Adel Shaaban Researcher at the Foundation Ahmed Abdullah Rosa Development

Transcription

1 New Woman Foundation Employment Policies from a Gender Perspective Women and Employment in the Formal Sector A Policy Paper Adel Shaaban Researcher at the Foundation Ahmed Abdullah Rosa Development January

2 Introduction: Under the slogan "Living, freedom, social justice, human dignity," a glorious revolution broke in Egypt to achieve equality and inclusion. Women participated as an influential and active actor in the political and social public sphere of this revolution. The female voice was strongly present in the political and social scene. In spite of the strong presence of women in the societal arena since January 25 and earlier in the course of the Egyptian national movement, the Egyptian women has not received many rights, and suffered in many cases, marginalization and exclusion, she did not enjoy the prestige that she deserves because of cultural and societal condition which set up the stereotypical and traditional roles, and restricts women in an essential and main task which is the reproductive role, and any other roles is exceptional and secondary including the productive role and the public work. Some ones were concerned since the January 25 revolution that the political transformation which was attended strongly by women, probably will not achieve positive results and give them some of their basic rights; some others went even further by saying that the period after the revolution in Egypt has been declining for women s rights than what they had achieved in the past. The women in Egypt incurred a fierce attack when the religious hardliners took power, and this was represented in a religious discourse which detracts from the rights of women, as was the negligence of all political, social and economic issues which supports the empowerment of the Egyptian women. A report issued 2

3 by the National Association for Defending Rights and Freedoms in 2012, a status report of Egyptian women after the January 25 revolution, observes that Egyptian women are subjected to further marginalization and abuse, was also undo the gains of many achievements of women over the course of a long struggle in the political, legislative, social and Media. (1) In this context, the aim of this study is to address the employment policies in Egypt from a gender perspective, and to identify the current status of women workers in the government formal sector and in the public business sector and the private sector, in order to reach to offer the best policies that give women their missed rights in the workplace, and how we can increase women's participation in the formal labor market through the removal of all obstacles to the integration of women in the labor market. In order to achieve this goal, the study is trying to view socio-economic context of the social and economic policies, particularly with regard to economic policies that rely on market mechanisms and structural adjustment program and the neo-liberal policies and the integration of the Egyptian economy under the global system, which prevented the integration of women and their economic participation. These policies depend on the policies of comprehensive reform, such as fiscal policies, monetary and investment policies, and did not bother partial reform policies relating to the labor market. The study monitors the current status of women s participation in the labor force, and then tries to address the legislative framework governing labor relations, 3

4 which tend to reduce women s rights, especially in the private sector. And then the study raises the policies that should be put by the decision-maker to ensure full equality at work. It also mentioned the targeted parties of this study, which is represented in the government parties, civil society and the media as influential parties which can play a role in the formulation of public policies that respond to the all issues of women's empowerment. The study faces multiple difficulties such as being written in such a delicate and crucial stages of political and social development in Egypt in which society has not seen any degree of stability since January 25, 2011 where regimes changed from the rule of the military council to the governance of right-wing religious extremist and finally to civilian interim power. This is on one side, and the issues of security and stability occupied the forefront of the concerns of the successive governments on the other side further, a lot of economic and social indicators dropped and the community has faced great challenges at the level of socio-economic environment due to the decline in development indicators. All these changes helped in creating an unstable climate in which it is difficult to identify indicators and provide reliable data when you raise alternative policies, especially as the political and social conflict until the writing of this paper is still on fire and the community did not realize a degree of societal consensus that helps him put up visions of future development, Also, The current phase is labeled as a transitional phase and its requirements must be adhered to and be defended and this is a challenge facing Egyptian society during the current era. 4

5 First: the conceptual framework and Reference The issue of women's empowerment has gained international and local attention during the last two decades, many international conferences were held, which identified priorities which work to support women's issues and discrimination against them. We will review very briefly the most important thing that was produced by these international conferences as a conceptual framework for addressing the field of public policy and the integration of women and nondiscrimination against them. Today, women represent about 70 % of the poor of the world s population of 1.2 billion people. The inequality in their enjoyment of economic and social rights is a fact central to the lives of women in every region of the world, a fact that resulted from the discrimination against women and their lower status in patriarchal societies. Women all over the world contribute a significant contribution to the economy and the labor market through its paid and unpaid work, and in the public and private spheres. However, the continuing inequalities in economic and social rights contribute to the perpetuation of the subordination of women and make them more vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion, and other forms of abuse. The enforcement of the women s economic and social rights, in itself, will lead to a shift, not only in terms of ensuring the fulfillment of the women direct material needs, but also in terms of restructuring the root of the unequal power relations between the sexes. The fulfillment of women's economic and social rights is a priority strategy in 5

