooperation, research, advisory services, information dissemination, seminars, workshops, publications and other promotional activities.

5. The specific strategic orientations for ILO follow-up activities in the three key areas are the following:

(a) Productive employment and poverty eradication

to ensure the integration of a gender dimension in the modalities for the conduct and examination of the comprehensive national employment policy reviews to be carried out by the ILO in its follow-up on the Social Summit;
to provide policy advisory services to member States in reviewing macro-economic policies, sectoral policies for rural development, cottage and small enterprise development, self-employment and in reviewing the perspective of enhancing women's employment opportunities;
to undertake country-level technical cooperation programmes to improve women's access to productive resources (land, credit, technology and markets);
to empower women through organization and training;
to develop methodologies that fully integrate gender dimensions;
to conduct research to address the feminization of poverty.

(b) Social protection and working conditions

to pursue the elimination of occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination;
to promote equal pay for work of equal value;
to promote the harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women and men;
to promote the adequate protection of homeworkers, part-time workers, migrant workers and other vulnerable groups of women.

(c) International labour standards and normative action on women workers

to promote the universal application of the fundamental ILO Conventions, including the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the application of which has been strengthened through the initiative launched by the Director-General following the March 1995 World Summit for Social Development, as well as other ILO Conventions of particular relevance to women, such as the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), and also those dealing with maternity protection and those providing for special measures of protection for women workers;
to promote and strengthen women's participation in workers' and employers' organizations;
to raise awareness and legal literacy on women workers' rights through training and other promotional activities.

6. The ILO follow-up plan will be implemented in the following ways:

integration with ongoing and planned ILO activities within the Programme and Budget for the 1996-97 biennium (see Appendix) and those envisaged for the 1998-99 biennium ;
close linkage to ILO follow-up on the World Summit for Social Development in the field of employment;
inter-agency coordination and collaboration within the United Nations System-Wide Medium-Term Plan for the Advancement of Women (1996-2001) to be approved by the Commission on the Status of Women in March 1996;
design of new programmes and activities to attract extra-budgetary resources to support and supplement the activities covered by the regular budget.

7. While ensuring effective execution by the technical departments at headquarters and the field structure -- in cooperation with constituents -- of the activities planned for the current biennium and envisaged for the next biennium, the Office will develop an inter-regional programme for the advancement of women workers and gender equality. The programme will be designed to address women's practical needs as well as strategic needs in a comprehensive manner at the national level. As women and gender issues permeate many other issues, and the various facets of discrimination against women are interrelated, a multidisciplinary, comprehensive and integrated approach is required. As a result of its insights, experience and expertise accumulated over the years, the ILO has comparative advantages in promoting and assisting member States in elaborating and implementing this approach at the national level.

8. The effective implementation of the ILO follow-up plan will require strengthened information dissemination of the Platform for Action and of the ILO follow-up plan among ILO staff and tripartite constituents so as to raise awareness and enhance commitment to effective follow-up, especially in those areas within the ILO's mandate. A publication covering the key areas of the Platform for Action where the ILO is expected to play an active role and labour-related issues concerning women covered by the documents of other recent UN conferences and summits has been prepared and will be issued by mid-1996.

9. Plans have been prepared to strengthen the capacity of ILO staff and tripartite constituents in analysing gender issues and integrating gender dimensions in programming exercises through training on gender issues in the world of work both at headquarters and in the field. A briefing kit and a training package on Gender Issues in the World of Work have been produced under an inter-regional project. The materials will be widely used in a series of training courses planned for ILO staff and constituents both at headquarters and in the regions.

10. More emphasis will be given and corresponding mechanisms developed to ensure effective coordination of the various activities in the ILO follow-up plan with a view to achieving maximum results. Work on the collection and exchange of information, data and experience will be strengthened. In this context, special attention will be given to public information and outreach activities. Monitoring and reporting on progress in implementation will be strengthened as an integral part of the implementation strategy.

