At the bottom of this article, you will find the translation into the other working languages of the ILO.
For International Women’s Day 2023, the Staff Union invited you to share your ideas on what we could do to promote gender equity. We thank the many of you who came to share a coffee with us, and write your ideas on our purple post-its! Rest assured we read and noted each and every one.
We have done our best to address as many of your comments as we can. So, please find below part 2 of the Staff Union’s responses to the general ideas and themes you shared
We need more women in leadership and preferably if they are selected through competitive process.
The SU can only agree with regards to requiring more women in leadership roles and when selected through a competitive process the selected candidate should indeed be the most suitable candidate.
Extend the new parental leave benefits to all who become parents in 2023 (not just from 22 July).
To the best of the SU’s knowledge the ILO is the only UN organization that has any retroactivity to the new parental leave requirements. This date of 22 July was chosen as this was the closing date of the ICSC Ninety-fourth Session of the Commission when the revised changes were proposed.
Une crèche au BIT + une salle d’allaitement.
There is an agreement with Scoubidou in Geneva, however we are advised by members it remains 1) very difficult to get a spot for a newborn, and 2) very expensive on a full-time basis
A nursing room is located just outside MEDSERV on R3.
We need good maternity leave and support for pumping at work!
The SU agrees with this and believes the recent negotiated revisions to the staff regulations reflect this – 26 weeks for a birthing parent and 16 weeks for a non-birthing parent, and indeed support breast feeding at work stating “Upon returning to work, a parent who is breastfeeding shall be entitled to two fully paid 30-minute nursing breaks per day during working hours until the child reaches the age of 12 months. In addition, they shall be entitled to reasonable time for commuting for nursing purposes up to a maximum time of 60 minutes per day during working hours until the child reaches the age of 12 months. Thereafter, an official who continues to breastfeed shall continue to be entitled to take the nursing breaks while resuming their normal hours of work and arranging their working day accordingly.”
We need to share the “second shift” with partners and take care about home and kids together.
The SU supports this view, parenting and family responsibilities are a dual role and hope the newly negotiated Flexible Working Arrangement Policy will enable progress on this important matter.
The SU believes the ILO should acknowledge the disproportionate workload women colleagues often have at home, in comparison to many male colleagues. And recognises that a work-life balance approach means different things to different colleagues, applying a human-centred approach that recognises and values diversity is crucial.
Push for ILO management to publish an annual report on gender equality that goes more in depth than just the male/female ratio by department/grade.
The SU agrees and believes all current Diversity reports should be fully publicized on the intranet, meaning that they should be available to all ILO staff rather than selected managers.
The SU believes that there are several tools that can be used to measure difference of treatment based on gender. In addition to promotions (where there are ongoing discussions on how to mitigate the discrepancies), one additional tool could be to measure the amount and types of mission that P staff partake in by gender. As a follow-up to such report, if there is a discrepancy in a certain service, managers should be asked to consider changes and/or explain why it is that way.
Create women mentorship programme + More mentorship programmes for women. Let’s be more intentional about raison women up in the workplace.
The SU understands the office already has such a programme and indeed this was mentioned by the Chief of the HR Talent Management Branch during the recent International Women’s Day: Embracing gender equality event, a recording of which is available.
Awareness campaign on sexual harassment for HQ AND field offices.
The SU understands that there will be an Anti-harassment campaign in 2023 and is looking forward to working with the Office on the review and revision of the Office policy on harassment.
Clear position of the Staff Union on sexual harassment.
The SU believes any form of harassment is unacceptable and fully supports the Administration in taking measures to ensure a working environment free from any form of violence and harassment. The SU works actively with the administration in developing and revising, when needed, relevant IDGSs, policies etc., on all forms of harassment.
French version: here
Spanish version: here