STUDY GUIDE INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION (ILO) Gender Inequality in the Workplace. Villa Maria Model United Nations 2017

Transcription

1 STUDY GUIDE INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION (ILO) Gender Inequality in the Workplace Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 1

2 Dear delegates, Welcome to the second edition of VMMUN! My name is Fabiola Ventura and this year I will be directing the ILO committee with Augusto. I am an Economist from Universidad del Pacífico with a Public Sector mention. I work as an external consultant for the World Bank in matters of Trade and Competitiveness. Also, I have worked for Consulting Firms and NGOs designing and analyzing social policies. I started doing MUN in 2014, as part of the Peruvian Debate Society Team. Internationally, I have debated twice in both Harvard National Model United Nations and Harvard National Model United Nations Latin America. Nationally, I have debated in Universidad del Pacífico s and Universidad Católica s MUNs. Beyond awards, MUN made me realize how important my role as a global citizen is and how I can contribute daily to achieve a more equal, just and peaceful world. While discussing the issue of Inequalities in the workplace we precisely want the same for you. So please, feel free to passionately enjoy these days of debate! Looking forward to meeting you in April! Fabiola Ventura Co-Director, International Labor Organization VM Class of 2010 ilo.vmmun@prideperu.org Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 2

3 Hi, delegates! Welcome to Villa Maria Model United Nations 2017 (VMMUN 2017)! My name is Augusto Dannon Alva and I study at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. I am starting my fifth semester at university, which is the first in law school. It is a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to direct the International Labor Organization together with Fabiola. This committee is very important to me, as I believe that economic inequalities are mainly established and perpetuated through work. I hope you find the discussions in this committee as engaging as I do. I discovered MUN in high school as an experiment of my school that sent us to LiMUN without any training. I debated in SOCHUM, where I achieved excellent results. The next year I was contacted by Pili, and she offered me to join Peruvian Debate Society, a team I have been part of for two years. With this extraordinary family, I have had the opportunity to debate in UPMUN 2015 in the Security Council, in UPMUN 2016 in the Human Rights Council, in MUNUR 2015 in SOCHUM, in HNMUN-LA 2016 in SOCHUM, in HNMUNLA 2017 in HGA, and in HNMUN 2017 in the Commission on the Status of Women. I was also a director in MUNUR 2016 for the International Organization for Migration. I am really passionate about social topics related to human rights and the wellbeing of minorities and vulnerable populations, and those are the topics I have debated the most in my short MUN career. In my free time, I am really into philosophy, politics, theater, movies and hanging out with my friends. I really hope that you have an extraordinary time in this conference that you get to learn a lot from the other delegates, that you raise awareness about the topics we discuss, that you make long-lasting friendships and that you enjoy the experience! If you have any question, I am always available for you! I can t wait to meet you all! Kind regards, Augusto Dannon Co-Director, International Labor Organization ilo.vmmun@prideperu.org Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 3

4 I. INTRODUCTION In this committee, we will aim to tackle two of the most important inequalities in the contemporary era: economic inequality and gender inequality. In the past years economic inequality has been one of the most spotted in the academic world and criticized by progressive groups. We have come to understand that work represents the main door to achieve economic prosperity but, at the same time, it works as a platform for self-realization. Managing this duality, in the second half of the 20 th century, the world has moved towards more working rights to ensure equality and prosperity, as well as to protect dignity in labor space. Many changes took place when the global economy was liberalized in order to reduce regulations, but, as stated by the International Monetary Fund, neoliberalism has resulted in being one of the most important causes of the current inequality. Due to this, States have worked towards reforms and regulations that can now give quality work and ensure social wellbeing. There is still another duality in those standards, which opposes domestic and global reforms regarding work. On the domestic side, they argue that each country faces particular problems in a specific context with different capabilities. Therefore, the standards should be local and, if possible, self-regulated. On the global side, dignity is used as an argument. It is stated that as all human beings have the same dignity, we should all have the same minimum and basic standards worldwide in such a relevant space as work, in which our survival (economic prosperity) and happiness (self-realization) is determined partially. In the whole world of working inequalities, we are going to focus on those of gender. In the intersectional theory it is stated that we as individuals are more or less likely to be oppressed depending on our characteristics and how are the aligned with different sources of discrimination. Bearing this in mind, we cannot see any discrimination or exclusion due to only one characteristic, but we can see which of those are more harmful. There are two main reasons to believe that gender is one of the main, if not the most important, characteristic in the intersectional chain. Firstly, because it is invariable. We are born with a gender and we cannot hide it, and, in the case of deciding to change it, you will be exposed to a bigger oppression. In that case, in gender we are condemned (not necessarily in a bad way) to face the oppression or privilege our gender gives us. Secondly, because gender is surrounded by dichotomies, in which one is valued as positive and the other as negative. This creates a clear condemnation to those in the negative side and gets involved in a constant exchange of sides of oppression. With this in mind we must pay particular attention to solve the inequalities in the working place that affect that vulnerable population, in order to make reducing general discrimination possible. Women empowerment can be one of the most effective tools to ensure women equality as the working place is the proper place to start. II. ABOUT THE COMMITTEE The International Labor Organization (ILO) is the only tripartite UN agency, which means a country delegation is not only composed by governments, but also by employers and workers. This with the intention to give equal voice to all members that interact within labor markets. It was founded in 1919, before Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 4