11. The active involvement of, and dialogue and collaboration between tripartite constituents will be essential for effective follow-up, especially at the national level. Advisory services and assistance will be provided. Innovative approaches will be explored, especially in assisting the tripartite constituents in translating the results of the Beijing Conference into concrete national polices and programmes. Assistance to tripartite constituents in member States in follow-up at the national level should be a major focus of the ILO's Active Partnership Policy, involving the ILO's field structure and its multidisciplinary teams, with the active support and participation of technical departments at headquarters.

12. Within the framework of the UN System-Wide Medium-Term Plan for the Advancement of Women (1996-2001), the ILO will actively collaborate and undertake joint activities with other agencies in relevant areas at the national, regional and international levels.

13. In view of current financial constraints, special efforts will be made to mobilize adequate resources to ensure the full and effective implementation of the ILO follow-up plan of action in order to ensure that the ILO can fulfil its commitment concerning effective follow-up on the Fourth World Conference on Women and other recent United Nations conferences and summits.

14. In order to carry out the tasks listed above, and more importantly, in order to develop a comprehensive and solid plan of action, it is imperative to strengthen the Office's institutional arrangements on women and gender questions both at headquarters and in the field, including the designation of a focal point, as urged by the Governing Body at the 264th Session (November 1995), and also in line with the recommendations of the Platform for Action of the Beijing Conference. As women and gender issues are multi-faceted, a multidisciplinary rather than a sectoral approach is required. It is therefore proposed that an interdepartmental structure for the promotion of equality of women (a task force) be established within the Office. This structure, coordinated by the Office of the Special Adviser on Women Workers' Questions, would comprise a number of officials responsible for the promotion of gender equality as part of their current work in different departments. The task of this structure would be:

to develop a comprehensive ILO follow-up plan of action;
to coordinate with and assist the field structure in developing regional follow-up plans;
to monitor and promote the process of integrating women and gender issues in the ILO's activities at all levels on a regular basis.

15. It will be necessary to allocate appropriate time and resources to this structure so that it can function effectively. The Governing Body will be kept informed of progress in developing the plan of action and of the outcome of efforts to mobilize additional resources for its implementation.

16. The Governing Body may wish --

(a) to take note of the information, and to endorse the proposals for ILO action contained in this paper;

(b) to request the Director-General to pursue his efforts to mobilize adequate resources to ensure follow-up on the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Geneva, 12 February 1996.

Point for decision: Paragraph 16.

Appendix

ILO activities planned in the 1996-97 biennium
on women and gender issues

1. Productive employment and poverty eradication

1.1. Employment and women: A policy guide for more and better jobs will be issued in March 1996 to assist the ILO's constituents in integrating issues and concerns on women's employment in their national development strategies (Employment Department).

1.2. Within the framework of the Inter-regional Programme on Employment, Restructuring and Women's Employment, a selected number of countries in Africa and Asia will be assisted in organizing national tripartite dialogue for the integration of a gender perspective in the design, implementation and monitoring of structural adjustment policies (1996-98). A technical Inter-regional Workshop on Economic Reform and Structural Change and Women's Employment will be organized in 1997 to identify crucial issues pertaining to economic reform and structural adjustment programmes and their implications for women's poverty and employment (Development and Technical Cooperation Department).

1.3. A Special Action Programme on Social Funds with the aim of promoting women's employment and participation in social funds which accompany structural adjustment programmes will evaluate the gender dimension of the social funds, compensatory programmes and employment schemes that have been set up to mitigate the adverse costs of structural reforms. Guidelines will be prepared in 1997 based on this analysis (Development and Technical Cooperation Department).

1.4. A regional operational programme called Jobs for Africa will be implemented with a focus on employment-generation for poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. It will include a special component on the promotion of women's employment (Development and Technical Cooperation Department).

1.5. An international project on Economic Reforms, Labour Market Legislation and Women's Employment: A Focus on Export-Processing Zones (EPZs) is planned and may be undertaken (with the World Bank). Case studies will be conducted of EPZs in a number of countries at different levels of growth and development and with different histories of EPZs, to gather both longitudinal and cross-sectional data on women's employment in EPZs and study the impact of structural adjustment on the quantity and quality of women's employment. The output will be a publication, with the relevant policy implications highlighted (Employment Department).

