Launching event of Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business Tbilisi, Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, 14, Kostava Str., Location: Dates: December 2014; 15:00 o’clock Organizers: UN Women Georgia Participants/target audience: Private companies, UNCT, local NGOs working on women’s economic empowerment and economic rights Goal: To introduce / launch UN Women and UN Global Compact’s Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business in Georgia COA: UN Women Core resources BACKGROUND The Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business (WEPs) is a joint initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact, launched on International Women’s Day 2010 following a yearlong international, multi-stakeholder consultation process The WEPs elaborates the gender dimension of good corporate citizenship, the UN Global Compact, and business' role in sustainable development While there have been significant efforts to promote global gender equality and women’s empowerment, progress has been much slower than anticipated Advancing and empowering women is too big an assignment for any single sector, be it government, international organizations or civil society Providing a partnership platform to engage the private sector—the engine for jobs, innovation, capital creation and investment—is absolutely essential To fill this need, the WEPs provide a road map for business on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community Further, the Principles help companies understand the gender dimension of other areas of corporate sustainability (for example environmental sustainability, supply-chains sustainability etc.) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent This increase could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 to percent and reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 percent, or up to 150 million people The 2010 McKinsey white paper, “The Business of Empowering Women,” based on a global survey of | Terms of Reference: Launching of WEPs in Georgia December 2,300 senior private sector executives, informs us that companies that are already focusing their efforts on women are reporting measurable business benefits One-third surveyed said their investments in women have already resulted in greater profits and another third said their investments would soon show profit Research shows direct linkages between investing in women’s employment and overall GDP growth If female employment rates were to match male rates, overall GDP would increase by 5% in the US, 9% in Japan, 12% in the UAE and 34% in Egypt (just to name a few) (Booz & Company) There are WEPs: Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers Promote education, training and professional development for women Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality In an effort to bolster high-level corporate leadership for gender equality, in June 2010, the UN Women/UN Global Compact WEPs partnership launched a CEO Statement of Support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles By signing the Statement, CEOs demonstrate leadership on gender equality and women’s empowerment and encourage fellow business leaders to the same The CEO Statement of Support encourages business leaders to use the seven Women’s Empowerment Principles as guide posts for actions that advance and empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community, and communicate progress through the use of sex-disaggregated data and other benchmarks Signers underscore that equal treatment of women and men is not just the right thing to — it is also good for business and needs to be a priority To date, more than 800 CEOs representing a range of sectors have signed a CEO Statement of Support for the WEPs Women’s economic empowerment is not a priority issue either on the government or on private sector’s agenda in Georgia; as per UN Women/GEOSTAT recent analysis Gender Wage Gap constitutes 34.8%; Furthermore, it appears that male regression follows standard expectations such as education exerting a strong positive impact on wages and increasing as the level of education increases The same is not present for women It appears that wages no increase as the education level increases, which may indicate that the labor market does not reward women in accordance to their education level and suggests potential mismatch between education level and occupations, and occupational segregation Georgia, in general suffers from relatively high unemployment and self-employment rates for both men and women Women, however, are further disadvantaged at the labor market, as demonstrated by the gaps in labor force participation rate, employment rate and salaries According to official data, as of 2012, only 57.4% of women are considered as economically active, while the respective indicator for | Terms of Reference: Launching of WEPs in Georgia December men stands at 78.2 % Accordingly, the percentage of employed women equals to 49.5 % of the total female population, while the respective figure for men is 65.6 %.1 According to the International Center for Education Policy Planning and Management (EPPM)2 study, the likelihood of employment for men with higher education is 1.2 times higher than likelihood of employment for women with higher education This difference is calculated within various education spheres, the gender difference remains in all spheres, be this hard sciences, or humanities In other words, the likelihood for women’s employment remains low compared to men.3 IPM Research survey of 150 employers conducted for Millennium Challenge Account – Georgia showed that employers believe that their working conditions for females are either excellent or good (75.3%), yet 74.7% of them have no special benefits for pregnant women, no maternity benefits (80%) and according to the absolute majority they have no child day facilities Also 92% saw no benefit in