Women's Views on News |
- New report and new agenda for women
- Pushing for peace and security for women
- UK has shocking underemployment figures too
| New report and new agenda for women Posted: 27 Apr 2015 10:41 AM PDT
A major report from UN Women has just been released. It brings together human rights and economic policymaking to call for far-reaching changes to the global policy agenda that will transform economies and make women's rights, and equality, a reality. And it takes an in-depth look at what the economy would look like if it truly worked for women, for the benefit of all. The report, Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016, makes the case that the alternative economic agenda it outlines would not only create fairer societies, it would also create new sectors of employment, for instance in the care economy. The report was published as the international community comes together to define a transformative new agenda for sustainable development, 20 years after the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, which set out an ambitious agenda to advance gender equality. Since the Beijing Conference, significant advances have been made by many societies, particularly in advancing women's legal rights. However, as Progress shows, in an era of unprecedented global wealth, millions of women are still consigned to work in low paid, poor quality jobs, denied even basic levels of health care, without access to clean water and decent sanitation. Globally, only half of women participate in the labour force, compared to three quarters of men. In developing regions, up to 95 per cent of women's employment is informal, in jobs that are unprotected by labour laws and lack social protection. Women still carry the burden of unpaid care work, which austerity policies and cutbacks have only intensified. To build fairer, more sustainable economies which work for women and men, a future comprising more of the same will no longer do. "Our public resources are not flowing in the directions where they are most needed: for example, to provide safe water and sanitation, quality health care, and decent child- and elderly-care services," UN Women’s executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said. "Where there are no public services, the deficit is borne by women and girls," she continued. "This is a care penalty that unfairly punishes women for stepping in when the State does not provide resources and it affects billions of women the world over. "We need policies that make it possible for both women and men to care for their loved ones without having to forego their own economic security and independence," she added. Through solid, in-depth analysis and data, this evidence-based report provides ten key recommendations for actions that governments and others can take in order to move towards an economy that truly works for women, to the benefit of all. Progress sets out a vision of a global economy fit for women, where women have equal access to productive resources and social protection, which provides them with sufficient income to support an adequate standard of living. In such an economy, the work that women do would be respected and valued; stereotypes about what women and men can and should do would be eliminated; and women would be able to work and live their lives free from violence and sexual harassment. The reality, however, is very different. The report reveals that globally, on average, women are paid 24 per cent less than men. The gaps for women with children are even wider: in South Asia, for example, the gender pay gap is 35 per cent for women with children (compared to 14 per cent for those without). Lower rates of labour force participation, gender pay gaps and lower access to pensions add to a huge care penalty for women. In France and Sweden, over their lifetime, women can expect to earn 31 per cent less than men; in Germany 49 per cent less than men; and in Turkey, an average woman can expect to earn a staggering 75 per cent less than an average man over her lifetime. Women are clustered into a limited set of under-valued occupations. For example, 83 per cent of domestic workers worldwide are women and almost half of them are not entitled to the minimum wage. Even when women succeed in the workplace, they encounter obstacles not generally faced by their male counterparts. For example, in the EU, 75 per cent of women in management and higher professional positions and 61 per cent of women in service sector occupations have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace in their lifetimes. An economy designed with women's needs in mind would give them an equal voice in economic decision-making: from the way in which time and money are spent in their households, to the ways in which resources are raised and allocated at the national level, to how broader economic parameters are set by global institutions. Women are still under-represented in economic leadership positions, from trade unions to corporate boards, from finance ministries to international financial institutions. Women's membership in trade unions is growing in some countries, but they rarely reach top leadership positions. In 2014, across six of the most influential global economic institutions, women's representation on their boards ranged from 4 to 20 per cent. Through case studies and concrete examples of change from Bolivia to Botswana, Progress calls for a paradigm shift in the way governments, financial