1.6. Based on the guide for action entitled Gender, Poverty and Employment, prepared by the ILO for the Beijing Conference in 1995, a modular training programme on policies and targeted action programmes for employment promotion and poverty eradication will be developed and subsequently implemented, in phases and on a sub-regional basis, at the International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin and in the regions. Assistance will be provided through advisory services and technical cooperation projects to promote organizations of unorganized women, including women in the rural and urban informal sectors, to enable their full participation in mainstream development efforts and enhance their social bargaining power and coverage by social protective measures, including unconventional schemes for disadvantaged women workers. (Development and Technical Cooperation Department, International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin).

1.7. Gender guidelines will be finalized to provide fundamental information to employers on promoting gender-based policies and implementing programmes and practices at the workplace level. The guidelines will be used as a training tool by staff and members of employers' organizations in training activities, as a reference guide to follow and as a basic platform of employers' views at national bipartite and tripartite seminars on gender issues (Bureau for Employers' Activities).

1.8. An inter-regional project has been planned for implementation (pending final approval by the donor) on the promotion of women in private-sector activities through employers' organizations in six countries in Africa and Asia. The project has been developed to enable employers' organizations design and conduct policies and programmes to encourage gender equality in employment and increasing the participation of women managers and business entrepreneurs in order to fully utilize human resources for social and economic development in private-sector activities (Bureau for Employers' Activities).

1.9. Within the framework of the Women in Management programme, training materials have been developed for management development institutions in English- and French-speaking Africa. These training packages will be published and disseminated in 1996. Activities will be developed on the training of trainers and of women managers. It is planned to replicate the same methodology in other regions and to develop or adapt the training package (Enterprise and Cooperative Development Department, ILO Turin Centre).

1.10. Research and comparative analysis on constraints facing women micro-entrepreneurs will be completed, which examines gender issues relating to microenterprises and the informal sector with special reference to the policy, regulatory and socioeconomic framework within which microenterprises and the informal sector operate, and studies the institutional mechanisms providing them with services and assistance (Enterprise and Cooperative Development Department).

1.11. Advisory services and research on training policies and systems will address the obstacles to equality of opportunity for women, focusing on strategies and practices to promote women's access to vocational education and training programmes and the diversification of their occupational skills. A multimedia training package Opening Women's Choices will be produced to promote women's choices for non-traditional occupational skills. Computer software on the reorientation of vocational training for women will be widely disseminated to guide national action (Training Department).

1.12. As part of the ILO's sectoral activities, research will be undertaken on the effects of globalization on the employment of both women and men. A tripartite meeting will be organized in this context, which will examine, inter alia, home work in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear industrial sector, where women constitute a large proportion of the workforce. Research, analysis, skills and leadership training will be undertaken in the agriculture and plantation sector geared to improving the capacity and position of women in sugar plantations (Sectoral Activities Department).

1.13. In relation to data and indicators on women and poverty and subject to the availability of resources, the work plan of the ILO Inter-departmental Task Force on Poverty Statistics and Indicators will include: (a) the collection of gender-disaggregated data on women and poverty, to be published in the periodic publication Statistics on Poverty and Income Distribution: an ILO Compendium of Data; (b) the development of indicators to facilitate monitoring trends in poverty and in economic performance from the gender perspective (Development and Technical Cooperation Department, Bureau of Statistics).

2. Working conditions and social protection

2.1. The promotion of harmony between work and family responsibilities will continue to be pursued through technical advisory services, information dissemination, research and analysis and the development of advocacy tools. This will be aimed at strengthening ILO constituents' capacity to design and implement programmes and projects to promote workers' welfare and to improve the balance between productive and reproductive responsibilities and tasks within the framework of the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) (Working Conditions and Environment Department).

2.2. Working time regulations, practices and trends at the national, sectoral and enterprise levels will be assessed to identify priorities for national and international action. Special attention will be given to the relationship between working time and equal opportunities and treatment in employment (Working Conditions and Environment Department).