6 dealing with, and address, social inequality faced by women (2). The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW) affirms that discrimination against women violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity, and it is an obstacle to the participation of women, on an equal footing with men, in the political, social, economic, cultural life of their country. It hampers the growth of the prosperity of society and the family and hinders the full development of the potentialities of women in the service of their countries and of humanity. The agreement deals comprehensively with civil and political rights, as well as economic, social, and cultural rights, and recognizes that the right to enjoy any of these rights is linked to the enjoyment of other rights in an inseparable manner. In the opinion of the Convention the discrimination against women in any field of life can lead to discrimination in other areas. Governments are obliged under CEDAW to ensure gender equality in all levels of primary, secondary and university education, in addition to technical training and follow-up educational programs and literacy, and the importance of adopting policies that support girls and women to be able to complete their education on the basis of equality between males and females. Governments have to take into account the obstacles that prevent women and girls from getting an education. Not only the efforts to improve the income of women should focus on laws and policies relating to workplace and markets, but must address the fundamental problems in terms of lack of gender equality in the field 6

7 of education and the legal capacity and exposure to violence based on gender and cultural stereotype and division of labor based on the basis of gender (3). The Beijing Platform for Action in its political declaration and its outcome states the need for cooperation of governments and non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the civil sector in several major items for economic empowerment of women to achieve the following: Promote women's economic rights and economic independence, including access to employment opportunities and appropriate conditions of use and control over economic resources. facilitate the access of women on an equal footing with men to resources, employment, markets and trade. Provide business services, training and access to markets and information technology, especially lowincome women. Strengthen women's economic capacity through commercial networks for women. Eliminate occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination. promote harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women and men. The principles of non-discrimination and promote equality formed the cornerstone of the ILO's work since its inception in 1919, which is an integral part of the Decent Work Agenda, that was adopted by the organization. This means promotion of decent and productive work in conditions of freedom and equality, security and human dignity. ILO became interested in the issue of gender equality through the theme of equal opportunities and equal treatment between men and 7

8 women in employment. The organization raised since the Beijing conference the importance of gender mainstreaming within all policies, plans and programs, and evaluation of policies aimed at eliminating all forms of gender inequality. The organization shows since 2003, interest in the issue of discrimination at work, and developed a methodological framework and strategy for decent work since Where the organization considers that discrimination at work is a violation of a right of human rights, the consequent is the waste of human talent with harmful effects on productivity and economic growth, also leads to social inequality, which smashes solidarity, social cohesion and stop the wheel of poverty reduction. It is necessary to promote equality of opportunity and equality of treatment to move towards the elimination of discrimination, either in law or practice. (4) The elimination of discrimination and achieve equality is the actual strength of the concept of decent work, which aims to achieve a productive work for men and women in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Decent work is built on respect for the fundamental rights and principles at work. The decent work represents a number of dimensions, including: secure income, opportunities to acquire skills, job security and job safety and regularity of work. The ultimate goal of decent work is to make a positive change in the lives of people on the national and local levels. The best way to implement the Decent Work Agenda is through an integrated and consistent policy, institutional interventions cover the creation of jobs, social protection and tripartism and social dialogue, and finally, principles and rights. This strategy is 8

9 implemented in a holistic manner on gender equality and an essential part of the work program. The International Labor Organization raises a number of strategies that achieve decent work and include: get to work and the importance of sustainable development. Access to social protection. Access to social dialogue. Access to the principles and rights (5). Each strategy includes many of the commitments that national governments should be taken into account when developing and applying its development strategy. We conclude from the foregoing that any supportive policies for women and discrimination against them should be based on four key entrances to be taken into consideration when it comes to problems associated with the employment of women and put forward alternative policies: Entrance human rights; work as a fundamental right for women and men is guaranteed by the Constitution and international conventions. Legislative Entrance: the importance of developing mechanisms of activation associated with all legislative requirements governing the work of women and protection of their rights. Social Entrance: considering the employment of women is of a special character, given the circumstances, needs and social roles of women that must be taken into account when developing the measures and procedures to enhance their work. 9