institutions, businesses and civil society approach economic policy thinking and human rights, to bring about an alternative economic agenda which places women and their rights at its centre. "The new economic agenda that UN Women is advocating for is not a pipe dream. Many countries, including low-income developing countries, are already implementing elements of this agenda," Shahra Razavi, chief of UN Women's Research and Data Section and lead author of the report, said. "The kind of change we need is far-reaching, but it can be done." In its key recommendations, Progress underlines that with the right mix of economic and social policies, governments can generate decent jobs for women (and men) and ensure that the unpaid care work that goes into sustaining all economies is recognized and supported. Well-designed social services (e.g. health, care services) and social protection measures (e.g. pensions) can enhance women's income security, from birth to old age, and enhance their capacity to seize economic opportunities and expand their life options. Macroeconomic policies can and should support the realisation of women's rights, by creating dynamic and stable economies, by generating decent work and by mobilizing resources to finance vital public services. Governments need to go beyond the old metrics of GDP growth and low inflation, and instead measure success in terms of the realisation of human rights. Women's economic and social rights – the right to a decent job, to health care and a life free from violence and discrimination – are guaranteed in human rights treaties, which almost all governments in the world have signed. Governments are ultimately responsible for delivering these rights, but they cannot do it alone. International financial institutions and the private sector are among the key players that shape the economy. They all need to be held accountable by civil society and the public, to play their part. The changes proposed in the report will not only make the economy work for women, but also benefit the majority of men for whom the economy is not working either. The report argues that progress for women is progress for all. To read the full report, click here.  |
| Pushing for peace and security for women Posted: 27 Apr 2015 10:01 AM PDT
In 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted what was then a ground-breaking Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security – the first resolution to link women's experiences of conflict to the international peace and security agenda. It focused on the disproportionate impact of conflict on women, and called for women to be engaged in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Since the adoption of Resolution 1325, the Security Council has passed six additional resolutions on women, peace and security. But despite the progress made in the last 14 years, the Security Council has stressed that women's perspectives will continue to be underrepresented in conflict prevention, resolution, protection and peacebuilding if there is no significant shift in how the resolution is implemented. The Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has now been encouraging Member States, regional organisations and United Nations entities to review existing implementation plans and targets ahead of this year’s High-level Review. With this in mind, on 20 April more than 70 experts from North America, Europe and Asia met in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, for a conference organised by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), UN Women and the Lithuanian government, to discuss the implementation of Resolution 1325. Resolution 1325 addresses the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, recognises the importance of women’s equal participation and full involvement in maintaining and promoting peace and security, the need to enhance protection of women and girls and to safeguard their rights. The UN Secretary-General has also commissioned a Global Study on the Resolution’s implementation at the global, regional and national levels. The study will highlight examples of good practice, implementation, gaps and challenges, and priorities for action. The results will be included in the Secretary-General's annual report to the Security Council in 2015 and will be made available to all Member States. The study will also build on the findings of the two high-level studies on women, peace and security undertaken in 2002 and from lessons learned from the tenth anniversary of Resolution 1325 in 2010. In order to contribute to this study, the meeting in Vilnius assessed progress made in the OSCE's 57 participating States, a region spanning the globe from from Vancouver eastwards to Vladivostok. "The OSCE's work with participating States to implement Resolution 1325 is a positive example of the important role that regional organisations can play in ensuring that women play a role in preventing and resolving conflicts," Radhika Coomaraswamy, who is the lead author of the Global Study, said. "Fifteen years after the adoption of Resolution 1325, there is still much work to be done to ensure that women have a seat at the table. "We need strong leadership from organisations like the OSCE to show that implementation of Resolution 1325 is possible, and has beneficial effects for peace and security in the region and around the world." UN Women's Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, said, "The equal participation of women