TerryOudraad
Ms.Oudraad
GWI-NL
Side event: PAVING THE WAY FOR A GENDER-EQUAL ECONOMY
Nordic Council of Ministers , Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
Minister of Culture and Equality of Quality of Norway Lubna Jaffery gave the opening statement.
Moderator Secretary General of Nordic Council of Ministers: Karen Ellemann
Women in power and decision-making, Women and the economy, Education and training of women, Institutional mechanisms
SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG5 – Gender Equality, SDG8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
Diversity in Teacher Education (2019), Women and STEM (2019), Promoting and defending human rights of women in universities and other post-secondary forms of education (2022)
The same issues in the Nordic States apply in the Netherlands.
Women’s labor market participation and economic independence are cornerstones in any gender-equal society. And we need affordable childcare irrespective of income. And joint parent leave, care of the children must be shared. Gender pay caps are getting smaller however challenges still remain also in the Nordic countries. In the public market the gaps are shrinking however in the private market there has been little development. A big issue is how to evaluate the different types of jobs on a gender-neutral bases. Although also the private market is aware of the problem.
Also how to evaluate unpaid care work which is still mostly done by women! And also nursing jobs are still seen as mainly women’s jobs and low in value.
Even in Finland equal pay is not yet fully implemented. The gaps are narrowing, the gab is about 16%, and to get there we need more tools to show the discrepancies etc.
In Norway parental leave is 50 weeks for both partners and 64% of the population take this leave. The future will be technology driven. Women must also take part otherwise the males will keep on dominating. Thus more women in STEM, AI development and other male dominated professions. Also an employer must be critical employer, take courses thus realizing what the issues are an act accordingly.
In June 2024 the ILO will be meeting and have care issues & gender equality high on the agenda. Care issues are seen as cost for society but it must also be been seen as an investment. Key is to analyze all jobs on a gender equal base.
Within UWE and other regional groups of GWI make this a issue and learn from the more progressive countries