10 Entrance administrative grounds: the importance of harmonizing the field of labor conditions relating to the employment of women and to improve their quality, seeking the valuation of these circumstances in order to improve the quality of work and quality of productivity. Second, the economic policies that govern the issue of employment The Egyptian economy in the current stage is passing through terrible crisis rooted to the beginning of the eighties of the last century, and especially after the economic opening-up policies initiated by the late president, Sadat " in 1974, through successive structural reform programs and neoliberal policies. Many studies have proven that these policies have put the bulk of its attention to the macro-economic reforms, whether financial, monetary and investment policies and did not give attention to the micro-economic reforms, especially with regard to labor market policies and employment. The harvest of these policies was the deterioration of economic conditions and social interactions, where large segments of society was harmed by these policies and perhaps the most notable was the widespread poverty and unemployment. The neoliberal policies lead to the state's inability to achieve full equality between citizens and the absence of social justice followed by the state's failure to achieve the rates of development and the creation of a state of social polarization and political tension which was the most prominent features of the political and economic repercussions of the Revolution of January 25,

11 Egypt applied structural adjustment policies since the early nineties in the last century, where Egypt has been suffering from a lack of balance in the financial and the growing budget deficit and balance of payments resulting from the accumulation of foreign debt. The structural adjustment program has been applied to correct all forms of imbalance in the fiscal and monetary policies. The structural adjustment programs have affected the employment mode in Egypt where it was reducing the size of the public sector, which in turn affected employment rates and the participation of women. Most studies confirm that this approach is inherently deflationary trend which starts to control the demand and thus reduces the opportunities for investment and job opportunities, and that these programs are highly geared to capital in the willful neglect of the work item. The programs meant to ease the burden by slashing wages and salaries or direct reduced its real value or increase the width of the labor force, thereby increasing unemployment rates in a desire to reduce the deficit of public budgets. And get rid of the economic support borne by the state budget by the presence of production units in the public sector check loss. And this is through the liquidation of these units or selling it to the private sector, and this is by increasing the prices of their finished products provided to the population. Then the rise in the prices of energy, and the change of state policy towards employment, by gradually lifting her hand from the obligation to appoint new graduates. And the need to stop the state from interfering in areas where the private sector can be carried out, such as manufacturing projects. With a claim to the categories of indirect taxes, and a freeze on wages and salaries 11

12 and incentives for workers and employees in the government and the public sector. The structural reform programs have tangible impacts on the labor market which are summarized in the following points: 1. The Increasing rates of unemployment, especially among women and the malfunction and the disruption of employment policies. 2. The lack of employment opportunities in front of new entrants to the labor market. 3. Reducing the rate of growth of public spending directed to essential social services such as education, health, etc....resulted in parallel, to the reduction of the government's request for labor engaged in these services, which led to a low level of quality of services provided, especially in the education sector. 4. Shrinking role of the state and the public sector in economic activity led to a loosening of the government's investment in the creation of new productive capacities to accommodate the workforce unemployed. 5. The impact of the new monetary policy by targeting the reduction of money supply growth and had a clear impact in the increase of unemployment, instead of turning savings in savings instruments (banks ) to investment creates new productive capacities and extra demand for labor, turned those savings to government funding. 6. The unemployment represented a denial of income opportunities and of the satisfaction of basic needs and has become the main reason for the spread of poverty and social marginalization of broad sectors of society, which threatens social peace. These programs also affected the redistribution of the 12

13 labor force on economic activities. 7. These programs have affected the level of human development in general, and by reducing the item of public expenditure on essential services such as education, training, health and social security and wages in addition to the expansion of the informal sector. The Egyptian economy is suffering now from expanding the size of government spending to meet the demands of factional under a severe deficit in the public budget and the high volume of domestic debt, while reducing dependence on the international community for security and political reasons. This reflects a state of confusion about the extent of the Egyptian economy's ability to withstand and meet the challenges, and the ability of the executive power in the transitional phase, which we are going through, to remedy the current situation and move forward in the reform process, both political and economic. Since the Egyptian revolution began in January 2011 the economic situation is characterized as slowdown, falling GDP collapsed in tourism revenues; which in turn led to lower official reserves of foreign currency and is expected that Egypt will face a gap in external financing which proves that the actions carried out by the successive governments of increase public spending is simply a reaction to the popular demands, and these actions will have serious result in long-term effects on the budget and the financial position of the Egyptian government ; It requires spending in excess of the revenue from the state to borrow from either domestic or foreign sources. Until recently, the government 13

