Women Unionists to Gather Forces for Better Representation

The MENA region has the lowest rate of women's participation in the labor market. Less than 30 per cent of women access the labor market, compared to 48,5 per cent worldwide. Unemployment rates reach 20 per cent, double that of men.

In that context, a network of women from across the Middle East and North Africa met in Beirut to identify challenges and opportunities around women’s representation in unions and the workplace.

Participants from several MENA women Union networks worked on establishing and implementing an action plan for 2019. To keep the momentum, core themes were established for these participants to take back to their national networks.

The themes raised included:

• Pushing for a gender perspective on health and safety
• Improving maternity protection
• Organizing and ensuring real participation of women
• Pushing to stop violence against women by using the IndustriALL pledge and supporting the international campaign in favor of the adoption of an ILO convention addressing gender-based violence.