Gender equality and decent work

Main publications

Cover page
Institutionalization of a gender approach in the Ministries of Labour of the Americas: Follow-up to the workshops on strategic planning with a gender perspective
(CIM, 2013)

Cover page Labour Publication
Advancing gender equality in the context of decent work
(CIM, 2011)

Training Guides

Training Guide: Gender-Responsive Participatory Strategic Planning

Applying strategic planning with a gender perspective to the labour sector is an effective management mechanism to help foster gender equity and equality in the four components of the decent work framework: promotion of labor rights, work opportunities, improvement of social protection and the strengthening of social dialogue.

Project Activities

CARICOM workshop

Central America workshop
(Documents available in Spanish only)

Andean region workshop
(Documents available in Spanish only)

MERCOSUR region workshop
(Documents available in Spanish only)

Main objective
Contribute to building the capacity of Ministries of Labour and National Machineries for the Advancement of Women to engage in dialogue, exchange of information/experiences and joint formulation of gender-responsive labour policies.

Brief description
Women continue to face a number of barriers to their equal participation, remuneration and promotion. Despite the progress made over the last half century, women in the labor force are still confronted with issues of entrepreneurship, pay equity, harassment, equal access to insurance and other benefits, participation in professional development programmes, retention and promotion, flexible hours and other family-friendly time management policies.

Many of these barriers have become more visible over the last two years as a result of the global economic crisis, though the specific impact of the crisis on women’s participation and position in the labour force is still not well understood by policy-makers.

Women remain the primary care-givers in families throughout the region. They are responsible  for the care of children, the sick, the disabled, and to an increasing degree, the elderly, which present an enormous demand on women’s time and energy. On average, it is estimated that women’s work days last longer than men’s due to the extra time they spend on childcare and household tasks, though in some countries this gap has narrowed significantly.  Currently, no country in the region has managed to formulate or implement an effective policy response that allows both men and women to balance their participation in paid employment with their responsibilities of domestic and family life.

Expected results

  • Mechanisms (high level dialogues, focal points network) established for inter-ministerial cooperation between labour ministries and national machineries for the advancement of women at national and sub-regional level.
  • Personnel from labour and gender ministries in each sub-region trained to address specific needs identified in the Study on Institutionalization of Gender undertaken by the Inter-American Network for Labour Administration (RIAL)
  • A high-level policy dialogue between Ministers of Labour and National Machineries for the Advancement of Women (Ministries of Women or their equivalent) consolidates gender equality and women's rights on the agenda of the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labour

Key Documents

  • Strategic guidelines of the XV IACML for advancing gender equality and non-discrimination within a decent work framework (PDF)
  • The Institutionalization of a Gender Approach in the Ministries of Labor of the Americas (PDF)
  • Advancing gender equality in the context of decent work (PDF, 1.44MB)

Donor(s)
CIDA
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Project duration
4 years (January 2008 to December 2011)