On behalf of the National Women’s Institute and the Mexican Government, I would like to thank you for the invitation to share with you the opening of this "Global Summit of Women".

I am pleased to participate in this forum of reflection and exchange to renew practices and experiences that seek the solidification of the area of interest for which we are meeting today: equity at the workplace and in policies for development.

The National Women’s Institute of Mexico (Inmujeres) is a new institution, not only because it is a year old but also for the kind of institution and the objectives it seeks. It is a representative icon of two fundamental processes which are currently developing within Mexico: the democratic transition and the change of governmental activities.

The Institute is the result of the participation of different actors of all society and government; it mirrors the correspondence of the Legislative and Executive Powers. It was President Vicente Fox, head of the Executive Power, who decreed the publication of the Law that created the National Women’s Institute

The main objectives of the Institute are:

• Foster, protect and acknowledge human rights and fundamental liberties for women and girls.
• Coordinate with other public institutions the implementation, follow-up and evaluation of national policies for women and the institutionalization of the gender perspective.
• Represent the federal government in gender matters and women issues at international organisms.
• Promote adequate legal regulations that guarantee equity of women’s rights, and
• Develop participation mechanisms with civil societies.

***

The subject of the labor situation of women in Mexico stands out for its importance in our program activities. We are aware that current labor trends have left unsolved several issues, one of them being gender labor segregation.

Female labor participation in the current globalization process is characterized mainly by the increase of women at the workforce; decrease in fertility levels; increase of education levels, professional goals and economic and personal independence. Notwithstanding, women are also exposed to unemployment, lower salaries, the need of taking care of the household, and the participation of several family members in the labor market.

Average net income for women is approximately 35% lower that for men. 10% of the highest male salaries are 50% higher that the 10% of the highest female salaries, while 10% of the lowest male salaries are 25 to 27% higher than the lowest female salaries. The lack of balance between the non-income sector, including rural and urban areas, is significant: 75% of the economic active women in the primary sector does not register income .

A detailed description of the labor situation of female population in Mexico was published by Inmujeres. This document shows the increase of women entries to the economic active population registries which doubled during the last 30 years, reaching in year 2000 a rate of 36.4% of female population over 12 years of age. Increase of women economic participation rates is 13% higher than men, moreover 13.8% of working women received no payment.

The profile of women within the labor market has also changed: they are older and in reproductive ages (with a mean age of 34.5 years), have an average of 8.2 years of schooling and 2.5 children; their monthly income is 2.2 minimum salaries, combining double or triple work shifts of 37.4 hours per week in the labor market with up to 27.1 hours in household tasks.

The highest participation rates are among women between 35-44 years of age, with an instruction level over secondary school, divorced or separated with 1 or 2 children. On the other hand, the lowest participation rates are among women between 12 and 14 years of age and women over 60 years old, with no instruction, widows or married, with 6 or more children.

Female working population is distributed as follows: 43% of labor is in the terciary sector; 23.7% in trade businesses, clerks and street vendors and 20.2% are employed in domestic services.

Only 1.9% are employers, of these 51.1% have a schooling level higher than secondary and 25% have undergraduate and graduate levels. 20% have an income between 5 and 10 minimum salaries and 86.9% hire between 2 and 5 employees.

In Mexico, 16.5 million people live in homes headed by women; 54.8% of these are economically active and the presence of children between 12 and 14 years old that work is 18% higher in these specific households, when compared to the national percentage. Nearly 65% of these women are between 25 and 49 years old, being the most representative group that of women between 35 to 39 years old.

In 1997 the economic participation of women in the indigenous areas was slightly higher than the one registered at the national level: 37.7% versus 36.8%. In these areas, 40% of women over 15 years of age have no instruction due to the fact that they begin to participate in economic activities at early ages.

In this sector the highest participation rate is of women 30 to 34 years of age with a rate of 45.3%, yet the rate of ages 60-64 remains high with 41.9%. The lowest rates are between very young women and those of the oldest groups: 21.6% for girls between 12 and 14 years and 23.4% for women 65 years old and over.

