UN CSW Political declaration: a landmark victory for gender equality and decent work
- Decent work: Governments commit to enforcing labour rights, in line with the ILO international labour standards, such as the right to organise and bargain collectively, acting against workplace discrimination and violence in the world of work, promoting equal pay for work of equal value, and supporting the transition from informal to formal work.
- Care economy: A commitment to representation, remuneration and reward of care workers with improved working conditions, increased public investment in integrated care systems, including universal care services and paid leave policies, and tackling the unequal burden of unpaid care work on women and promoting work-life balance.
- Social protection: A call for universal, gender-responsive social protection systems, including floors, ensuring women in informal and precarious work have equal access to essential protections.
- Trade union recognition: Governments recognise trade unions as key stakeholders and the need to protect the right of civil society, including unions, to operate freely.
Beijing +30: Trade unions mobilise for gender equality
This report highlights the critical role of trade unions in advancing gender equality, social justice, and workers' rights 30 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Despite progress, persistent inequalities, gender-based violence, and attacks on women's rights continue to undermine efforts toward equality in the workplace and society. Trade unions are advocating for stronger protections, equal pay, decent work, and a gender-responsive just transition, while also pushing for the ratification and implementation of key international labour standards. With 2025 set to be a pivotal year for global policy discussions, the report calls for urgent action from governments to uphold commitments to gender equality and sustainable development through a New Social Contract that prioritises fair wages, social protection, and democratic rights.
Trade unions interventions at the UN CSW official sessions and in institutional events
UN Generation Equality Forum: Multistakeholder Partnerships – Leveraging Generation Equality to Advance Recommitment, Accountability, and Resourcing of the Beijing Platform for Action
Through social dialogue, the international labour standards have been forged bringing along fundamental improvements to the life of millions of women workers
Jotika Sharma, FTUC Fiji, ITUC Women Committee Chair
Stop trying to fix women—fix the system, and women will be just fine.
Jemimah Njuki, UN Women
Equal pay for work of equal value: Unlocking women's potential across the life cycle
We need increased public investments in care as a means to support women’s labour force participation and women’s transition from informal to formal employment, in line with the ILO resolution on decent work and the care economy
Ritta Thandeka Msibi, COSATU gender committee, South Africa
UN CSW General Discussion and High-Level Interactive Dialogue on the role of the CSW
Siobhan Vipond, CLC Canada, ITUC Women Committee Vice Chair
Women's labour rights, social justice and democracy
The Trade Union Parallel Event at CSW69 brought together trade union leaders, policymakers, and experts to address the impact of global crises on gender equality and workers’ rights. The event highlighted trade unions’ key demands for the revitalisation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, focusing on decent work, social protection, equal pay, care work, and the elimination of gender-based violence and harassment. It reinforced the role of international labour standards and trade unions in advancing social justice and democracy for women in the workplace and society, providing concrete policy recommendations for future action.
Networking and Alliance Building
ILO Convention 190 and Beijing+30: Bridging Gender and Labour
Since the adoption of the Convention 190, trade unions have mobilised – under the umbrella of ITUC’s #RatifyC190 Campaign - in extraordinary ways to build national campaigns in over 80 countries
Fulya Pınar Özcan, Hak-İş Confederation, Turkey, ITUC Women Committee
Credits:
ITUC