5 the United Nations, as a result of the First World War: aiming for social justice and peace. After the UN was created in 1946, it was annexed as a specialized agency. It s constituted by 187 member states and it embraces four central objectives: to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues. full and equal members of society. (USAID definition) Gender integration involves identifying, and then addressing, gender inequalities during strategy and project designing, implementation and monitoring. (USAID definition) Education Currently, the ILO s mission is well recognized as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In specific, goal number 8 aims to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. III. DESCRIPTION OF THE TOPIC AND ITS PROBLEMS Definitions Gender equality is the view that everyone should receive equal treatment and be free from gender-based discrimination. (UN definition) Gender equality means expanding freedoms and improving overall quality of life so that equality is achieved without sacrificing the gains for males or females (USAID definition) Gender inequality refers to the unequal access to and control over the various material and nonmaterial resources and assets of society (UN definition) Female empowerment is achieved when women and girls acquire the power to act freely, exercise their rights, and fulfill their potential as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are both clear on establishing education as one of the central duties states must provide to its citizens at their correspondent age stages. Out of all the obligations states have, access to quality education has a determinant role. Specifically, it enables the execution of further rights. Therefore, well-educated citizens are able to raise their voice into political participation and express themselves freely either written or spoken. In particular, pre-primary and primary education are critical stages for children to settle bases for learning. Within these years, children develop cognitive and noncognitive skills that define a broad range of future capacities: numeracy, imagination, personality among many others. If wellestablished, these skills will increase the chance of children being ready to learn in their following stages: secondary, tertiary and successively. Being well-educated, is perceived as an advantage by employers who wind these people more suitable for their institutions. Nonetheless, by 2013 almost 30 million girls at primary school age were out of school worldwide. This generates an early Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 5

6 gap among children who assist to school and those who don t. There are several reasons why children may be out of school, especially in poor environments: (1) cost derived from tuition fee, uniform, supplies etc. (2) security due to the unsafe commute from the household to the school (3) distance if the school is located way too far and requires too much time. But in the case of girls, there s an additional component: social norms. In several countries, women are conceived as those who must be in charge of the household. Therefore, if they go to school the house is left unattended, and some parents find this unacceptable. If parents hold this thinking, children are condemned to no access at all. At this stage, gaps originate and are shown in labor markets: less-educated women are unable to find decent jobs or earn less wage than men. For example, in the United States, on average, women earn only 78% of men s average wage. Health Women have different health necessities when compared to men. These, become clear from adolescence due to menstruation for example. Nonetheless, when it comes to working environments, women face a bigger challenge: maternity. The nine months of pregnancy constitute an unexpected and ever-changing cycle: physically and emotionally. Symptoms vary around body pain, nauseas, weakness, dizziness among others. In some countries, there are policies in place that force enterprises to give paid permission to women some time before and after giving birth; which is often called maternity leave. There are wide differences between countries, even in the same region: for example in Europe, Norway and Finland establish 55 weeks while Germany and Portugal only 15. Not long after giving birth child care starts: which are demanding, perpetual and unpaid activities often in charge in its majority by women. The parenting needed by babies during critical and sensitive early periods plays as a disincentive for women to return to work even after a maternity leave. As of 2014, only 51% of European women with children between 0 and 14 years were engaged in full time jobs. Another relevant 15% only had access to part-time jobs. Nonetheless the inability to access or fully access- labor markets impedes economic independence which contributes to the incapacity of meeting daily life-demands and therefore an adequate execution of rights which feedbacks women inequality. Family policies designed to prevent this phenomenon are those aiming for both maternity (and parenting) paid leave, cash transfers, welcome-packs for newborns, early childhood services and all those that reduce the monetary and nonmonetary - especially time- costs of parenting. Property, management of capital and access to credit The access to productive resources and assets represents a crucial matter in the economic independence of women. Sadly, in developing countries, the amount of women that own land can go up to only 10% of the whole available land in the country. In sectors such as agriculture, Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 6