Although the economic participation rate of women from indigenous groups is different in each region, in the overall context 53% of these working women do not receive income and 92.9% do not have social security or any other basic guarantees.

Out of the 3.2 million people who work in the agricultural sector, 1 million are migrants, of which 43% are women. This group of women represents a major concern for the Federal Government who is developing specific strategies and policies to face this issue.

Mexican women work weekly an average of 64.6 hours: 37.5 hours are paid and 27.1 hours in household tasks which are not paid. Meanwhile, men work weekly an average of 55.9 hours: 45.3 hours are paid and 10.6 in household activities. Therefore women work an average of 8.7 hours more than men.

Facing a scenario characterized by an increasing diversification of the labor market, a decrease in income and gender segregation, Inmujeres and the Federal Government are developing strategies and projects in three fields. A coordinated intervention from the governmental institutions; a legal transformation and the construction of human capacities of society and government.

One of the first actions was the design and implementation of Inmujeres central program: the National Program for Equity of Opportunities and Non Discrimination of Women (Proequidad), presented by President Fox last November.

Proequidad establishes goals and actions around 9 specific objectives which try to reach benefits in the short and medium terms. Strategies and intervention mechanisms contemplate coordinated participation of the Federal Public Administration, lobbying with the Legislative and Judicial Powers and the constructive relationship with civil society organizations.

One of Proequidad’s specific objectives addresses the commitment to foster equal economic opportunities for women and men through the promotion of affirmative actions with a gender perspective.

We have identified as a primary need to transform the point of view from which the labor issue is analyzed. Therefore, we have designed and are currently applying projects to disseminate and incorporate gender perspective to government agencies involved with the labor sector, being the first stage objective to sensitize and train in gender issues different representative actors, including public officers, entrepreneurial representations, unions and the labor force at large.

To ensure equity in employment opportunities, salaries and labor promotions requires the implementation of integral policies to attend the interrelation between public and private sectors. In order to promote the value of domestic work and an equal distribution of household tasks we are implementing a project called "Democratic coexistence within the family" which includes actions to strengthen female self-confidence and s critical review of male identity.

President Fox and Inmujeres gave instructions to prohibit the non- pregnancy certificate as a requirement to get a job in the federal government. In coordination with the Ministry of Treasure the criteria to assure equal opportunities in the hiring process and personal promotions are fostered. It was registered as a rule to compete for a position it must not contain any specifications regarding the participant’s gender as well as the pregnancy certificate.

In the context of the National Forums to reform the labor legislation in Mexico, Inmujeres presented the required considerations in order to have a normative labor system which includes and protects the rights and gender equity at the workplace. Among these proposals are the needs to adequate the Mexican legislation to the international compromises defined in the Agreements with the International Labor Organization (OIT), the Convention for the elimination all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), in the subject of children’s rights, the sexual harassment sanction and the promotion of licenses of maternity and paternity leave.

One major issue that was perceived during the implementation of equity measures was the need to strengthen the production of gender indicators. In this context, we have made significant progress at the Institute by fostering the Institute’s Indicators System, along with joint activities with the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI). The indicators of the Institute and INEGI constitute the basic tools for measuring labor conditions of women and their contribution to support their homes.

President Fox is concerned with two matters. One of them regarding the infrastructure for children’s care centers and the other one is related to household work. Regarding the first issue, in Mexico there are three public institutions responsible for providing children’s care: The Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales para los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE), the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) and the Sistema Nacional para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF), These institutions take care of 260 thousand children of working women and it is estimated that in the next five years this number will be doubled at least in the IMSS and ISSSTE institutions. Regarding the domestic work in households, we are preparing a proposal of law so that these women can have social security, pensions and other rights. Almost 60% of homes in Mexico employ this service yet they do not receive any of these benefits.

