UN WOMEN GENDER EQUALITY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY DIRECTOR: CHRISTY HWANG
TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome Statement.... 2 A Note from Your Director... 3 Committee Introduction... 3 Gender Equality in the Global Economy... 4 Background.. 4 United Nations Involvement.. 5 Bloc Positions.. 6 Basic Solutions... 6 Questions to Consider... 7 Sources... 8 1
HIGH SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS Annual Novice Conference October 10, 2015 WELCOME STATEMENT Justin Cooley Secretary-General daojustincooley@gmail.com Joyce Kye Secretary-General daojoycekye@gmail.com Joseph Shin of Conferences daojosephshin@gmail.com Sophia Anigbo of Delegate Affairs daosophiaanigbo@gmail.com Betty Zhang of Finance bettyzhang198@gmail.com Rohan Patel of Technology daorohanpatel@gmail.com Dear Delegates, Welcome to Cerritos Novice 2015! It is our highest honor and pleasure to welcome you to our annual novice conference here at Cerritos High School. On behalf of the Cerritos High School Model United Nations program we are proud to host another year of this long-standing conference. Here at CHS, we take absolute pride in this extensive program and its ability to create new and lasting friendships while also encouraging stimulating and intellectual discussion for high school students all across the globe. The CHSMUN program boasts continually being nationally ranked, while our delegates have the opportunity to compete at conferences all around the nation. Our head chairs are selected from only the best seniors our program has to offer and they undergo a rigorous training process to ensure they are qualified to moderate and grade the quality of debate in each of our committees. Our chairs are the same delegates that represent our delegation at universities and conferences to the best of their ability. Our topic synopses have been reviewed and revised countless times to ensure that as a delegate you have the tools and understanding to be successful in committee. Our advisors and staff have put in countless hours to ensure you have an amazing experience at our conference and that you are encouraged to continue on in Model United Nations at your prospective schools. With 25 novice committees and 2 middle school committees, CHSMUN 2015 will provide a quality experience for beginners to learn and develop your skills as delegates. If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please contact us. We look forward to seeing you at CHSMUN Novice 2015! Sincerely, Justin Cooley and Joyce Kye Secretary-Generals 2015-2016 2
HIGH SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS Annual Novice Conference October 10, 2015 A NOTE FROM YOUR DIRECTOR Justin Cooley Secretary-General daojustincooley@gmail.com Joyce Kye Secretary-General daojoycekye@gmail.com Joseph Shin of Conferences daojosephshin@gmail.com Sophia Anigbo of Delegate Affairs daosophiaanigbo@gmail.com Betty Zhang of Finance bettyzhang198@gmail.com Rohan Patel of Technology daorohanpatel@gmail.com Christy Hwang UN Women Director chrisdeehwang@gmail.com Hello delegates, Welcome to the Cerritos Novice Conference 2015 and UN Women! My name is Christy Hwang and this is my fifth year in Model UN. In terms of MUN, I enjoy debating under committees such as World Bank, CSW, and UN Women. I ve had the amazing opportunity through MUN to attend conferences like NHSMUN and RHSMUN. Since this is a first conference for many delegates, don t be afraid to speak up during committee. It is the work and preparation that will best equip you for debate, so take time to really dive into the topic. Be confident! Outside of the program, I m serving my third year in ASB as the Executive Secretary and my first (and final) year as the Public Relations officer for the Greenworks club. I work as a freelance tutor and the lead designer for First Generation Scholars, a nonprofit organization that works to empower and prepare students for college. On my own, this is my second year running my own business, with the goal of design and marketing experience. Beyond these, I love all things Seattle (SEAHAWKS, Mariners, Sounders, the weather, the people) because I grew up in the city before moving to Cerritos. If you want to talk Seattle (like the Seahawks season), I will love you forever. If you have any questions, don t hesitate to contact me. I cannot wait for the conference to start so that I may meet you all and hear what your country can do for this topic. I m looking forward to a comprehensive debate and a successful committee session in which we make significant progress towards eliminating gender inequality! Best of luck to you all, Christy Hwang Director, UN Women COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or UN Women, was created by the General Assembly in July 2010 under Resolution 64/289. The formation of UN Women was a merge between 3 existing bodies of the UN system, which were the Division for Advancement of Women, International Research and Training for the Advancement of Women, and the UN Development Fund for Women. The focus of UN Women is to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, empower women, and achieve gender equality. In this committee, at CHSMUN, we will be focusing on gender equality in the global economy. 3