7 where women represent almost half of the working force, they represent less that the 20% of the land owners. Another problem is the lack of management of the money in the household. Extreme poverty is usually measured by households, which hides the amount of women that are poor. Many households can surpass the daily dollar needed to escape from extreme poverty, but there is an incredible amount of women that are not in charge of that money. This increases the vulnerability of women to go into extreme poverty if something happens to the men of the family. These two limitations for women (property and capital) are one of the biggest tools of domination, either by their employees or their husbands. And are precisely those limitations the ones that lead to the lack of access to credit, which, at the same time, excludes women from the possibility to start their own business to independently insert themselves into society. If women do not have any property and do not manage any capital, it would be really hard for them to get any loan to start their initiatives and become entrepreneurs. That is why innovation is still lead by men and women are normally excluded from those spaces. In the most advanced sector in developed countries, where women have brought access to education, women can find themselves in a better position to be entrepreneurs and innovate, but in those developing countries, in which innovation is not necessarily developed, they are stuck to conventional economic activities. Credit, land ownership and management of capital are fundamental for women to be included in society equally, regardless of the economic activities developed in each particular country. If women do not have the opportunity to get credits or even to manage the household income, they are always going to depend on the closest men to them, which creates an unequal inclusion of women in the market if they ever get included. And if not equally included, they are in more risk of exploitation, undignified work or violation to their rights. The elimination of the power inequalities through economy can represent one of the most useful tools to eradicate genderbased discrimination. We have to create mechanisms that allow women to own and manage the resources they need, for them to achieve independence. But it is also proven that the contributions that women give to society when they have a choice, improves the general wellbeing. Therefore, including women by liberating them economically represents not only a right for those excluded women, but a benefit for the whole society. Lack of flexibility Working legislation has been an effect of a long tradition and evolution of the preexisting legal concepts. Sadly, those laws are based on traditional gender roles. The same happens with habitual practices in enterprises, which are shaped to be done by traditional men, as they are the ones that have been doing this work in the past. This makes it so that many industries, sectors or positions become unreachable for women as they do not consider the other obligations that women need to fulfil. This creates gender segregation in many sectors as well as destroy the career of the women involved. A study done by Joanna Barsh and Lareina Yee for McKinsey & Company called Unlocking the full potential of women at Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 7

8 work determined two types of companies: fat tunnels and steady pipes. Fat tunnels are those in which many women enter in low responsibility positions and, through the years, the amount of women staying in the company lowers. On the other hand, steady pipes are those in which a smaller percentage of women enter but this remains or even grows as the positions get higher. The idea is to conciliate the high income of women in one type of enterprise and the stability of the others. Now, to illustrate the reasons of this phenomena. We can take banking as an example of the first type. Many women enter this business, but the demands of the work in their 30s makes them either reduce the working burden to start new projects or to stop working. This finds its roots in gender roles, but also in the mindset of women, who do not tend to seek happiness in their work, and therefore are not willing to dedicate the most out of their lives to it. The working burden goes higher as it demands them to stay late, work on strict shifts in the day, due to the interaction with other workers and clients, and more. This results in the fact that, although many women are interested in the sector, not may get to C-suit levels or decision making positions. On the other hand we have the scientific industry. This tends to be more focused on research and specific projects that can be self-run, which gives women freedom to develop themselves in the roles they want to develop. Nevertheless, those sector are the less attractive for women and the enrollment is low. This same study finds four main reasons that lead to the exclusion of women of the progress in the private sector: structural obstacles, lifestyle choices, institutional mind-sets and individual mind-sets. The first one refers to the problem presented before, pointing out the problems on the structure of the companies, which is materialized in the lack of women in high positions. The second one goes to the decisions that women made with their lifestyle, which leads to many complications. One of those is for example, that more than half the women claim to be at the same time breadwinners and caregivers. The third one is the mind-sets in the company. This affects the environment in the work place, making it less woman friendly. Finally, the individual mindsets are those that hold women back. For example, 59% of women surveyed claim to aspire to a C-suit position, which is based on prejudice that states that women do not belong to those sectors. Time Poverty Many women face the need to work and, at the same time, do household activities or unpaid care work. Women globally, according to USAID, spend at least twice as much time in unpaid domestic work as men, and the disparity is much greater in many developing countries. According to the World Economic Forum, men spend 7 hours and 47 minutes working of which one and a half are unpaid, while women work 8 hours 39 minutes of which 4 hours and 47 minutes are unpaid. This shows the burden that women have to face to succeed economically. The unpaid care work represents a limitation to time. In poorer countries, this represents a bigger issue for women, as they are limited only to the household, but this is not only a problem of the least developed countries. In the European Union, one quarter of the women affirm that they are not part of the labor force due to household care. Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 8