In Mexico the Ministry of Labor and Social Prevention (STPS) has a General Direction of Equity and Gender that has among its activities the distribution of information regarding labor rights, through 32 offices, one in each state of Mexico. The actions of these offices are: to promote the regulation of the household work and to obtain flexibility in working schedules; to promote the acknowledgment of the social and economic contribution of household work; and to develop a program for the women worker.

This last program developed several lines of action that included public campaigns to stress the rights and duties of working women; the integration of an inter-institutional commission for the elderly and retired people; the provision of consulting services for working woman facing labor conflicts as well as the execution of inter-institutional agreements to collaborate and foster the integration of indigenous woman of the most marginal regions of Mexico, which are located in the states of: Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Puebla and San Luis Potosi.

Working women of the maquila industry, have been a permanent topic of concern for Inmujeres; therefore we signed an agreement with the National Council of the Maquila Exporting Industry and the Federal Executive Government represented by the Ministry of Labor. By means of this agreement these institutions committed themselves to generate actions in order to favor better labor conditions for women in this industry. It also ratifies Mexico’s recognition to our legal framework, to international commitments on this matter and establishes the prohibition of discriminatory practices which endanger and limits labor and family development for working women.

Several institutions promote equal opportunities, gender equity and empowerment of women in the labor environment. The National Fund for Social Entities (FONAES) develops actions to provide credit, training and technical assistance for entrepreneurial women and the implementation of programs to support production for women in disadvantage and vulnerable conditions.

The Ministry of Economy (SE) through 957 projects carries out the actions defined in the program for the productive development of women, the peasant women program operates 100 projects and the entrepreneurial women program created a micro financing fund for rural women and contemplates the creation of incentives to increase by 50% women’s participation in scientific and technological areas.

The Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has a program on gender, environment and sustainability in which gender equity is a cross-cutting issue incorporated through different projects related to the development of natural protected areas, sustainable fishing industries, water treatment and reserves, usage and maintenance of natural ecosystems.

All these actions and programs are the result of the work that since the creation of the Institute has been continuously performed with 54 federal liaisons established to fulfill the objectives of Proequidad. A project was develop to analyzed and execute the agreed actions and goals established between Inmujeres and different sectors of the Federal Public Administration.

Likewise last March 8, during the International Women’s Day, and the first anniversary of Inmujeres, the National Agreement for Equity between Womenand Men was executed to ratify the coordination and solidification with the public federal administration sectors state and municipal governments, legislative and judicial powers, and with academic and social organizations.

The National Women’s Institute also participates as an executive agency of the project "Generosidad", which is supported by the World Bank and the Mexican government as a way to foster learning and innovation through specialized activities and programs.

"Generosidad" has an extra value since it is involved with community bases to foster women’s participation in sustainable productive projects, its coverage reaches most of the areas in Mexico which have different poverty levels.

Another important asset of the project is to promote successful experiences and the establishment of a procedure to certify, at a national level, entities and organizations that comply with gender equity on the workplace criteria.

International areas for representation are not only useful but strategically and undoubtedly have been successful. They have been of great value, and constitute a major reference for updating and researching of new investigations like the one recently carried out by OIT by means it makes sure that hiring women does not result more expensive for companies. It is corroborated that maternity cost are extremely low representing in Argentina .95% of labor cost, 1.15% in Brazil, 1.83% in Chile and .18% in Mexico. It suggests the revision of the fact that labor compensations for pregnant mothers are paid by a state contribution fund, by the state, companies and workplaces.

For more than a half a century different spaces and means of international partnership have been stressed and alerted about the necessity to consolidate results. The background of forums as the one we are holding now is enormous when generating ways, instruments, and alliances to guarantee commitments. Likewise, women’s progress mechanisms have played a determinant role for the governments and the private sector to open to proposals and visualization of women as a development agent with specific needs and potentials.

Our Institute once again, commits itself to carry out the ways and strategies within its scope, to foster labor positions for women and we emphasize our desire to become a significant reference of the experience we are constructing.

Thank you.