Strategic objective F.1. [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] [Secure economic rights for women]

Draft Platform for Action
F. [Inequality in women's access to and participation in the definition of economic structures and policies [and the productive process itself]] [Economic potential and independence of women] [Gender equality in economic structures, policies and all forms of productive activity]
Strategic objective F.1. [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] [Secure economic rights for women]

Actions to be taken

167. By Governments:

(a) Enact and enforce legislation to guarantee the rights of women and men to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value;

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

(c) Eliminate discriminatory practices by employers and take appropriate measures in consideration of women's reproductive role and functions, such as the denial of employment and dismissal due to pregnancy or breast-feeding, or requiring proof of contraceptive use, and take effective measures to ensure that pregnant women, women on maternity leave or women re-entering the labour market after childbearing are not discriminated against;

(d) Devise mechanisms and take positive action to enable women to gain access to full and equal participation in the formulation of policies and definition of structures through such bodies as ministries of finance and trade, national economic commissions, economic research institutes and other key agencies, as well as through their participation in appropriate international bodies;

(e) [Undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women equal rights [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;]

(f) Conduct reviews of national income and inheritance tax and social security systems to eliminate any existing bias against women;

(g) [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 dependants 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) [Provide developing countries with technical assistance and funding to collect data on unpaid work and to incorporate them into their national accounts and other economic statistics;]

(i) Review and amend laws governing the operation of financial institutions to ensure that they provide services to women and men on an equal basis;

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

(k) Revise and implement national policies that support the traditional savings, credit and lending mechanisms for women; (l) Seek to ensure that national policies related to international and regional trade agreements do not adversely impact women's new and traditional economic activities; (m) [Ensure that transnational corporations comply with national laws and codes, social security regulations, international environmental laws and other relevant laws;]

(n) Adjust employment policies to facilitate the restructuring of work patterns in order to promote the sharing of family responsibilities;

(o) Establish mechanisms and other forums to enable women entrepreneurs and women workers to contribute to the formulation of policies and programmes being developed by economic ministries and financial institutions;

(p) Enact and enforce equal opportunity laws, take positive action and ensure compliance by the public and private sectors through various means;

(q) Use gender-impact analysis in the development of [macro- and micro-] economic and social policies in order to monitor such impact and restructure policies in cases where harmful impact occurs;

(r) Promote gender-sensitive policies and measures to empower women as equal partners with men in technical, managerial and entrepreneurial fields;

(s) Reform laws or enact national policies that support the establishment of labour laws to ensure the protection of all women workers, including safe work practices, the right to organize and access to justice.

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