9 But what results important of this is the consequences it has on the development of the capabilities of women. All the time invested in unpaid care work represents time that could be worked with a pay but is not. This will lead to the lack of management of assets in hands of women, because they are not managing an equal share of the household incomes as they do not work as much as men in the labor market, but women do mostly all the care work, which is supposed to be a family responsibility. Another consequence is the lack of continuous education for women, as they cannot handle the work burden, the care burden and the education burden. Unpaid care work represents, as well, a competitive disadvantage as women have to compete with the backpack of caring about the household, against men who do not have that obligation. As much as half of the women claim to be breadwinners and caregivers at the same time against only 10% of men who claim the same. This reinforces the absence of women in different industries or apparently justifies the preference of men over women on the market, but this is ignoring the fact that they are not competing in the same terms. The idea is to give them the opportunity to have an equal competition. The supreme court of Spain has just decided to grant in a divorce case an economic compensation for the wife of more than euros for the house work done in the decades of marriage. This court recognized the inequality in property and asset management of the household, pointing as a main reason for this the time poverty that the woman faced. Regarding policy making, one of the biggest changes taking place in the world is the way countries legislate parental leave. In many countries this is only a benefit for women, which finishes representing a disadvantage as many companies are not willing to hire or promote women of a certain age due to the possibility of them getting pregnant and being absent for work. This idea hides behind the concept that women are the only ones in charge of the care work in the families and that the role of a woman is to leave all the other aspects behind for the household. Decision-making and Political Participation The greatest decisions are those attained in the smallest cabinets. This is often true not only for the public sector but for the private sector as well. Worldwide, women have usually been left aside within the highest political environments. Socially, women have been wrongly perceived as weak and not capable of dealing with strong and crucial responsibilities. Despite that the UN s Fourth World Conference on the Status on Women recognizes that achieving goals on equal participation enhances democratic structures itself there s still pending issues in regards of this topic. As of 2016, only 23% of all national parliamentarians worldwide were women. Even though it represented an increase from 1995 s cipher (11%) it still showed how marginalized women are when it comes to politics. Specifically, in some countries even the right of political participation though voting is restricted: In Saudi Arabia, it wasn t until 2015 that women could participate for the first time in a national election. Surprisingly, only two countries in the world have 50% or more women participating in parliament: Rwanda and Bolivia. Furthermore, on Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 9

10 average, the Nordic region is the one heading up: 41%. Nonetheless, high political decisions are not only taken in the public sector but as in the private sector as well. These responsibilities often rely on leaders who are able to decide whether to contribute on the improvement of general social wellbeing. Women Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in the United States hit a record in 2016, despite the fact that it only accounted for 5% of the total group. Examples of successful women present in companies that embrace corporate and social responsibilities are: PepsiCo, Xerox, IBM, Yahoo!, HP, General Motors, among others. General Cooperation As it has been mentioned before, the whole society can get benefits from closing the gender gap. Worldwide, we have only closed 68%, which means that, at the rhythm we have, we will close it in 170 years. To accelerate this process, it is necessary to count with the support of many different actors. We cannot expect that women fight alone for the recognition of the whole society because, if men are not willing to recognize them, all efforts will go to waste. The first actor to be committed is clearly men. The highest spheres of power, from which women remain excluded, are filled with men. Therefore, opening them to women and giving them the opportunity to exploit all their potential is in the hands of men. Men are the ones called to do the reforms that ought to be made to create more friendly environments for women now. This does not mean that women cannot do anything about their situation, but sadly not much structural change can be achieved without the commitment of their male counterparts. The States are another extremely relevant partner of the fight to close the gender gap. If the governments of countries are not committed to closing the gender gap and adopting a transversal approach to gender equality, the changes are never going to get to the objectives required. States are the most powerful actors as they have economic management in large scales, the monopoly of violence to solve disputes and the capability of managing big projects in their whole territory. That is why the lack of participation of governments represents a disadvantage in order to close the gender gap. The private sector should also commit to this challenge as it is there where the inequalities in the economy are caused and developed. If the private sector does not allow proper regulations and take the initiative on improving the standard for women, the new measures are not going to be truly enforced. Finally, international organizations and NGOs, even though they neither have binding power nor executive capability on domestic reforms, can develop better standards or new models than can be carried in different countries. They can be useful by giving assessment to countries. IV. CURRENT SITUATION Analysis of the Gender Gap per Region Currently, there are many advances in the inclusion of women in the world. Nevertheless, the gap remains really open. There are areas, such as South Asia in Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 10