14 borrows from the local market. The record in the domestic debt in 2011, an increase of 19.6 per cent higher than in 2010 and accounted for 1.7 per cent of GDP. Moreover, the external debt rose by 6.9 per cent, while the rate fell to GDP; because GDP growth exceeded the growth of debt over the same period. (6) The Egyptian economy is still in the doldrums since the revolution of January 25 this is partly due to the instability, which is characterized by transitions, and aggravated due to the transition coincided with a downturn in the global economy. The implications of the current slowdown are more pronounced in the areas of domestic consumption and direct investment and tourism. Also facing the Egyptian economy a major challenge, according to the Human Development Report for 2010, issued by the United Nations Development Programme, where it is still informal work poses one of the main sources (40 % of the volume of economic activity ), some of the young entrepreneurs may work under the umbrella of the informal economy and evade taxes and other restrictions, but they are unable to grow due to lack of access to reasonable sources of funding and fear of regulations and taxes. In spite of the advantages of the informal sector, such as the absence of taxes and circumvent government corruption and bureaucracy, the sector is vulnerable to large earthquakes. For the reduction of informal labor it requires coherent set of policies ranging from public spending, taxes and monetary policy. The basic solution is in how to reform the educational system to prepare students for the labor market, and by encouraging students to participate in the formal sector and rely on it to secure jobs and better living conditions, and reliance and confidence in the 14

15 usefulness of engaging in the formal sector will be gradually achieved. In addition to improving wages and productivity and the defense of flexible working systems. Improving productivity, which ultimately increases the gain factor overall, is essential to enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy. This requires building capacity within the institutions of workers to better negotiate to improve wages. It is important to adopt labor laws and regulations more flexible from the perspective of employers. Egypt occupies a modest center in governance indicators compared to other emerging markets. Because Egypt has one of the worst levels of government effectiveness related to the efficiency of government institutions and their role in social and economic development, which requires improving this category if Egypt wants to move forward in economic reform and to achieve their desired objectives. Economic policy suffered from the recession and deflation and low production capacities and the high rate of unemployment and the rising number of bankruptcies and rising inflation. (7) The characterization of the development of existing policies refer to the suffering of large segments of the community as a result of the apparent bias of the market mechanism, and the apparent absence of the role of the state in the process of regulation and guidance. And the inability of the private sector for a solution to many problems, especially with regard to the increased rates of unemployment and job creation. Within this framework of policies women in Egypt suffer more than other segments of society of exclusion in several areas, both on the level of education or work, with the community look at her being only a housewife 15

16 rather than a producer and a partner in the public domain remain the dominant and prevailing perception across broad segments of society. Third, Employment policies in Egypt (the status quo) Accumulated over many years a socio-economic policy which was characterized by political oppression and economic and social inequality. Those policies led to the increasing rates of poverty, unemployment and low human development indicators. Egyptian women have suffered greatly as a result of these discriminatory policies. The Egyptian society now faces significant challenges related to the need for a new social contract based on the new challenges of development, to reduce the rates of poverty and the creation of decent work opportunities and to look at government spending as a real investment in human beings. A recent report, Issued by the World Economic Forum titled gender gap in the world, has revealed that Egypt put low in all indicators, which relied on the report. The report identifies a number of indicators of women's economic participation and access to education and political empowerment, and puts arrangement of the countries participating in the evaluation of the gender gap. The report identifies an indicator to measure the gender gap as follows (1 = equality, 0= discrimination). During the period from 2006 to 2012 the situation of female education indicators was improved and approached the non-discrimination, taking into account that the indicators are all quantitative. During that period, a slight improvement in indicators of economic 16

17 participation was observed. But, this slight improvement is ineffective in removing the gender gap. The gender gap is significantly reduced with regard to political empowerment. Gender gap indicators of economic participation and access to education and political empowerment of Egyptian women. During the period ( ) ranki ng Index score Econo mic partici pation enroll ment Politi cal emp ower ment The gender gap between men and women 115 countries(2006) The gender gap between men and women 128 countries(2007) The gender gap between men & women 130 countries(2008)

