Equality between men and women is
among the "oldest" UN mandates. The Commission
on the Status of Women was one of the first bodies
established by the United Nations, in 1947. Its relevance
well illustrates the fact that of the 160 signatories
of the UN Charter in 1945 only four were women.
Since then the UN has been taking
the lead in encouraging countries to eliminate inequalities
in women's political participation, economic opportunities
as well as family and social life. Civil society is
a major partner in this process and many initiatives
have been driven by NGOs. Global UN conferences on
women have played a catalytic role in raising awareness,
mobilizing political support and establishing policy
recommendations on how to move towards gender equality.
The Beijing Conference in 1995 in
particular is considered a success of the women's
movement. Its outcome document, the Platform for Action,
gave a strong political mandate for pursuing gender
equality at national, regional and global levels.
It provided a comprehensive policy framework and practical
recommendations in each of the 12 critical areas for
action. The Beijing process has a regional dimension,
with regional commissions organizing the follow up
and review process, such as the Beijing +5 review
(January 2000) and the recent Beijing +10 review organized
by the UNECE (December 2004).
Although gender equality is a clear
concept in terms of human rights, its link to policies
has substantially evolved. From a "soft"
policy issue linked to social policies and an approach
to women as a disadvantaged group, gender equality
has moved to the centre of development strategies.
This has been backed by lessons learned from development
failures of the 1980s which stressed the role of investments
in the social sphere (such as education and health)
and links between the economic and social side of
development. The change was also made possible due
to progress in gender research and data, which document
women's contribution to economic growth and development.
Gender mainstreaming is a way to
achieve the change of policies. The concept was introduced
by the Beijing Platform for Action and further developed
by ECOSOC resolutions (1997 and 2001) and the General
Assembly Special Session in 2000. This means making
gender an integral part of decision-making, institutional
structures and processes. It is defined as a process
of assessing the implications for women and men in
all actions related to legislation, policies and programmes
in all areas and at all levels.
Now, gender equality is widely acknowledged
as a key factor behind growth and the efficient allocation
of resources, poverty reduction and social cohesion.
This is reflected in strategy documents at the global
level, such as in outcomes of global conferences on
sustainable development, financing for development
and Millennium Development Goals. But also at the
regional and country levels, such as in the Lisbon
Strategy for the EU, prepared with vision to improve
the competitiveness of European economies in a global
world.
Concrete actions and results, however,
often lag behind policy statements and progress is
uneven. Mainstreaming is often misunderstood as a
concept and new priorities have to be set. But the
main problem is how to redefine the traditional social
contract based on a male breadwinner model and to
adjust institutions which still reflect this arrangement
to determine social benefits, pension systems, or
priorities in hiring and job cuts (women as secondary
earners). This means making a link between so far
separated areas of paid and unpaid work. But it also
means deciding what should be the value of caring
work and how to reflect this in a market-based system
of benefits. Caring credits and more equal distribution
of caring work among women and men are some avenues
pursued by countries.
These challenges and a diversity
of progress in mainstreaming gender into policy areas
were seen during the recent meeting on the Beijing
+10 review in the UNECE region. While most countries
have advanced, the speed and areas of progress vary
substantially among countries and subregions. Traditional
views about women's roles are resurging in a number
of countries, while in some gender equality is only
emerging as a policy concept. There are also worrisome
trends in most countries in Eastern Europe and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where women's
position in the economy has deteriorated as a result
of job losses, a move towards low-paid jobs in both
the formal and informal sectors, and cuts in social
protection. In these countries, women's access to
health services has deteriorated and there has been
a substantial rise in poverty.
On the positive side, in the most
advanced economies, women's employability has improved
and new measures have been introduced to help parents
combine work with family responsibilities. Progress,
although uneven, has been made in women's access to
decision-making positions and the development of institutional
mechanisms for the advancement of women. Legislation
for gender equality has also been developed, but legal
gains still have to be translated into de facto gender
equality achievements.