11 which more than a thousand years would be needed to close the gender gap and others such as North America in which the process is going back. The vulnerability of each continent in general terms would always affect gender inequalities and we should understand them in their intersection. For example, the lack of strong democratic institutions in Africa affects the defense of women s rights and the possibility of developing projects to be implemented. Although no country has achieved gender equality, the Nordic countries consistently stand out in the World Economic Forum s yearly Global Gender Gap Report. Due to a combination of factors, including high female labor force participation, low salary gaps between women and men, and abundant opportunities for women to rise to positions of leadership, the Nordic countries are leaders in not only closing the gender gap in education but also maximizing the returns on this investment. These countries support policies for absolute gender equality. Though Northern Europe is doing well in closing the gender gap, Southern European countries are struggling. As Saadia Bahidi, said, Both within countries and between countries are two distinct tracks to economic gender equality, with education serving as the accelerator. For countries that provide this basic investment, women s integration in the workforce is the next frontier of change. For those that haven t invested in women s education, addressing this obstacle is critical to women s lives as well as the strength of economies. Therefore, Northern European countries are advised to prioritize the issue of economic gender equality. In Sub-Saharan Africa, significant progress has been made in closing gender gaps. By 2008, there were 81 girls for every 100 boys in primary school. In addition, the region has one of the highest labor force participation rates in the world. However, girls are still much less likely than boys to benefit from a secondary education. Also, an African woman faces a 1 in 31 chance of dying from complications due to pregnancy or childbirth, compared to 1 in 1000 in the developed world. Rates of gender-based violence have reached alarming levels, and women s voice and agency remain limited. Attitudes and customs perpetuate many of these inequalities, so African countries are less likely to advocate policies for economic gender equality, but recognize that violence against women is a significant issue. Countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa generally trail behind in gender equality, and are thus more likely to advocate for more traditional roles for women. V. RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL ACTION CEDAW The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women is the main platform of the inclusion of women in societies. This presents diverse measures to advise countries on how to eliminate certain practices that can result into a limitation for women. On the grounds of those measures, there are meetings every year to discuss which further ideas can be implemented in order to create friendlier societies for women. Is also known as the Women s Bill of Rights. Beijing Platform of Action This was the product of one of the many Conferences on Status of Women and is one of the cornerstones of women s rights. Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 11

12 This includes commitments to promote women s economic independence, including employment, and eradicate the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women by addressing the structural causes of poverty through changes in economic structures, ensuring equal access for all women, including those in rural areas, as vital development agents, to productive resources, opportunities and public services. As well as to ensure women s equal access to economic resources, including land, credit science and technology, vocational training, information, communication and markets, as a means to further the advancement and empowerment of women and girls, including through the enhancement of their capacities to enjoy the benefits of equal access to these resources, inter alia, by means of international cooperation. ILO Recommendations Regarding Gender ILO makes several recommendations to address the diverse inequalities or abuse at work. The most important regarding gender are The Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100), Discrimination in Employment and Occupation Convention (No. 111), Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention (No. 156), and Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183) Global Compact This is an agreement made between private companies and the UN and is based on 10 main principles to follow for both actors in order to create in partnership a bigger respect to human rights. Those are: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; the effective abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. Commission on Status of Women and Conferences on Status of Women Finally, the Commission and the Conferences work on documents that will then turn into real initiatives to improve the situation of women around the world. There we can see the progress or past actions. The topic on discussion of the last Commission on Status of Women was Women s economic empowerment in the changing world of work. CSW VI. OTHER RELEVANT PARTNERS The CSW is a permanent Commission of the Economic and Social Council that advocates to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission serves as a monitoring organ for the objectives traced in the Beijing Declaration, Platform for Action, Sustainable Development Goals and other that tackle the issue of gender inequalities. Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 12