BACKGROUND GENDER EQUALITY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY In developing countries women are often granted unequal opportunities than men that prevents them from being able to access and receive the different opportunities and resources. Women have less access to medical care, property ownership, education, employment, and easily become victims of domestic violence. Women s economic empowerment their capacity to bring about economic change for themselves is increasingly viewed as the most important contributing factor to achieving equality between women and men. Gender equality in the global economy is essential for progress in development for countries; women s participation in the workforce not only results in economic growth, but allows for an overall closing of gender equality gaps. The very beginnings of gender equality lie in human creation that created expectations of the genders: family institutions. Although progress has been achieved over the decades, gender inequality within the workforce continues because of preexisting generalizations, biased evaluations of work, and traditions of cultures. The problem of gender inequality within the marketplace translates into the position of the entire global community. According to the 2012 International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Employment Trend Report for Women, the five main points of the gender gap fall under unemployment, employment, labour force participation, vulnerability, and segregation in jobs and economic sectors. Even when educated, the workforce can present challenges. Today, the international community has done the minimal to fulfill basic standards of gender equality in the economy. There is no discrepancy in the statistics related to gender equality in education where women are becoming more and more impactful due to the constant global efforts. Unfortunately, a woman s desired equality becomes unjust once entering the economy; she earns, in retrospect, eighty cents pay to a man s dollar pay. So why doesn t a woman s success in school translate into success in the real world? The global community has long since believed in its mindset that women have unequal opportunities in the workforce because of qualifications, when in reality, women face gender-based discriminations. Gaps in hiring and pay wages remain severe and especially prevalent in countries such as Russia, Estonia, Japan, South Korea, India, and Ukraine. Many women face lesser salary and high job rejection rates, despite equal job descriptions. Women do not receive equal opportunities in decision-making processes, legislatures, business, and sciences; a fact that not only applies to developing countries, but also developed countries. Beyond opportunities in the actual workplace, women s health and education are important to keep accountable. If these factors do not measure adequate, women can easily lose jobs and stability in the economy. Pregnancy requires good health and care; yet, women are laid off from employment because of maternity leave factors. It is essential that women who plan on raising a family as well as maintain employment receive maternity rights that are well protected by governments. In addition, there is no denying the correlation for gender equality between employment and education. Access to education, especially vocational education, is the foundation for advancing gender equality within the global economy. Gender equality furthers the cause of child survival and development for all of society, so the importance of women s rights and gender equality should not be underestimated. 4
UNITED NATIONS INVOLVEMENT The General Assembly established the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in July of 2010. Their goals for the new UN reform sector were to aid the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in their efforts to monitor the improvements of women rights, integrate new women rights into countries, supply support to the nations that request financial help or technology, and ensure the success of gender equality within the UN. Prior to the creation of UN Women, CSW compiled the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to be adopted on December 18, 1979. The Convention was set to address three main topics: women s rights and status within countries, reproductive roles, and cultural inputs within gender relations. The Convention is inspected and regularly checked by the Committee on CEDAW; the Committee must periodically look over the national reports to supply recommendations to improve the implementation of the Convention. Not only does the Convention organize reports, the World Bank annually monitors the Gender Equality and Development of that year. It uses economic theory to understand what drives differences in key aspects of welfare between men and women - education and health, access to economic opportunities and productive resources, and the ability to make effective choices and take action. After analyzing the data reported, the World Bank recommends action through policies and new frameworks that would be suitable for the nation of its review. With the data, the World Bank is able to implement projects in countries that need aid; for example, the Adolescent Girls Initiative that aided transitions from education to employment. As for conferences, the Commission on the Status of Women s Report on the 56th session emphasized the need to implement the Beijing Platform for Action and the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. Both documents provide standards for the international community to follow regarding poverty, education and training of women, violence against women, women and health and any other form of women empowerment and advancement of women. Regarding the Beijing Platform for Action, a specific session of the General Assembly and the Fourth World Conference on Women encouraged nations to implement the platform, which has goals of accelerating the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and at removing all the obstacles to women's active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making To help meet Millennium Development Goals, UN Women established the HeForShe campaign. HeForShe seeks to empower men and boys globally to stand up and take action against gender inequality by sending action kits and working with Member States, UN bodies, corporations, and non-governmental organizations. Besides HeForShe, UN Women worked alongside the UN Global Compact to establish the Women s Empowerment Principles that are for providing guidelines to businesses in the ways that they must empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. Introduced on International Women s Day, the principles require businesses to guarantee chain reduction, leadership development, training of business and marketing practices, promotion of education and vocational training, and the health and safety of their workers. The Autocomplete Campaign, begun by the UN International Advocacy Group and UN Women, raised public awareness in 2013 by using the Google autocomplete functions to demonstrate misogynistic views. 5