Beyond uneven progress, all countries
share similar areas of concern and similar problems
in promoting gender equality. These concerns were
reflected in the main themes of the meeting, that
is: women and economy; institutional mechanisms for
gender equality; and trafficking in the context of
migration. Most countries remain concerned about poverty
- especially among single mothers and older women
- unemployment and inadequate social protection. There
is still much to be done to improve national mechanisms
for gender equality, which suffer from limited resources,
isolation from line ministries in many countries,
and instability related to political changes. Violence
is another key concern for all countries in the UNECE
region as they face widespread domestic violence and
increased trafficking in women, which has economic
roots.
Further progress in mainstreaming
gender into all policy areas is necessary to implement
the Beijing commitments. But it is also closely linked
with current dilemmas of policy-makers throughout
the region - that is, how to improve economic efficiency
while maintaining solidarity and social cohesion in
ageing societies. Countries in western Europe as well
as eastern Europe and the CIS seek new approaches
in economic thinking and policies and the best ways
to reform welfare systems. Adopting a gender perspective
thus seems to be a good policy option which makes
economic sense.
The Lisbon Strategy for EU countries
could illustrate this point as it draws on the mainstreaming
approach and makes equal opportunities one of the
four pillars of the European Employment Strategy (EES).
Targets are set for increasing women's employment
but also reducing inequalities in pay and employment
opportunities as well as improving a coverage of childcare
facilities. Increasing women's share in the labour
market is an alternative to migration for EU countries
with labour shortages but also an important factor
ensuring sustainability of pension systems in ageing
societies.
Another example could be provided
by Canada, which has taken concrete measures to mainstream
gender into employment policies with attention paid
to supporting women's self-employment and entrepreneurship.
Women-run businesses are an engine of job creation
and growth of SMEs sector in Canada. This trend is
also seen in many countries in western Europe (such
as the United Kingdom, France, Poland, Spain and Sweden)
but also in countries of eastern Europe and the CIS
(such as Kazakhstan).
Similar problems have to be addressed
by other countries, especially those with transition
economies, which have to combine the process of industrial
restructuring with reduction of poverty and inequalities
in the context of moving toward a market based system
in many welfare provisions.
The experience of the last ten years
shows that effective mainstreaming of gender equality
issues in economic decision-making is essential to
make progress. This is a key area in which it is critical
to develop ways of working with men, since key economic
decisions in both government and business remain mainly
in the hands of men.
While progress in mainstreaming gender
in employment policy is encouraging, gender equality
has only been a marginal concern in welfare reforms,
an important arena for policy reforms throughout the
UNECE region over the last decade. Women have been
largely forgotten as partners of these reforms, which
include changes in a number of areas vital for women's
interests, such as family benefits and pensions. Reforms
have been driven by a desire to reduce public funding
of social security provisions. No attention has been
paid to the implications of these reforms on the extent
and distribution of the unpaid work of caring for
families and communities. Pension reforms have particularly
weakened the position of low-income women, making
it likely that an even greater proportion of women
will suffer poverty in old age. Businesses providing
pensions are allowed to discriminate by gender in
many countries in the region.
Adopting a gender perspective in
the ways that the government raises and spends money
is another area for more intensified efforts. Initiatives
to promote Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in the
public sector have been undertaken in some parts of
the region in the last few years, including the United
Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France,
Spain and Switzerland. Many of these initiatives are
still in the pilot phase and vary in scope and results.
Broadening and deepening of these initiatives is necessary
to effectively mainstream gender into economic decision-making.
GRB does not imply that 50 per cent
of tax revenues ought to be paid by males, and 50
per cent by females. Or that 50 per cent of the expenditure
on each programme ought to be distributed to males
and 50 per cent to females. This is because men and
women, boys and girls, are not positioned equally
within the economy and society. The existing pattern
of gender inequality has to be taken into account
in judging whether a budget promotes the achievement
of substantive equality. Government budgets need to
be designed to offset pre-existing inequalities in
the short run, and to reduce gender inequalities in
the economy and society in the longer run, through
incentives for change.