2.3. Technical cooperation activities to promote employment opportunities and the social protection of homeworkers will continue. The lessons of experience gained through projects in south and south-east Asia will be synthesized in the form of a series of thematic guides for action and disseminated. Technical cooperation activities will be initiated in selected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1996-97 (Development and Technical Cooperation Department).

2.4. Advisory and training services will be provided to member States on the protection of migrant domestic workers to promote their coverage by labour legislation in both sending and receiving countries, by social security and other social safety nets, by trade unions in their membership and activities, and in regard to minimum wages (Employment Department).

2.5. A project has been launched to assess how various developing countries approach the issue of equal pay for work of equal value and the obstacles encountered. Consultative missions are planned for 1996 to develop programmes to respond to constituents' needs in this area. A book on Occupational Segmentation in the World will be published and further research will be carried out on the changes occurring in occupational segregation and unequal pay (Employment Department).

2.6. A second European Seminar on Women and Work, focusing on the quantity and quality of work for women, will be organized in 1996 in conjunction with the European Union (Equal Opportunity Unit), the Ministry of Labour of Italy and the International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin, with technical input from technical departments at headquarters.

2.7. Activities concerning workers' dignity and equality will include coverage of sexual harassment and abusive monitoring and surveillance techniques. Publications and guidelines will be produced and disseminated on combating sexual harassment at work (Working Conditions and Environment Department).

2.8. A project is planned to develop and improve methodologies for the collection of statistical data on women's paid and unpaid work and measuring gender inequalities in the labour market, such as wage differentials and job segregation. Gender-sensitive statistical training materials will be prepared and disseminated and training courses organized to promote national capacity in this area. The output will be policy recommendations on how to tackle occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination (Bureau of Statistics).

2.9. As part of its ongoing major work on the elimination of child labour, the ILO will continue to have working girls among its priority target groups. Guidance will be provided to member States on integrating girl-specific components in their policies and programmes and taking explicit measures to deal with the disadvantaged position of girls that leads to their premature involvement in work. Assistance and activities will continue to be undertaken in high-risk sectors and occupations where girls are mostly found, including prostitution, domestic service and unpaid family work (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)).

3. International labour standards and
normative action on women workers

3.1. The ongoing inter-regional project on information dissemination and training on women workers' rights will be implemented in nine countries in the regions. A second phase is envisaged to cover more countries so as to enhance national capacity building for the promotion of women workers' rights. The multimedia training package and information kit on women workers' rights, prepared and published to facilitate the implementation of this project, form the basis for national training and informational materials on women workers' rights to be developed under the project in the nine participating countries (Office of the Special Adviser on Women Workers' Questions). The Turin Centre will organize a series of training courses on women's human rights as part of its training activities.

3.2. A number of training, advisory services and projects will be executed to strengthen women's participation in trade unions and also the capacity of employers' and workers' organizations with regard to activities concerning women workers and gender equality issues. A regional project will be implemented on Strengthening Trade Union Action: Women Workers and Child Labour in selected East Asian countries (Bureau for Workers' Activities). A manual on Collective Bargaining and the Promotion of Equality, which includes a chapter on Giving Women a Voice, will be completed for use in seminars, workshops and other promotional activities (Labour Law and Labour Relations Branch, Bureau for Workers' Activities).

3.3. As regards indigenous women, selected governments will be assisted to carry out consultations with indigenous organizations, including indigenous women's organizations, in relation to the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) and its development and policy implications. Assistance will be provided to national governments in devising and developing policies and programmes consistent with Convention No. 169, with special emphasis on indigenous women's needs (International Labour Standards Department, Development and Technical Cooperation Department).

3.4. National monographs on the position of domestic workers and a comparative study on legislative provisions regulating such workers will be produced and disseminated (Industrial Relations and Labour Administration Department).

3.5. A special action programme will be implemented on the role of labour inspectors in ministries of labour in ensuring and strengthening equality of rights for women workers, tackling gender-specific problems and enforcing legislative provisions on equality at the workplace. A practical guide will be produced and training seminars organized for labour inspectors on these issues (Industrial Relations and Labour Administration Department).

1. GB.264/4.

Updated by VC. Approved by NdW. Last update: 26 January 2000.