Chile and Turkey have committed to joining the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), and two other countries have agreed to step up their efforts to close national gender pay gaps.
By joining EPIC, the two countries bring to 27 the number of governments that have signed up to the EPIC goal of equal pay for women and men. In addition, Spain – already an EPIC member – and Japan have agreed to do more to support the EPIC goal.
In total, EPIC currently has 63 members from employers’ and workers’ organizations, international bodies, academia and civil society, and governments.
The new commitments were made at an event hosted by EPIC and the Brazilian government during the G20 meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil, in July. Brazil, which currently holds the G20 presidency, has identified gender equality and promoting diversity in the workplace as key priorities of the G20 Employment Working Group (EEC).
The event, Let us close the gender pay gap together NOWwas organized by EPIC in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE). The aim was to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 8.5 and highlight how equal pay for work of equal value strengthens countries’ capacity to achieve the other SDGs, thereby reducing hunger, poverty and inequality.
Delegates discussed the complex challenges posed by pay inequality between men and women and shared experiences and good practices to close the gender gap and promote pay equality in the world of work. Wage discrimination based on gender, ethnic and racial inequalities, as well as the disproportionate share of unpaid care work performed by women and their violence and harassment at work are the main factors that make it difficult for women to access the labour market.
The Head of the Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Division of the International Labour Organization, Chidi King, moderated the discussion, which consisted of opening remarks by the Brazilian Minister of Labour and Employment, Luiz Marinho, and a keynote speech by the Brazilian National Secretary for Care Economy and Women’s Autonomy of the Ministry of Women, Rosane Silva.
In her remarks, King stressed that despite significant progress in gender equality policies and actions, equal pay remains elusive. “Worldwide, women earn less than 80 cents for every dollar men earn. This figure is even lower for women with children, women of color, refugee and migrant women, women with disabilities, indigenous women and many others, particularly in the informal economy. For these reasons, in recent years many countries have enacted new laws to close the gender pay gap. However, despite these efforts, no country has yet fully achieved this goal,” she said.
Minister Silva reported on Brazil’s experience in drafting the Equal Pay Law, which included the creation of a working group to develop policies to promote equal pay and employment. She also highlighted the creation of the Interministerial Working Group (IWG) charged with drafting the national care policy, to which the ILO provides technical advice.
Representatives from Brazil, Canada, the United States, the International Organisation of Employers and the International Trade Union Confederation also participated in the discussion and shared their experiences and challenges in reducing gender pay inequality.
Representatives of the governments of Chile and Turkey expressed their countries’ willingness to join EPIC, while Japan and Spain outlined concrete measures their countries will implement to reduce the gender pay gap in their country.
At the end of the event, ILO Deputy Director-General Celeste Drake, UN Women Interim Representative for Brazil Ana Carolina Querino and OECD Deputy Secretary-General Yoshiki Takeuchi spoke and shared their reflections on the remaining opportunities and challenges ahead.
“We have a shared responsibility to close the gender pay gap: we must make it visible, measure it, find innovative and practical solutions to eliminate it and accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 8.5,” said Drake.
EPOS
EPIC (Equal Pay International Coalition) is jointly led by the ILO, UN Women and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
EPIC operates at global, regional and national levels, supporting governments, employers, workers and their organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia to take concrete steps to close the gender pay gap and achieve equal pay. EPIC also helps improve legislation, build capacity and strengthen monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.
In line with the 2030 Agenda, EPIC seeks universal ratification of the ILO Equal Remuneration Convention of 1951 (No. 100) and calls for visible efforts and results from governments and the private sector in implementing equal pay initiatives.