18 The gender gap between men& women 134 countries(2009) The gender gap between men & women 134 countries(2010) The gender gap between men& women 135 countries(2011) The gender gap between men & women 135 countries (2012) Ricaedo, et ul.the Global Gender Gap Report, World Economic Fourm, 2012 In light of these indicators, will show the status of Egyptian women in the labor market where the Egyptian labor market suffers of many structural problems accumulated, which is reflected in the extent of the difficulties faced by young people, women and the most educated categories in order to engage in the labor market and the inability of the formal private sector to create adequate jobs. Despite the fact that during the past years, Egypt has achieved great strides toward closing the gap in education between the two species, but many women are confronted with 18

19 significant barriers to work outside the home, especially in the private sector. A recent report by the World Economic Forum ranked Egypt 120 out of 180 countries in terms of the component of women's economic opportunities in index of the gap between the two types. It also ranked Egypt 101 in terms of educational attainment.lots of literature concerned with the question of employment and gender agreed that the gaps between the two species in the labor market can be attributed in large part to the barriers to join that women face in the labor market, and the result of these barriers shows on the representation disproportionate to women in a number of jobs and professions, leading to overcrowding and low wages especially in the private sector. The literature adds that if women faced large gaps in wages between the two species in the private sector and appropriate compensation in the governmental sector, it is not surprising that they prefer to work in the governmental sector and would like to get it, and this in turn, leads to the existence of wide gaps between the two species in unemployment. (8) In a World Bank study titled gender assessment in Egypt, focused on highlighting the differences between the status of men and women in Egypt in various fields, it appeared clearly this general tendency to overstock women in less advantaged sectors and income and rights, although the participation rate of women in the Egyptian labor market increases and in spite of the arrival of this ratio in the census in 1999 to 21.4 % of the Egyptian workforce which replicated what it was in the middle of the seventies as we will show later, they continue weak compared to the total number of Egyptian women in the census year, and continue to unbalanced distribution between Rural and urban areas 19

20 as well as between the various economic sectors, and thus the Egyptian women continue to get the smallest share of wages and incomes that allow them to confront the growing burden of family. We do not expect this imbalance will fade in the distribution sectors, in the coming period, or even in the period after the nearby, because the Egyptian labor market is in the case of instability or rather in the case of change and movement because of the structural changes taking place now on the Egyptian economy. The public sector is one of the economic sectors which is women-friendly, yet it is now in the case of contraction leaving place for the private sector, which deals with women with suspicion and extreme caution. The graph shows the evolution of the participation rate of women in the labor force during the period ( ), ratios show that the participation rate of women in the labor force stood at 18% and increased in 1995 up to 22% and maintained at this rate stability since that date where participation rates did not exceed 22.5% of women in In general, as shown by the following table that woman s participation rates don t exceed in any form about a quarter of the Egyptian labor force (9). The iterative survey of the labor market in Egypt in 2006 indicates that the participation rates of women in the labor force by place of residence and type amounted to 21.4% and 26.9% between 1998 and 2006, compared with 73.2% and 78.5% for males for the same two years. The labor force grew in Egypt (2006) from 17.2 million in 1988 to 22.3 million in 2006, an annual growth rate of 3.5%. The survey attributed to the high rate of participation that many women in Egypt performed activities in the production of kits in subsistence 20

21 agriculture, animal care and dairy products, which affects the rates of increase in the participation of women in the rural work force. (Figure 1-1) the evolution of participation rates in the labor force Source: Center for Public Mobilization and Statistics, The rural labor force grew at a faster rate than the growth of the urban labor force, which partly reflects the fastest growth of the working-age population in the countryside. It also shows a rapid increase in female participation in the rural labor force, with the importance of taking these growth rates with some reservation, especially with regard to women performing some economic activities and domestic market-oriented. The work pattern of female has seen significant changes between 1988 and 2006, especially for graduates of technical secondary schools and institutes of postsecondary with the escalation of the number of graduates of technical secondary schools with significantly diminished in their opportunities in the government. It is here when the number of 21

22 opportunities lessens, that many of these women, especially married women, prefer to withdraw from the labor force, or forced into it over the time. The percentage of women's participation in public business sector and the governmental sector 26% and the percentage of women's participation in the private sector 16%. In spite of the relative concentration of females in the informal sector, but that the number of overall operating for males stood at 4.5 million versus 1.8 million for women and the consequent of decline in participation in the formal sector is the relative rise to their participation in the informal sector. Generally speaking, the structural adjustment policies affect the conditions inflicting women to the labor market. (10) Unemployment rates and trends: unemployment rates and trends shows that the next evolution of female unemployment rates have doubled during the period between , reaching 11% in the first and the second 22.7 %. Reached its highest level in 2005, reaching %, and the percentage dropped in to reach % and % and rebound in the following years to reach % and %, respectively, Figure (1-2) the evolution of female unemployment rates during the period