Also GRB does not imply that the
budget must be presented showing a division of all
tax revenues into the share paid by males and the
share paid by females. This can be a useful analysis
for some revenues. But a gender analysis of taxation
also needs to examine: the content of tax rules in
relation to the treatment of women as autonomous people;
tax burden and incidence in relation to ability to
pay; incentives effect in relation to participation
in different types of paid and unpaid work and the
redistributive effect - how far does it reduce the
gender gap in incomes. Programmes vital for gender
equality may include programmes specifically targeted
to males or to females; and will certainly include
programmes that are not gender targeted.
Gender equality is also of a growing
interest to the private sector in the context of extending
corporate social responsibility. Leading companies
are discovering that it makes business sense to promote
equal opportunities and family-friendly employment
policies. And initiatives to mainstream gender in
the economic decision-making of the private sector
are now beginning to emerge. This is happening in
two ways:
-
Inclusion of gender equality
criteria in initiatives for corporate social responsibility;
-
Inclusion of gender equality
criteria in measures for more effective development
and management of human resources.
Progress in effective mainstreaming
of gender equality issues in economic decision-making
across the region, in both government and business,
requires more research and developing a regional network
of men and women economists to work on gender-sensitive
economic policy, development of gender disaggregated
data, but also more dialogue with policy-makers and
exchange of good practices, many of which are just
emerging.
In line with a major global UN mandate,
the UNECE provides a region-wide platform for the
follow-up to the Beijing process through raising awareness,
promoting the development of gender data and research
and policy dialogue, and the exchange of good practices.
The Beijing Platform and the outcomes of regional
meetings (chairperson's conclusions from the Beijing
+10 meeting and the agreed conclusions from the Beijing
+5 meeting) provide a useful road map for increasing
awareness on key gender issues and for initiating
measures in order to address them. A new geopolitical
situation reflecting the EU expansion to include ten
new member countries has increased the need to support
dialogue among all groupings of countries, and initiate
various forms of cooperation and solidarity in this
wide geographical perspective. Considering its economic
profile and expertise, the UNECE is well positioned
to play this role in mainstreaming gender into economic
policy-making and strategies.
In addition, based on the General
Assembly request to all UN organizations, including
the regional commissions, to introduce the gender
perspective into their areas of work, UNECE has developed
a number of gender-related activities which correspond
to its mandated areas of work. This includes forums
and meetings on women's entrepreneurship, the development
of gender statistics and the creation of a web site
in this area, as well as policy analysis work. Concerning
the latter, the Economic Survey of Europe regularly
reviews trends on women in the labour market and a
Regional Symposium on mainstreaming gender into economic
policies was held in January 2004.
The reform of the UNECE in 1997 confirmed
this direction by considering gender mainstreaming
as a concern which should cut across all its activities.
UNECE has a strong will to comply with this requirement
of its member States.
Ewa Ruminska-Zimny
Sources used
1. Communication from the Commission
concerning corporate social responsibility: A business
contribution to sustainable development, Commission
of the European Communities. Brussels, 2002.
2. Monitoring government budgets
for compliance with CEDAW, UNIFEM, by Diane Elson,
New York, 2005.
3. Social policy and macroeconomic
performance: Integrating "the Economic"
and "the Social", by Diane Elson, UNRISD
News No.24, Spring/Summer 2001.
4. The role of corporate social responsibility
in gender mainstreaming, by K. Grosser and J. Moon,
International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility,
Nottingham University Business School, 2004.
5. Making visible the hidden economy:
the case for gender impact analysis of economic policy,
by S. Himmelweit, Feminist Economics 8(1) 49-70, 2002.
6. Access to financing and ICT for
women entrepreneurs in the UNECE region, ECE/TRADE/336,
2004.
7. Review of the implementation of
the Beijing Platform for Action and its regional outcome,
ECE/AC.28/2004/4, 18 October 2004.
8. Gender aspect of social security
and pensions in the UNECE region: progress and challenges,
ECE/AC.28/2004/8, 5 October 2004.