Promoting decent employment opportunities for women in Egypt, Jordan and Palestine

With funding from the Swedish International Development Agency SIDA, the jointly implemented project by UN Women and ILO addresses the structural causes of inequalities that women face in the region preventing them to access decent employment opportunities. The project focuses on Egypt, Jordan and Palestine. Project strategies include promoting equitable labor laws and policies; engaging public, private and community actors (with attention to involving men); and reducing the unequal burden of unpaid care work.

Working with a wide range of partners from among the government institutions, the private sector, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and the civil society, the program will work at three levels, macro, meso and micro, reflected in the program outcomes:

Outcome 1: Gender responsive labor laws and related policies in place and effective
Outcome 2: A gender responsive private sector that attracts, retains and promotes women is supported
Outcome 3: Gender stereotypes about women and men’s responsibilities concerning unpaid care and household work are challenged

Partnerships for Development: Comparative Advantages

UN Women Comparative Advantages

UN Women have a strong history of promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in the region. UN Women will leverage its global leadership for gender equality and women’s empowerment, its role as UN coordinator on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and its strategic relationships with government institutions and civil society organizations, in particular the women’s rights movement and the private sector through the Women’s Empowerment 7 Principles.

ILO Comparative Advantages

For its part the ILO has a unique tripartite structure, bringing governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations together, has an explicit mandate to promote decent work for all women and men through international labor standards, and is concerned with the promotion of social justice including gender equality in the world of work.