23 Source: Center for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Research workforce sample, selected years. And on trends in unemployment between 1988 and 2006 refer to the low unemployment rate of 11.7 % in 1988 to 8.3 % in Men began at much lower unemployment rates than women, and the decline was replicated in relative terms for both men and women. Female unemployment rate remained constant versus males at about 4:1 from 1988 to The rate of decline in the unemployment was higher in rural areas it decreased from 12.2% to 6.3 % compared to a decline of 11% to 9.7 % in urban areas. With regard to The relationship between unemployment and age survey data indicate the iterative that the unemployment rate fell for the urban women under the age of twenty-seventh, although the larger declines were for females in the age group of 15 to 19 years old, and there are indications of an increase in the rates of urban unemployment for women between the ages of 27 and 34 years old and in the rural areas were larger declines in the females unemployment and stretched all ages until the age of thirty five. (11). The data reveal trends in the relationship between unemployment and educational level for some indications during the period from 1998 to With lower unemployment rates for people with low education in 1998, while increased clearly among the 23

24 graduates of technical secondary schools. And then declined again for Institutes graduate, post-secondary and universities. In 2006, unemployment rates have remained low for those with a lower level of education and increased significantly between graduates of technical institutes and universities. Decreased participation rates among graduate females which show that some of them dropped out and stopped trying to get a job and stay out of the labor force. With regard to the working status and in particular the process of paid work, figure (1-3) refers to the working process for women workers showing that 52.8 % of the women engaged in gainful employment cash and 30.1 % are employed as unpaid family, and that 13.9 % of women are self-employed or users of the workers and the remaining percentage which is 3.2%, is for business owners who use the workers. The data reflects that about one-third of female employment almost working without pay, compared with 6.2% for men, and that the proportion of women working in facilities less than those of men by 17.1% versus 25.3 %, and that means that a large proportion of male workers enjoy working relationships with a degree of legal protection, while women suffer, as the data reveals, from lacking working relationships which provide them legal protection. (1-3)Status by type (15-64) 24

25 Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, workforce search sample 2011 Indicators show that the next stage does not represent a shift or will be prosperous for the women of Egypt seeking to work, and as we mentioned that the main reason for this is the decline in investment activity for the state which was previously performed in the old public sector. A sector which previously open widely its doors for women and make them engaged and work in the branches and the various arts industry, a sector that is now in the final stages of liquidation and the proportion of women employed in it dropped to 2.8 %., and if we add to this that the government sector reduces its appointments so it became a limited possibility for women employment. It could be argued that Egyptian women are losing two important areas of areas of employment and labor. State sector and the public sector which are the closer sectors to the nature and the reality of women; because they are usually more socially acceptable as it offers protection and care and women's rights, as well as in non-urban areas where small middle class families prefer that their daughters work in a public sector instead of private employer who is not guaranteed, 25

26 further, the two sectors together, the government and public, are the more economic sectors that allow growth and career development and literary promotion for women workers, as working groups, and are therefore the most active sectors in providing opportunities to build cadres and women leaders in the community, and they are more active sectors in achieving sustainability in this construction so that continuing generations of workers moving experiences from a generation to another. It has turned out so clearly in the later election of trade union when the number of women elected to trade unions councils decline, especially in the units of private sectors. When we refer to the difficulties faced by women working now and what they will face in the near future, we found many of the studies and reports confirm the relationship between the private sector and women's work. and it suggests that the private sector as a wide sector, includes a proportion of 56.5 % of the total number of workers in Egypt, but the risk to 62% from this figure working in the informal private sector, thus private sector worker outside the legal or institutional framework, thus sector that does not offer women the rights guaranteed in the labor laws of different starting with wage and holidays and working hours to the union membership to the recognized insurance rights, and the most serious is that the geographical distribution of women working in the informal sector tends to each of gravity towards the rural and agricultural areas, if the national average for the percentage of Egyptian women working in the informal sector as mentioned is up to 56.5 % of the total number of women working which is 74, 8 % of the national rate work in rural areas where 26

