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WOMEN'S LINKAGE CAUCUS

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F.[delete: Inequality in women's access to and participation in the definition of economic structures and policies[delete: and the productive process itself]] [delete: Economic potential and independence of women][amend and retain: Gender equality in the economic structures, their definition, policies and in all forms of productive activity]

156. [retain: Women migrants, especially domestic workers, contribute to the economy of the sending country through their remittances and at the same time contribute to the economy of the receiving country by taking over the domestic work of women nationals who are then able to engage in productive work in the receiving country].

158. Although many women have advanced in economic structures, for the majority of women, particularly those who face additional barriers, continuing obstacles have hindered women's ability to achieve economic autonomy and to ensure sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their dependents. Women are active in a variety of economic areas, which they often combine, ranging from wage labour and subsistence farming and fishing to the informal sector. However, legal and customary barriers to ownership of or access to land, natural resources, capital, credit, technology and other means of production as well as wage differentials, contribute to impeding the economic progress of women. [retain: The value of women's unremunerated contribution to the economy, whether working in [retain: the home], agriculture, food production, family enterprises, community service or [retain: domestic work], is still often undervalued and unrecorded and therefore is not reflected in current labour statistics and national accounts.] [retain: Progress is needed in statistical concepts and methods of measuring and [retain: valuing] unremunerated productive activity in the development of economic and social policy.]

159. Although some new employment opportunities have been created for women as a result of the globalization of the economy, there are also trends that have exacerbated inequalities between women and men. [retain: In some cases, globalization is undermining women's self-reliant initiatives in savings, production and trade.] [retain: In some regions, the international and gender division of labour has often reinforced the segregation of women into a limited number of occupations.]

(New alternative sentence 2)

[delete: At the same time, globalization, including economic integration, can create pressures to adjust to new circumstances and to find new sources of employment as patterns of trade change.]
(New alternative sentence 3)
[delete: In some regions, the gender division of labour has often reinforced the segregation of women into a limited number of occupations. More analysis needs to be done of the impact of globalization on women's economic status.]

162. Lack of employment in the private sector and reductions in public services and public service jobs have affected women disproportionately. In some countries, women take on more unpaid work, such as the care of children and those who are ill or elderly and in compensating for lost household income particularly when public services are not available. In many cases, [retain: employment creation strategies, however, have tended to focus on traditional male occupations and sectors].

163. [retain: For those women in paid work, many experience obstacles that prevent them from achieving their potential. While some are increasingly found in lower levels of management, attitudinal discrimination often prevents them from being promoted further. The experience of sexual harassment is an affront to a worker's dignity and prevents women from making contributions commensurate with their abilities. The lack of a family-friendly work environment, including a lack of appropriate and affordable child-care, and inflexible working hours further prevent women from achieving their full potential.]

[Promote women's economic self-reliance, including access to employment, appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources - land, capital and technology]

Strategic objective F.1. [retain: Promote women's self-reliance including access to employment, appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources - land, capital, credit and technology - and guarantee economic opportunities for women.] [delete: Secure economic rights for women]

Actions to be taken

167. By Governments:

(b) Adopt and implement laws against discrimination based on sex, [amend & retain: age, race, sexual orientation and religion] in the labour market, hiring and promotion, the extension of employment benefits and social security, and working conditions;

(e) [retain: Undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women equal rights [delete: equitable rights] with men to economic resources, including access to ownership and control over land, and other properties, credit, inheritance, natural resources and appropriate new technology;]

(g) [delete: Seek to] Develop a more comprehensive knowledge of work and employment through, inter alia, efforts to measure and better understand the type, extent, and distribution of unremunerated work, particularly work in caring for dependents and unremunerated work done for family farms or businesses and encourage the sharing and dissemination of information, on studies and experience in this field, including the development of methods for assessing its value in quantitative terms, for possible reflection in accounts that may be produced separately from, but consistent with, core national accounts;

(h) [retain: Provide developing countries with technical assistance and funding to collect data on unwaged work and to incorporate them into their national accounts and other economic statistics;]

(j) [retain: Make efforts to facilitate more open and transparent budget processes;];

(m) [retain: Ensure] that all corporations, including transnational corporations, comply with national laws and codes, social security regulations, applicable international agreements, instruments and conventions, including those related to the environment and other relevant laws.

Strategic objective F.2. Take positive action to facilitate women's equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade

Actions to be taken

168. By Governments:

(b) Strengthen the incentive role of the State as employer to develop a policy of equal [delete: equitable] opportunities for women and men;

171. By multilateral funders and regional development banks, as well as bilateral and private funding agencies, at the international, regional and sub-regional levels:

(a) Review, where necessary, reformulate, and implement policies, programmes and projects to ensure that a higher proportion of resources reach women in rural and remote areas, [delete: without attendant conditions that could place women under pressure to act against their ethical and religious values];

(c) [retain: Develop strategies for international financial institutions and regional development banks to consolidate and strengthen their assistance to the micro, small and medium scale enterprise sector, and work together with bilateral agencies to coordinate and enhance the effectiveness of this sector, drawing upon the expertise and financial resources from within their own organization as well as from bilateral agencies, governments and nongovernmental organizations.]

