Research Reports
ECOSOC
Accelerating efforts to achieve gender equality
25-27 September 2015
Forum: Economic and Social Council
Issue: Accelerating efforts to achieve gender equality.
Student Officer: DariuszKrajewski
Position: Deputy President
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Introduction
Gender inequality is a long lasting worldwide issue. In many countries men are recognized as privileged sex when it comes down to employment or one’s position in renowned companies all over the world. Under the pretext of being better suited both physically and psychically men tend to be considered to handle most situations better than women. This superstition is deep rooted within mind of entire society and has been proven to – in certain cases – be the opposite way. So far the UN has undertaken measures so as to give a shout-out to all European Countries to help improve position of women. The ultimate goal has not yet been reached, but the UN is sure to reach it with help of European Countries' officials.
Key terms
GENDER EQUALITY - is the view that men and women should receive equal treatment, and should not be discriminated against based on gender. This is the objective of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which seeks to create equality in law and in social situations, such as in democratic activities and securing equal pay for equal work.
Major Parties Involved
European Institute for Gender Equality- As an autonomous body, EIGE operates within the framework of European Union policies and initiatives. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union defined the grounds for the Institute’s objectives and tasks in its Founding Regulation and assigned it the central role of addressing the challenges of and promoting gender equality between women and men across the European Union. Although equality between women and men has been one of the fundamental principles of the European Union since its creation, it remains far from a a gender-equal society. In order to support better-informed policy-making in the area of gender equality, the Institute is contributing to the promotion of equality between women and men in Europe through delivering high-level expertise to the European Commission, the Member States, enlargement countries and the European Parliament. The Institute is governed by a Management Board consisting of eighteen representatives from the Member States and one representative from the European Commission. In addition, the Institute’ benefits from an Experts’ Forum that provides support as an advisory body. To ensure synergies, avoid duplication and increase the effectiveness of its work, the Institute has established a close relationship and cooperation with relevant EU agencies such as the Fundamental Rights Agency and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. It collects, analyzes, processes and disseminates data and information on gender equality issues. It produces a wealth of information and reports that provide comparable and reliable results at EU level.
General Overview
A recent study in the USA demonstrated that when leaders at scientific research institutes were presented with otherwise identical job applications with either female or male names, faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant. These participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to the male applicant. The tendency to be biased towards the male application was expressed by both male and female faculty staff.
Wage discrimination exists when workers are equally qualified and perform the same work but one group of workers is paid more than another. Historically, wage discrimination has favored men over similarly qualified women. Although the disparities between men and women are decreasing in the medical field, gender inequalities still exist as social problems. Recently qualified female doctors in the U.S. make almost $17,000 less than their male counterparts. The pay discrepancy could not be explained by specialty choice, practice setting, work hours, or other characteristics. Gender inequalities often stem from social structures that have institutionalized conceptions of gender differences. Marginalization occurs on an individual level when someone feels as if they are on the fringes or margins of their respective society. This is a social process and displays how current policies in place can affect people. For example, media advertisements display young girls with easy bake ovens (promoting being a housewife) as well as with dolls that they can feed and change the diaper of (promoting being a mother). Gender inequality can further be understood through the mechanisms of sexism. Discrimination takes place in this manner as men and women are subject to prejudicial treatment on the basis of gender alone. Sexism occurs when men and women are framed within two dimensions of social cognition. Discrimination also plays out with networking and in preferential treatment within the economic market. Men typically occupy positions of power within the job economy. Due to taste or preference for other men because they share similar characteristics, men in these positions of power are more likely to hire or promote other men, thus discriminating against women.
Important Documents
Article 4 paragraph 1,CEDAW
The CEDAW or the Convention, also known as the international Bill of Women's Rights, is a legally binding international treaty ratified by 187 States Parties, that entered into force in 1981.All parties to CEDAW, including the UN, are bound to honor it. The UN Doctrine of Gender Equality, and 'Special Measures for Gender Equality' are inspired by and rooted in the CEDAW, specifically in Article 4 paragraph 1, which states:
Article 4, paragraph 1: Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved. [ emphasisadded]
General Recommendation No. 25, on Article 4, paragraph 1 of CEDAW
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an expert body composed of 23 experts on women's issues established in 1982 to monitor the progress of the CEDAW's implementation, in 2004, adopted General Recommendation 25, on Temporary Special Measures, on Article 4 paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The general recommendation 'clarifies the nature and meaning of article 4, paragraph 1, in order to facilitate and ensure the implementation of Temporary special measures and accelerate progress in achieving gender equality in 'employment and professional fields'.