increasing their female representation in their work forces.4 The total number of persons employed in business sector amounted to 397.8 thousand persons in 2010, of which 39.0% were women and 61.0% - men In 2012, this data increased and reached 504.5 thousand persons, of which 37.9% were women and 62.1% men.5 Average monthly remuneration is highest in Tbilisi, Mtskheta-Mtianeti and Kvemo Kartli regions The average monthly remuneration of employed women in Tbilisi amounted to 501.7 GEL, in Mtskheta-Mtianeti – 348.2 GEL and in Kvemo Kartli region – 316.9 GEL Average monthly remuneration of employed men in above-mentioned regions accordingly amounted to 829.1, 600.3 and 697.9 GEL.6 The data show that men in private sector earn almost twice more as women The Law on Gender Equality of Georgia stipulates that “free choice of occupation or profession, career promotion, vocational training” is guaranteed without discrimination.7 “Everyone has the right to freely choose the profession and specialty based on his/her abilities.”8 The issue of sexual harassment at workplace at this stage is also covered by the Law on Gender Equality:9 “In employment relations, the following is inadmissible: a) Discrimination, persecution or coercion of a person that is aimed at creating a threatening, hostile, belittling, or insulting environment; b) Any undesirable verbal, nonverbal or physical action of sexual character that is aimed at or results in the creation of a threatening, hostile, belittling, or insulting environment.”10 This definition, however, remains as a stand-alone principle that is not yet included in the Labor Code or other legislation However, the sexual harassment can be considered under Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which determines the sanctions for abuse of official position “by a civil servant or a person of the equal status for the purpose of gaining benefits or other advantages for oneself or for others that caused substantial violation of the rights of a physical person, and of legitimate interests of the society or the state”11 and sanctions for such behaviour can be fine or imprisonment for a term of up to three years, and at the same time the right to hold office or pursue an activity is deprived for up to three years.12 GEOSTAT, http://geostat.ge/index.php?action=page&p_id=146&lang=eng; cited October, 2013 International Center for Education Policy Planning and Management (EPPM); 2012 Education and workforce in Georgia Ibid Millennium Challenge Account, Georgia Studies of Labor Demand, Barriers to Participation in STEM Education Programs and Occupations in Georgia, Georgia 2014, 11 Woman and Men in Georgia, 2013, http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/health/women%20and%20men%202013-Analytical.pdf, 96 Ibid., 70 Gender Equality Law of Georgia, Article, Art 4/2/”f” Ibid., Article Ibid., Article 10 Ibid., Article 11 Criminal Code of Georgia, Article 332; paragraph 12 Ibid | Terms of Reference: Launching of WEPs in Georgia December Retirement age for men and women is differentiated in Georgia Women are allowed to retire and receive an old-age pension (flat rate, GEL 150, equivalent to USD 91) from age 60 The respective age for men is 65 As per 2012 data, 26% of all female pensioners belong to the age group of 60-64 There is no study on the impact of this uneven pension-age policy on women and men OBJECTIVES/TASKS Introduce Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business to the private sector and civil society in Georgia; Present experience from the implementation of WEPs in private sector in Turkey Encourage representatives of private sector in Georgia to use WEPs as a basis for developing their own strategies and action plans and joint WEPs movement by signing up the CEO Statement of Support mechanisms DELIVERABLES Selected representatives of private sector in Georgia are informed about the WEPs Initial goodwill is mobilized among the representatives of the management of private companies to join the WEPs in Georgia PARTICIPANTS Private companies, UNCT, local NGOs working on women’s economic empowerment and economic rights Launching event of Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business Tbilisi, Rooms Hotel, Tbilisi, Kostava str.14, December 2014; 15:00 o’clock AGENDA 14:30 – 15:00 Welcome coffee / media inquiries and interviews 15:00-15:05 Welcome and explaining purpose of the meeting Ms Erika Kvapilova, UN Women Representative in Georgia 15:05-15:20 Keynote speaker: Gender Equality and Private Business Mr Giorgi Kadagidze, Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Georgia, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, IMF Governor for Georgia, 15:20-15:40 Keynote speaker: Women in agriculture sector Ms Nino Zambakhidze, Chairperson of Georgian Farmers’ Association 15:40-15:55 Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business (WEPs) - Presentation Ms Deniz Ozturk, Advisor to the Board Global Compact Turkey Experiences from the implementation of WEPs: Garanti Turkey Ms Derya Ozgit, Garanti Bank (Banking) Turkey, Sustainability Supervisor Discussion facilitated by Tamar Sabedashvili, UN Women Summary and closing by Erika Kvapilova Fourchette 15:55-16:10 16:10-17:00 | Terms of Reference: Launching of WEPs in Georgia December | Terms of Reference: Launching of WEPs in Georgia December ... Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which determines the sanctions for abuse of official position “by a civil servant or a person of the equal status for the purpose of gaining benefits... salaries According to official data, as of 2012, only 57.4% of women are considered as economically active, while the respective indicator for | Terms of Reference: Launching of WEPs in Georgia... substantial violation of the rights of a physical person, and of legitimate interests of the society or the state”11 and sanctions for such behaviour can be fine or imprisonment for a term of up to three