27 growing illiteracy and other social problems materialize (12). The formal private sector whose growth and activity benefited of women's work shows a negative attitude to the low increase at a rate of only 1.6% a year. In addition to their retreat from their Industrial positions and ancient art, which they occupied previously, to once again stationed in services and trade. hence the general conclusion that we have referred to earlier, which confirms that the Egyptian working women are being pushed to join at the lowest income sectors of employment and the lowest rights and stability.(12 ) The Egyptian women are entering an economic and social stage where the general atmosphere does not help to sort all the cadres of professional and technical women that the country needs in political and social life, which we all seek to increase in number and effectiveness. So we need to put great efforts and strenuous pressure and defend the rights acquired for women. Although labor laws provide for equality between men and women in cash wages, but still the gender gap between men and women is high in favor of men, and the size of the gender gap varies by economic activity. According to the schedule of the average wage of cash (in Egyptian Pounds) and the gender gap for workers in the public sector and Business and public facilities, the private sector (which employs ten or more workers) according to the type of economic activity and in the first week of the month of October 2009 the gender gap up to 13.8 % in favor of men. 27

28 It is intended that the cash wage and overtime pay and allowances periodic and other periodic entitlements such as commissions and bonuses production. Unlike the original fare, all the other payment details is controlled by superiors at work, and de facto cultural and social opportunities for men are higher than women to do extra tasks or stay up late at night, some work tasks are divided on the basis of sex, as well as a lack of commitment by most workplaces government and the business and the private sector for the provision of nurseries enforcing the labor law, working mother who has young children in the preschool age was obliged not to accept any task or work shifts after official hours because of family burdens. Also lack of commitment by most workplaces -governmental organizations, business sector and the private sector of law in the provision of means of transportation safe and suitable renders it difficult for women to stay at night, because it offered a degree of risk, or the difficulty to provide public transportation in the late hours of the night, especially in the provinces. (1-4)Distribution of workers (15-64 years ) on sections of different professions Male % Female % Total % 28

29 Men legislation, senior officers and managers Specialists, owners, Scientific Professions Technician s and Assistant specialists Organizers of clerical work Workers in the services and retail

30 Farmers and workers in agriculture and fishing Artisans and similar Workers run factories Ordinary workers professions Members cannot be classified Total Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, search workforce sample 2011 It also notes the contrast in gender gaps in some economic 30

31 activities linked to the level of education as mentioned in ( Source: Women and Men in Egypt 2011, Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Egypt ) in the sense that some of the economic activities with high gender gap in favor of women due to the nature of jobs held by women in these sectors, which require higher levels of education, for example, water supply and sewerage ( % ) and accommodation and food services ( % ), real estate and leasing ( % ) also notes that the total gender gap in the public sector and business rise for women by ( % ), while up in the private sector (22 % ) in favor of men, due to the rules of working within the public sector and businesses which reduces the area of presidents intervention in the division of labor on the basis of type, as well as the terms and conditions of employment mostly enables women to do their work tasks. The following table indicates the distribution of femal employment focused among three major labor occupations agricultural sector, accounting for 43.1 % of the total female employment and specialists and scientific workers by 24.1 % and finally technicians and aides specialists by 14.6 %. On the participation of women at the sectoral level, which the next graph (1-5) will display, we will find that the private sector accounts for 71.2 % of the total female employment compared to 58.3 % for men. The data tell us that 23.7 % of the female labor exists in the governmental sector versus 39.1% for men. And the participation of women in the public sector and business is reduced to the lowest level, where up to 2.8% compared with 1.2 % for men. The lack of female employment in the private sector was due to the lack of many forms of legal and social protection. There is not any form of social and health insurance, 31

32 and women suffer from low wages and jobs are located in the bottom of the career ladder. And it will increase the degree of suffering of women if we know that 80 % of the female labor to work in the private sector is primarily labor in the informal sector, which diagram (1-6) reveals, and the taint of this sector of the legal problems and protectionism. (Figure 1-5) Distribution of workers (15-64) on the sectors of economic activity Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, search workforce sample 2011 (Figure 1-6) distribution of female employment in the private sector (within the facilities / installations outside) 32

