Jordan
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First Meeting of EPIC Steering Committee
First Meeting of EPIC Steering Committee
23 May 2018
A Steering Committee has been established to ensure that EPIC operates credibly, effectively and strategically and to facilitate strategic coherence at the global, regional and national levels. Specifically it will guide EPIC’s activities, and provide direction and leadership on action to reduce the gender pay gap and achieve equal pay for work of equal value.The first official meeting of the Steering Committee was convened, on 23 May 2018 at the ILO’s headquarters in Geneva. The objective of the meeting was to establish operational guidelines and priorities for EPIC through 2020.The Steering Committee comprises up to two countries from each of the following regions: Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia/Pacific, and Arab States, as well as one representative from both workers’ and employers’ Organizations, nominated by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and International Organization of Employers (IOE) respectively. Country representatives currently include Canada, Iceland, Korea, Panama, South Africa and Switzerland. The Steering Committee is chaired by Switzerland.
Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
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The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle
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Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2017, OECD 2017
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EPIC Launch at the UN General Assembly
EPIC Launch at the UN General Assembly
18 Sep 2017
A high level event was organized at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday 18th September 2017, during the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly. The purpose of the event was to launch the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), a global coalition which will collaborate at the global, regional and national levels to support governments, employers, workers and other stakeholders to make equal pay between women and men for work of equal value a reality, and reduce the gender pay gap.
EPIC will focus on realizing Sustainable Development Goal target 8.5 which calls for equal pay for work of equal value through advocacy, knowledge sharing, capacity building, technical advisory services, data analysis and monitoring. It will also play a catalytic role in enhancing global action on women’s access to decent work.
The launch consisted of four consecutive panels which brought together Heads of State and Government, the heads of the three establishing partners’ organizations as well as top executives from multinational companies, heads of workers’ organizations and other key stakeholders. A reception was organized immediately following the event for the various actors to meet and discuss these issues in a more informal setting.
Audience
The high level launch brought together senior Government and UN officials, senior officials from other International Organizations, top business executives and leaders of trade unions and employers’ organizations, civil society and individuals that have been instrumental in promoting and implementing equal pay policies.
Key Stakeholders Meeting in Berlin
Key Stakeholders Meeting in Berlin
23 Aug 2017
The meeting hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, and supported by the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, was organized to provide key stakeholders with the opportunity to shape EPIC’s operational and strategic directions.
Approximately 40 persons representing governments, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and German workers’ and employers’ organizations, as well as the Nordic Council participated in the EPIC’s First Meeting of Key Stakeholders. The meeting was opened by Ms Christine Morgenstern, Federal Ministry for Family Affairs; Ms Sabine Baun, Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs; Ms Annette Niederfranke, ILO Berlin; Ms Lopa Banerjee, UN Women; and Mr Willem Adema, OECD.
The meeting which was hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, and supported by the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, was organized to provide key stakeholders with the opportunity to shape EPIC’s operational and strategic directions. The intention of the meeting was to build consensus on EPIC`s vision and guiding principles prior to its launch.
Plenary sessions were devoted to presentations on three key draft documents: (a) EPIC’s proposed vision by Manuela Tomei; (b) EPIC’s proposed operational structure by Lisa Wong; and (c) EPIC’s proposed resource mobilization options by Raphael Crowe. Three Working Group sessions were devoted to discussing the three key EPIC draft documents based on key guiding questions.
There was consensus among meeting participants that equal pay for women and men for work of equal value was central to realizing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, reducing poverty and beneficial to the economy at large. Participants agreed that progress in closing the gender pay gap had been too slow and that no single actor alone would be able to solve the complexities of equal pay for work of equal value. Efforts towards achieving SDG target 8.5 could be accelerated through leveraging expertise across a diverse range of stakeholders to bring about changes on the ground. EPIC would help realize this. Policy dialogue, advocacy, knowledge sharing, peer-reviewed research and robust data and statistics were considered priority focus areas for EPIC.
The 2013 OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship
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