[NOTE: for further negotiations it was suggested to add after enterprise sector: in order to enhance the opportunities for women to fully and equally participate.]

174. By international organizations:

[delete: Seek to] provide adequate support for programme and projects designed to promote sustainable and productive entrepreneurial activities among women, in particular the disadvantaged.

Strategic objective F.3. Provide business services and access to markets, information and technology to lowincome women

Actions to be taken

175. By Governments in cooperation with non-governmental organizations and the private sector:

(a) Provide public infrastructure to [retain: ensure] [amend & retain: and facilitate] equal market access for women and men entrepreneurs;

Strategic objective F.4. Strengthen women's economic capacity and commercial networks

177. By Governments:

(c) [retain: Adopt policies that strengthen women self-help groups and workers associations through non-conventional forms of support;]

(e) [retain: Use the research of economists, scientists and technologists to promote gender equality;]

(g) [retain: Adopt policies to extend or maintain the protection of labor laws and social security provisions as well as all other job-related benefits and protections to those who do paid work in the home;]

178. By [delete: encouraging] financial intermediaries, national training institutes, credit unions, nongovernmental organizations, women's associations, professional organizations and the private sector, as appropriate:

Strategic objective F.5. Eliminate occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination

Actions to be taken

180. By Governments, employers, employees, trade unions and women's organizations:

(a) [retain: Implement and enforce laws, regulations and codes of conduct that extend international labour standards and workers rights to female workers;]

(b) [retain: Enact and enforce laws and introduce implementing measures, including means of redress and access to justice in case on non compliance, to prohibit direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of sex, sexual orientation and parental status in relation to access to employment, conditions of employment, including training, promotion, health and safety, as well as termination of employment and social security of workers, including legal protection against sexual and racial harassment;]

(c) Enact and enforce laws and develop workplace policies against [retain: age and] gender discrimination in the labour market in hiring and promotion, and in the extension of employment benefits and social security as well as regarding discriminatory working conditions and sexual harassment; mechanisms should be developed for the regular review and monitoring of such laws;

(e) [amend & retain: Develop and promote employment programmes and services for women entering and/or re-entering the labour market, especially poor urban, rural and young women and those affected by structural adjustment programmes (delete: including self-employment) and economic restructuring relative to global economic integration or transitions to a market economy;]

(f) Implement and monitor positive public and private-sector employment equity and positive action programmes to address systemic discrimination against women in the labour force, in particular women with disabilities and women belonging to other disadvantaged groups, with respect to [retain: employment], hiring, retention and promotion, and vocational training of women in all sectors;

(g) Eliminate occupational segregation, especially by promoting the equal participation of women in highly skilled jobs and senior management positions and other measures, such as counselling and placement, that stimulate their on-the-job career development and upward mobility in the labour market and by stimulating the diversification of occupational choices by both women and men. Encourage women to take up non traditional jobs, especially in science and technology, [delete: and encouraging men to seek employment in the social sector]; (j) [retain: Ensure] access to and develop special programmes to enable women with disabilities to obtain and retain employment, and [retain: ensure] access to education and training at all proper levels, in accordance with the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities;25/ Adjust, to the extent possible, working conditions in order to suit the needs of women with disabilities who should be secured legal protection against unfounded job loss on account of their disabilities; (m) Set specific targets dates for [retain: eliminating] all forms of child labour that are contrary to accepted international standards and ensure the full enforcement of relevant existing laws and, where appropriate, enact the legislation necessary to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Labour Organization standards, ensuring the protection of working children, in particular, street children, through the provision of appropriate health, education and other social services.

(n) [retain: Ensure that the national strategies to eliminate child labour recognize excessive demands made on some girls for unpaid work in the household;]

(o) Review and analyze [retain: reformulate], the wage structures in female-dominated professions, such as teaching, nursing and child care, with a view to raise their low status and earnings;

Strategic objective F.6. [retain: Create a flexible work environment] [delete: Better harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women and men]

Actions to be taken

181. By Governments:

(a) [retain: Adopt policies to extend the protection of labour and social security laws to parttime and temporary jobs and to seasonal and homebased workers enact laws to promote career development based on flexible work conditions;]

(b) [retain: Ensure that full and part-time work can be freely chosen by women and men on an equal basis, and consider appropriate protection for atypical workers in terms of access to employment, working conditions, and social security;]

(c) [retain: Enact and enforce laws that grant parental leave and parental benefits to both women and men and promote the equitable sharing of responsibilities for the family by men and women,including through appropriate legislation, incentives and/or encouragement;]

(Alternative)
[delete: Ensure, through appropriate legislation, incentives and/or encouragement, adequate opportunities for women and men to take parental leave and receive parental benefits;]