33 Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, search workforce sample 2011 And many studies have proven the existence of a wage gap between men and women in spite of full equality in skills, experience and educational levels. According to those studies to the concentration of women in the professions, which is located down the labor hierarchy, especially in the private sector, which is given as a justification for receiving wages lower than those paid to men. And that women get paid less than those paid to men because of gender-based discrimination. In 2006, the amount of discrimination against women in pay reached 168 Egyptian pounds a month in real average. This value represents 37 % of the average monthly wage received by women in 2006, which is estimated at 448 Egyptian pounds real. (13) as shown by another study based on a comprehensive field survey of the number of 3559 NGO governorates of Cairo and Suez, East and New Valley Sohag it proves a clear distinction in the levels of wages between male and female although the employment rate of women's associations in this amounted to 63%. With the expansion of the application of the structural adjustment program and the shrinking of the size of the public sector and the government, and the negative impact of the growing role of the private sector this will widen the gap between males and females in Wage levels, which means, gender injustice in Egypt in the short and medium term. (14) Dealing with women in the field of work even in government agencies is associated with the society s view of traditional roles and stereotypes about women, and culture preservation, which 33

34 does not recognize the ability of women to take leadership roles, and justify it by false assumptions in the name of religion or talking about women's nature and characteristics, and that the dominant culture in community extends its influence within the government, instead of the government would develop clear mechanisms for equal opportunities and ensure the representation of women in leadership positions, the State exercises the same culture discriminatory, and this is confirmed by the official statistics, which reveal the weakness of the proportion of women in senior management positions in governmental sector and according to the type through the period of 2010/2011 ( source: women and Men in Egypt 2011, Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics). Statistics shows that the percentage of men in leadership positions is twice the percentage of women, the proportion of men ( 68.8 % ) and women ( 31.2 % ), the higher the grades is, the less the number of women we find, the percentage of women in the highest positions of general manager is less and whenever we went to a higher degree such as: Minister or higher ( 96.4 % of men and 3.6% women ), Deputy Minister ( the proportion of men 99.4% Women 0.6%), Premier ( the proportion of men and 86.9 % women, 13.1 % ) and high-grade ( the proportion of men and 77.4 % women, 2.6 % ) and general manager of degree ( the proportion of men and 67.3 % women, 32.7 % ). " The Law 12 of 2003 is the legal framework for the labor market, the law enters more flexible rules concerned the appointment and dismissal, also it states the establishment of a national fund for the training and it derives its resources 1 % of the net annual profits for companies and government funding and other grants. 34

35 The aim of the establishment of the fund is to finance the establishment of training centers and programs and updated in order to meet the needs of the labor market, and so far the fund is not enabled and did not play any role during previous periods. The law provides for the establishment of an emergency fund for workers' compensation in the event of partial or total closure of the institution in which they work, and yet this fund is not activated. The law provides for the establishment of a national council for wages, with the task of setting basic minimum wage structure. The law recognizes the recognition of the right to strike peacefully despite the fact that this right was severely restricted. The law requires in Article 91 to give the worker who spent ten months in service or more maternity leave period of ninety days, pay compensation equal to the full term, which include the period preceding the childbirth and after, maximum twice. In addition, Article 93 to determine the periods of lactation with pay prescribed during eighteen months following the date of the childbirth by half an hour twice a day and can sometimes be merged together. Article 94 on the facility, which employs more than 50 workers, the employee has the right to take leave without pay for a period not exceeding two years, to take care of her child. This license does not deserve more than twice throughout the period of service. Article 96 on the facility, which used a hundred or more female workers in one place to build a nursery or entrusted to the nursery 35

36 children under the auspices of workers. In all too often circumvent the private sector deviates these relationships by not registering workers nor provide insurance for them, or reject their work from the beginning, where the cost of women's work seem costly for the facility. Fifth: alternatives to the policies By Identifying the problem in the light of its various dimensions we see it is important to put forward a number of policies that support the issue of discrimination against women. There is no doubt that putting the constitutional and legislative level represents from our biggest challenge. This requires the mobilization of a large segment of the civil and human rights organizations and civil society institutions in order to include the new constitution definitive texts of equality and equal opportunity and justice, regardless of gender or religion. It also requires policies to be put forward by the need to focus on education system and vocational and transformational training centers, all these elements will help to remove all gender gaps. Finally, work in all seriousness to remove all the mental images of the traditional status of women and to provide intellectual and social frameworks achieved equality and non-discrimination. In the constitutional The constitution was written in Egypt post- revolution June 30, it is assumed that this constitution is the result of a popular uprising called for the achievement of the objectives of the revolution on January 25 in the ( living, freedom, social justice, and human dignity ), and here the Constitution must realize these objectives 36