5th Periodic Report under the International Covenant for Economic Social and Cultural Rights Feedback
Article 3: Equality between men and women
Read the text in the report here.
The Covenant guarantees that men and women are equal and have the right to enjoy economic, social and cultural rights equally.
The report covers developments such as supports and subsidies to help parents balance work and caring responsibilities, women in leadership roles in the public sector, and gender equality in the private sector.
Committee recommendations
The paragraph numbers below are taken from the Committee's concluding observations that you can access here.
22. The Committee recommends that the State party pursue its efforts to achieve gender parity in all elected bodies. It also recommends that the State party step up its measures to increase women’s representation in leadership roles in the public sector and to that end strengthen awareness-raising campaigns on the roles of women and men in the family and in society. The Committee encourages the State party to take targeted measures, such as quotas to promote gender equality in the private sector. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 16 (2005) on the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights.
31. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Intensify its efforts to diversify women’s work opportunities, including occupations that are traditionally male-dominated, and ensure that ethnic and disability perspectives are integrated in all such efforts;
(b) Adopt targeted measures to foster an environment conducive to realizing equal employment opportunities for men and women, including by undertaking awareness-raising campaigns, adopting temporary special measures and further promoting flexible work arrangements that help parents in balancing family and work;
(c) Effectively address the causes of the high percentage of women engaged in multiple employment;
(d) Adopt measures to incorporate the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the State party’s legislation and develop a streamlined mechanism to implement it across occupations.