I speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries, Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania [1] and the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Georgia align themselves with this statement. 

We align with the IMEC Statement.

We thank the Office for this paper. The EU supports the focus of the ILO on gender equality. The EU also pursues gender equality in its internal policies, including through the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, and its Gender Action Plan III in external action – which puts women and girls' rights at the heart of the global recovery for a gender-equal world. The Gender Action Plan III provides the EU with a robust policy framework, which positions the promotion of gender equality as a priority of all external policies and actions.

The EU and its Member States actively promoted clear and ambitious language on Gender Equality in the Centenary Declaration, with a regular evaluation of any progress to ensure equal opportunities, equal participation and equal treatment, including equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal value. Promoting gender equality and inclusive labour markets is a precondition for ensuring decent work for all and achieving  the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 5 on gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

We are encouraged to see that in the latter two years of the ILO’s Action Plan 2018 –21, a greater proportion of targets were met than in the first two years, rising from 50% to 65%. However, we do note that significant work is required to meet targets in the two areas of evaluation and gender responsive auditing and capacity assessment and development. We also note increased efforts are still required to improve women’s representation at the P5 staff level and above in the organisation. 

It is commendable that the ILO conducts independent evaluations of the implementation of its own gender policy and its operationalization through its action plan. The paper outlines the findings of the high-level independent evaluation of the ILO’s gender equality and mainstreaming efforts. We were pleased to note an increased number of staff engaging with the Action Plan, compared to previous years as well as an increased awareness among staff of the Action Plan. However, the findings also noted the lack of a systemic and strategic institutionalised approach to support gender equality and mainstreaming across the organisation.

We support the intent expressed in the Office’s response to strengthen its activities in this area and work toward a more strategic and integrated approach to address these issues. We support, in particular, the Office’s commitment to develop a more systemic approach to programme delivery, aligning the Gender Action Plan with the high level strategic plan and the Programme and Budget, as well as increased accountability for outcomes and actions and broader coherence and multilateral engagement with the wider UN system.   

We believe that the Action Plan for Gender Equality 2022-25 complements existing initiatives and contributes to further gender mainstreaming within the organisation. We commend the decision to reduce the number of targets, thus allowing for a stronger focus on targets that have still not been met and removing those that are consistently met or exceeded. We also welcome the consideration of the resolution and conclusions of the recent Working Party on Inequalities and the World of Work in the plan.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has disproportionately impacted women and has, regrettably, halted or even eroded some of the gains made in advancing gender equality in recent years. It is clear we must all redouble our efforts in order to mitigate the adverse impact of the global health crisis on women and girls, and integrate gender responsive policies as an essential component in all of our long-term recovery plans.

We would ask the office to please advise when the ILO Action Plan for Gender Equality 2022 to 2025 will be presented to the Governing Body for its consideration. We would also ask for further clarification on how the Office wide theory of change for Gender Equality, as referenced in the Office document, will inform and relate to this Action Plan.

Chair, we can support the decision point.

[1] Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process