13 UNWOMEN UNWOMEN is a UN entity created in 2010 to centralize all efforts in matters of gender equality. Its main roles are: to support inter-governmental bodies (such as the CSW) to formulate global policies and standards, to help member state on the implementation of those and to lead and coordinate the UN system s work on women related issues. UNICEF UNICEF is a UN program aimed for children and mothers. It centers its efforts in defending the rights of the child at different stages: survival, protection and inclusion, education, emergencies, among others. In particular to gender, it fights for the equality of rights of women and girls, looking for their full participation in political, social and economic development. NGOs There are several NGOs worldwide committed to the fight of women rights. Examples of these are: The National Organization for Women (NOW), an American organization working for more than 50 years on securing economic equality. The Association of Women s Rights in Development (AWID) is an international feminist association devoted towards the understanding and fight of women rights and sustainable development. VII. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS a. Objectives: it is important to set goals or objectives on the progress that we want to achieve and to set an agenda of changes that ought to be done. b. Time poverty: we should find ways to release women from the burden of unpaid work they have. c. Education: by giving education we can improve the competitive and relative position of women facing men in the working world. d. Services: providing services that can help women to exploit their potential can be an important change to better include them in the working place. VIII. QUESTIONS A RESOLUTION MUST ANSWER (QARMAs) 1. How should we set our goals: through domestic self-regulation or in a global way? Do all countries have the same duty and responsibility? 2. How can we release the several burdens that women have (traditional gender roles, time poverty, prejudice, exclusion, violence, etc.)? 3. How can we boost a generalized collaboration of men, States, private sector and international organizations to cooperate with closing the gender gap? 4. What are the effects of empowering women in the reduction of the gender gap? How should we empower women in each society? Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 13

14 Research VIII. GETTING PREPARED The success of your experience in VMMUN will depend heavily on how much preparation you put in before the conference actually begins. Although research may not seem like the most fun or exciting activity leading up to a conference, if you put in the necessary effort, it will definitely pay off during the conference. You will be more knowledgeable, more prepared, and more confident to deal with whatever comes your way. Rules of Procedure The Rules of Procedure will guide the delegate s participation throughout the debate. They contain the rules governing the debate, speeches, points and documents, as well as the rules governing the vote. The Rules of Procedure may be found on our webpage: Nevertheless, delegates shall bear in mind that the Secretariat and the Committee Directors may provide variations to these rules. As you do your research, you may want to keep a page of notes on key facts, figures, policies and other important information. Bring a copy of your notes to the conference in order to use them as a reference (bear in mind that electronic devices are not allowed during committee sessions). Writing Resolutions The purpose of the debate, as stated in our philosophy, is to encourage you to develop comprehensive and pragmatic solutions to the topic being discussed. These solutions should be embodied in a document called a resolution. Position Papers A Position Paper is a policy statement in which delegates clarify the committee topics, state their representative s position, and suggest solutions that fall in line with their national stance. Each delegation is responsible for submitting a Position Paper to ilo.vmmun@prideperu.org by August 18th. The general format of Position Papers is one page long, single-spaced, with size 11 Arial font. Please make sure to cite every source that you use in your Position Paper. Position Papers should always begin with a header stating the country that the delegation is representing, the committee, the topic area being discussed, and the delegate s names and school. The process of drafting a resolution consists of two main written stages: the Working Paper and the Draft Resolution. Working Papers are a point of reference for discussion in committee that contain concrete ideas on the topic under discussion. They do not require a specific format. In contrast, draft resolutions are a formal document in which the committee determines the actions to be taken in order to solve the problems under discussion. They have a specific format and must include a specific number of signatories. IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action CEDAW Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 14

15 Global compact World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report USAID Strategy to empower women The persistence of gender inequality X. DISCLAIMER This study guide has been created for educational purposes only, and meant to be used exclusively for Villa Maria Model United Nations (VMMUN) The authors of this study guide claim no copyright or any kind of intellectual property or legal right for the content of this document. However, this document may not be distributed or reproduced without the express written consent of its authors. Promotora Internacional de Debates (PRIDE Perú) 15