The purpose of the "special measures", which are 'temporary' is " to accelerate the improvement of the position of women to achieve their "substantive equality with men, and to effect the structural, social and cultural changes necessary to correct past and current forms and effects of discrimination against women, as well as to provide them with compensation." These are not an exception 'to the norm of non-discrimination', but rather 'part of a necessary strategy' to achieve 'substantive equality of women'. The 'temporary special measures', includes 'preferential treatment; targeted recruitment, hiring and promotion; numerical goals connected with time frames; and quota systems'.
UN and Article 4, paragraph 1 on Special Measures
The UN Committee on CEDAW in its general recommendations number 25 commended the Secretary General on his initiative to implement 'temporary special measures', noting "The use of temporary special measures by the Secretary-General of the United Nations is a practical example in the area of women's employment, including through administrative instructions on the recruitment, promotion and placement of women in the Secretariat. These measures aim at achieving the goal of 50/50 gender distribution at all levels, but at the higher echelons in particular"'.
In 2012, the UN Secretary General drawing attention to Article 4 paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) assured the General Assembly that Special Measures were temporary, and will "be discontinued when gender parity has been achieved and sustained for a period of time".
UN Involvement
The United Nations has the responsibility to ensure that all its actions promote and protect gender equality and women’s empowerment. UN efforts to help establish the rule of law for all on the basis of equality are essential to this end.Advancing gender equality and empowering women are widely recognized as ends in themselves as well as means to achieve the UN goals of sustainable peace and security, human rights protection, and sustainable economic and social development.
Gender-based discrimination permeates all cultures, and is often manifested in the laws, policies, and practices of institutions. For example, in many countries women are not afforded the same inheritance rights and property rights as men, nor are they allowed to testify in court. Even where constitutional guarantees provide for equality and laws protect women’s rights, discriminatory practices by law enforcement and security services, courts, lawyers and social services can serve asmajor obstacles to women’s security and access to justice. Customary and traditional norms and practices, including informal justice mechanisms,may perpetuate gross violations of the rights of women and girls. The UN rule of law approach seeks to realize international human rights norms and standards related to gender, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW). CEDAW provides a definition of discrimination thatemphasizesdefactoimprovements in women's lives,and requires States to "embody the principle of the equality of women and men in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation." Legal reform must involve not only removal of discriminatory provisions from existing laws, but also the drafting ofnew laws neededto supportmeasures to achieve gender equality.Effective implementation of laws requires training and awareness-raisingof those responsible to enforce and uphold the rule of law, and the provision ofthe necessary financial andhumanresources.
Relevant norms and standards include implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325, which requires that peace agreements include measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary, and resolutions 1820 and 1888 which stress the importance of ending impunity for sexual violence during and after conflicts, and strengthening the capacities of national institutions, in particular judicial systems to this end.
Mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment considerations in UN rule of law activities involves constitutional and legal reform, supporting women’s voices and concerns in the development of priorities, strategies and plans, empowering women to participate as actors in the institutions and processes that make law, and enforce and uphold the rule of law, and ensuring substantive efforts address women’s needs, and further de facto their security and protection of their rights.
While all UN entities are responsible for integrating gender equality in their activities,the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) has been created to consolidate the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI); the Division of the Advancement of Women (DAW)in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). Inter-agency mechanisms such as the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) and UN Action on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict are also playing key roles in enhancing women’s equality and empowerment.
Possible Solutions
Current efforts must be scaled up in order to meet the target date for Goal 3 of
eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education, preferably
by 2005 and at all levels no later than 2015. The insights and lessons learned
in the past two decades of experimenting with a range of interventions (Subrahmanian
2002) must be applied and the interventions brought to scale in
the next 12 years.
There are few rigorous evaluations of which interventions have the greatest
impact on increasing girls’ participation in secondary education, and more
research is needed to fill gaps in current knowledge. But there is ample understanding
of how to remedy the problem of girls’ low enrollments. Herz and
Sperling (2004) identify four approaches that increase girls’ participation in
primary school that can also be applied to secondary school. These strategies
have all been effective in a variety of countries:
• Making girls’ schooling more affordable by reducing fees and offering
targeted scholarships.