in decision-making is essential. "While achievements have been made, obstacles persist in translating policy commitments into accelerated action. "To increase results throughout the women, peace and security agenda, inequalities and multiple forms of exclusion need to be addressed." The OSCE’s Secretary-General, Lamberto Zannier, said, "Globally, of the 50 existing National Action Plans to implement Resolution 1325, more than half are being put into action by OSCE-participating States." "This shows that the OSCE and its participating States have taken the women, peace and security agenda to heart and are aiming to change the way we look at security," Zannier continued. "Today's meeting has shown that there is steady progress to ensure that women and girls reap the benefits of a vitalised security concept." "Fifteen years ago, the UN Security Council sent a powerful message: the impact of armed conflicts on women is a matter of international peace and security," the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė said. "It is our responsibility to promote women's participation in decision-making as it means greater national and international security. "This is one of the ways to transform the culture of violence into a culture of peace."  |
| UK has shocking underemployment figures too Posted: 27 Apr 2015 08:21 AM PDT
New data published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, has placed the UK in 23rd place out of 28 for its record on underemployment. The figures, which show that the UK underemployment rate was 31 per cent higher than the EU average in 2014, are a sign of the government's failure to create the decent jobs people need, says the TUC. Responding to this, the TUC’s General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, said: "These figures show what a bad time British people are having at work compared with their European neighbours. "We have a fragile recovery built on pumped-up house prices, instead of the strong foundation of good quality jobs with decent hours and wages. "The current approach just isn't delivering enough high quality jobs to meet demand and it's leaving too many families struggling to get by on scraps of work." The TUC believes that the Eurostat data reinforces the findings of its own analysis, published recently, on short-hours contracts. The TUC’s analysis found that in addition to the 700,000 workers who report being on zero-hours contracts, there are another 820,000 UK employees who report being underemployed on between 0 and 19 hours a week. And, said the TUC, zero-hours contracts are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to low-paid and insecure jobs. The TUC said that while zero-hours contracts have dominated the media headlines, short hours-contracts, along with other forms of insecure work, are also blighting the lives of many workers. Underemployed short-hours workers are typically paid a much lower hourly rate than other employees. The average hourly wage for a short-hours worker on fewer than 20 hours a week is £8.40 an hour, compared to £13.20 an hour for all employees. The TUC said that short-hours contracts, which can guarantee as little as one hour a week, can allow employers to get out of paying national insurance contributions. The average underemployed short-hours worker would have to work more than 18 hours a week for their employer to start having to pay national insurance for their employment. The TUC says that like zero-hours workers, many short-hours workers don't know how many shifts they will get each week and often have to compete with colleagues for extra hours. Women are particularly at risk of becoming trapped on short-hour contracts, said the TUC. They account for nearly three-quarters (71.5 per cent) of underemployed employees on short-hours contracts. Retail is the worst affected sector. Nearly a third (29 per cent) of underemployed short-hour workers are employed in supermarkets, shops, warehouses and garages – nearly 250,000 people. Education (16 per cent), accommodation and food services (14 per cent) and health and social care (12 per cent) also account for large shares. The growth in low-paid, insecure jobs since the crash has been bad for workers and the public finances, said the TUC, with taxpayers having to subsidise poverty pay through tax credits. The TUC said that short-hour and zero-hours contracts, along with low-paid and bogus self-employment, have reduced tax revenues and are dragging down UK productivity. Self-employment has accounted for nearly a third (31 per cent) of the net rise in employment since 2010. But figures published last summer by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that average earnings for self-employed workers have fallen by 22 per cent since 2008/09. Remarking on this, the TUC’s General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, said: "Zero-hours contracts are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to low-paid, insecure work. "Hundreds of thousands of other workers find themselves trapped on short-hours contracts that simply do not guarantee enough hours for them to make ends meet. "Like zero-hours contracts, short-hour contracts give too much power to the employer. Bosses have an incentive to offer low wages and fewer hours to get out of paying national insurance. "Without more decent jobs, people will continue to have to survive off scraps of work and UK productivity will continue to tank."  |
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