Overall, the international community has pushed its way through support of UN Women and other UN bodies to make generous strides in closing gender gaps within the global economy. BLOC POSITIONS Western Bloc The Western Bloc tends to have a culture that is different from the other blocs, in which they take more action. Over the past years, female unemployment rate has increased significantly and birth-rates dramatically dropped. Delegates in this bloc tend to strongly support gender equality with the highest rates of equality, and must consider the cost and benefits of the social state for the women under socialism. Latin Bloc In the Americas, many Latin American states are still failing to provide women with proper pay wages and educational opportunities. Many governments in Latin America bloc lack a comprehensive policy to address these issues. Delegates in this bloc should address issues with governmental participation and enforcement. African Bloc While gender equality in the Middle East and Africa has been slowly developing as women have greater access to educational and economic opportunities, there remains culture and traditions that keep women away from employment opportunities. When addressing this issue, delegates must respect the sovereignty of Islamic nations that have restricted rights for women. Delegates should look into existing Islamic Law, such as the Sharia law, before taking appropriate action. Asian Bloc Gender Equality in Asian countries have been significantly improving at a slow pace. However, the gender wage gaps are accounted by huge disparities since women usually taken on low-status jobs, as compared to men. Delegates in this bloc should focus on eliminating gender discriminations towards women. BASIC SOLUTIONS Delegates should focus on solutions that can create effective policies for safe and equal environments for women in the workforce. These solutions must not violate any religious sovereignty of nations, such as the Sharia law that is practiced in Middle Eastern countries. The Sharia Law, an Islamic statute, prohibits basic female rights, including rights for authority in the house and in the community. Solutions should target ways of equipping women with the proper vocational training and access to important assets that are needed when working. Other plans of action could include governmental action through policies that require businesses to follow guidelines of maternity rights and gender wages, awareness campaigns that fight social and cultural stigmas that dehumanize women, and closing of gender gaps. 6
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER 1. How equal is your country when it comes to women in the economy and in education? According to the Gender Gap Index, where does your country rank in gender equality? 2. What recent progress has your country made in favor of the topic? 3. How do cultures break social stigmas and traditional roles of women that keep them oppressed? 4. What region do you believe this committee should focus its efforts on? 5. What recent programs or NGOs could be beneficial to produce change in other regions? 7
SOURCES 1. Economic Empowerment. RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.icrw.org/what-we-do/economic -empowerment> 2. Facts And Figures: Economic Empowerment. headquarters. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http:// www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures> 3. Feloni, Richard. This New Autocomplete Ad Shows What SHOULD Come Up When You Do A Google Search For 'Women'. Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 2013. Web. 25 May 2015. <http:// www.businessinsider.com/un-women-autocomplete-campaign-returns-2013-11> 4. Fourth World Conference On Women, Beijing 1995. UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/> 5. Fourth World Conference On Women, Beijing 1995. UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/plat1.htm#statement> 6. Gender Inequality In the Workplace. The Harvard Independent. N.p., Jan. 2011. Web. 9 Jun. 2015. <http://www.harvardindependent.com/2011/12/gender-inequality-in-the-workplace-education-does-not-equalsuccess-1201/> 7. The Global Gender Gap Report 2014. The Global Gender Gap Report 2014. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2014> 8. Home - HeForShe. HeForShe. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.heforshe.org/impact/> 9. Labour Market Gender Gap: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back. Global Employment Trends for Women 2012: N.p., Nov. 2012. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/ wcms_195445/lang--en/index.htm> 10. News. Adolescent Girls Initiative: Expanding Work Opportunities for Young Women in Haiti. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/video/2013/10/24/adolescent-girls-initiativeexpanding-work-opportunities-for-young-women-in-haiti> 11. Overview. - Women's Empowerment Principles. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://weprinciples.org/ site/principleoverview/> 12. This Map Shows Just How Big The Wage Gap Between Men And Women Is. Time. Time, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://time.com/14153/global-gender-pay-gap-map/> 13. What Are the Causes? RSS. What are the causes? N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://ec.europa.eu/ justice/gender-equality/gender-pay-gap/causes/index_en.htm> 14. Women's Rights. - Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/166/ womens-rights> 8