• Building schools close to girls’ homes, involving the community in
school management, and allowing flexible scheduling.
• Making schools girl-friendly by improving the safety of schools, the
design of facilities (such as latrines for girls), and instituting policies
that promote girls’ attendance (such as permitting married adolescents
to attend).
• Improving the quality of education by training more female teachers for
the secondary level, providing gender-sensitive textbooks, and developing
a curriculum for girls that is strong in math and sciences and that
projects gender equality.
Within countries these interventions must give highest priority to marginalized
and excluded populations of girls, such as those who belong to ethnic
minority groups or who live in poor communities. Many of the national
averages on girls’ enrollment and completion rates mask the disadvantage that
excluded groups continue to face. In Latin American countries, for example,
it is particularly important to invest in the education of girls from poor households
and indigenous populations, where participation remains low.
Making schools affordable
There are two ways to make school affordable for poor families: by eliminating
user fees and other school fees to reduce direct costs and by providing incentives
to families to send their girls to school, for instance, through scholarships, takehome
rations programs, or other means. Eliminating or substantially reducing
school fees has resulted in increases in primary enrollment, particularly for girls.
When free schooling was introduced in Uganda in 1997, primary school enrollment
nearly doubled from 3.4 million to 5.7 million children, rising to 6.5 million
by 1999. Total girls’ enrollment increased from 63 percent to 83 percent,
while enrollment among the poorest fifth of girls rose from 46 percent to 82
percent (World Bank 2002c). In Tanzania the elimination of primary school
fees in 2002 resulted in additional enrollment of 1.5 million students (Coalition
for Health and Education Rights 2002). Abolishing user, uniform, and other
fees is important for ensuring that girls’ attend and complete school.15
Scholarship programs have also been effective in boosting adolescent girls’
enrollment and retention rates. Bangladesh launched a nationwide stipend program
in 1994 for girls in secondary schools, including all madrasas (religious
schools). The program has had a substantial impact on girls’ enrollment, particularly
in rural areas (box 3.1; UNESCO 2004; World Bank 2001a). In Tanzania
a scholarship program for girls significantly increased their enrollment in
secondary school. The program was subsequently extended to boys.
Cambodia established a national program of scholarships for girls and ethnic
minorities to encourage the transition from primary to secondary school and from secondary to postsecondary education. The scholarship is not only
for newly enrolled girls but also girls who are at risk of dropping out because
of high costs. It covers tuition, board, and lodging for those who need it most.
Though the program has not yet been systematically evaluated, a pilot girls’
scholarship program in four districts of Kompon Cham province had a 90–95
percent success rate for enrollment and retention (UNESCO 2004).
Some programs provide cash grants to poor households with school-age
children. Grants are conditional on regular school attendance. The programs
aim to increase enrollment and attendance by compensating households for
the direct and opportunity costs of sending children to school. Such programs simultaneously raise the immediate incomes of impoverished families and help
to educate poor children. Conditional cash transfer programs are well established
in Mexico (Progresa, now called Oportunidades), Brazil (Bolsa Escola),
and Bangladesh (Food for Education). Mexico’s Progresa provides cash transfers
to poor households in marginal rural areas conditional on children attending
school regularly (box 3.2). It has increased enrollment rates at the primary
level and even more at the secondary level, especially for girls. Such programs
are also in place or under development in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,
Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Turkey (Morley and Cody 2003).
School-feeding and take-home rations programs also provide incentives for
school enrollment and retention. These programs have demonstrated effects in
boosting girls’ enrollments at the primary level, but they are not widely implemented
at the secondary level (IFPRI 2001).
Reducing the distance to school
Decreasing the distance to school encourages girls’ enrollment and attendance,
by alleviating concerns for safety and reputation. Research in such diverse
countries as Ghana, India, Malaysia, Peru, and the Philippines indicates that
distance matters for all children, but especially for girls (Sipahimanlani 1999;
Lavy 1996; Gertler and Glewwe 1992; King and Lillard 1987). Providing
schools within local communities has been shown to substantially increase
enrollments for girls in Egypt, Indonesia, and several Sub-Saharan African