WUNRN
ILO Regional Office for the Arab
States
Equality &
Non-Discrimination
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Since its founding in 1919, the ILO has been committed to promoting the rights of all women and men at work and achieving equality between them. The ILO vision of gender equality – which coincides with the organization’s four strategic goals – recognizes this goal not only as a basic human right, but intrinsic to the global aim of Decent Work for All Women and Men. This vision is based on the ILO mandate on gender equality as stated in numerous Resolutions of the International Labour Conference, the highest policy-making organ of the ILO, as well as relevant International Labour Conventions. The ILO Policy on Gender Equality and Mainstreaming, which is made operational through the ILO Action Plan, supports a two-pronged approach of gender mainstreaming: systematically analyzing and addressing in all initiatives the specific needs of both women and men, and targeted interventions to enable women and men to participate in – and benefit equally from – development efforts. Situation Analysis The ILO Regional Office for Arab States (RO-Beirut) covers eleven countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian territory. Arab States have experienced some of the most rapid improvements in labour market indicators for women. But the positive change has not been sufficient to bring the countries of the region in par with those at similar levels of economic development. Today, more and more women in Arab States are seeking paid work. But good jobs are hard to find. The options are also limited: either to work in poor conditions without benefits or without pay, or remain unemployed. In addition to this, there is little variance in women’s economic activity rates within the region despite wide differences between high-income oil-producing countries of the Gulf, countries in post conflict situations (Lebanon, Iraq and West Bank and Gaza Strip) and countries with widespread poverty like Yemen. Strategy of the ILO Regional Office The ILO brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies and programmes. It is the global body responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. The ILO and its constituents pursue a wide range of activities that use gender mainstreaming as a strategy to achieve gender equality, an essential feature of decent work. Such activities take place within ILO’s strategic objectives. The four strategic objectives of the ILO are to promote fundamental principles and rights at work; create greater employment and income opportunities for women and men; enhance the coverage of and effectiveness of social protection; and strengthen social dialogue and tripartism. Promoting fundamental principles and rights at work There continues to be a gap between the rights set out in international labour standards and their realization. For instance, two thirds of Arab States have ratified the ILO convention on promoting “equal pay for equal value of work”. But this principle is understood as “equal pay for the same work” in national legislations. This interpretation does not address pay inequities that women face working in significantly underpaid jobs identified as ‘women’s work”. The ILO has initiated national pay equity assessments in Jordan and Egypt. Gender-neutral job evaluations are being explored targeting specific sectors and utilizing social dialogue. Enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection: The regional initiative launched by the ILO and the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) on Gender Equality and Workers’ Rights in the Informal Economies of Arab States aims to develop a better understanding of informality of employment in the region and to mainstream Arab States into the current global thinking on informal employment using the perspective of gender equality and workers’ rights. Building on a regional research network, and engaging closely with national statistics agencies, the regional initiative has promoted and achieved progress in a number of countries on the use of sex-disaggregated data and gender responsive indicators in household and labour force surveys in order to capture women’s informal work especially work from home. The initiative has produced a number of country case studies including West Bank and Gaza Strip, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon as well as a regional overview, and a glossary on informal employment. A number of country specific policy briefs have also been launched through national policy round tables in order to advocate for more favourable policy and institutional environment in providing better legal and social coverage for the working poor, especially women and to influence the thinking within the governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, research institutions, and international agencies. What’s new? The ILO is a part of a joint initiative with the UN country team under the
Spanish Millennium Development Global Fund on “Gender Equality and Women’s
Empowerment in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” designed to promote
Palestinian women's social, economic and political empowerment. Within this
joint initiative, the ILO interventions focus primarily on creating an
enabling environment that is favorable for women’s economic empowerment,
including: Increasing the influence of gender advocates and workers’ and
employers’ organizations in decision making and planning by reforming
discriminatory labour laws and planning for gender-sensitive employment
opportunities; Strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Labour
(including relevant departments and units) and workers’ and employers’
organizations to implement specific measures that promote women's employment
and protect them in the workplace; and Increasing employment opportunities
for low-income women and young women graduates, including those in refugee
camps.
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