Key results from 2021
Overall, and by the end of 2021, the JP counted 581,5522 beneficiaries, more than doubling the original overall target of 222,955 beneficiaries across the three outcomes, or 160 percent above the target. 17 regulatory/legal frameworks responding to and promoting gender equality in the labour market reformed (surpassing the JP target of 12 legal provisions). 354 representatives from the national counterparts have strengthened capacities to design and deliver labour market related policies and programmes (target surpassed by 1.7 times) 948 women benefited from job placement, skills, and business development opportunities (43 per cent of the JP target) 2,688 private sector companies promoted decent work and gender equality (target surpassed by 3 times) 577,562 women and men have a better understanding of the issues around the value of women's economic empowerment (target surpassed by 2.6 times)
Outcome 1: gender responsive labour laws and related policies are in place and effective: National partners promoted 17 gender responsive legislative provisions since the start of the JP until 2021 (6 in Egypt, 10 in Jordan and 1 in Palestine), surpassing the JP target (12 legal provisions).
Regionally, stakeholders have access to ground-breaking knowledge and tools to inform gender responsive macro-economic policies. These important products provide critical and comparative policy analysis capacities to national counterparts. They recommend concerted investments are made in key areas to ensure targeted national female labour force participation rates are met and there is no back-sliding on GE targets due to COVID 19. In this regard, a study produced by the JP4 clearly evidences that targeted national female labour force participation will not be met without more and fundamental investments made, through strategic reallocation and reprioritization of existing budgets for recovery spending, in the care economy, specifically early childhood education.
In Egypt, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MPED) of the Egyptian government promoted labour laws and policy reform based on evidence. This evidence was a result of a study jointly launched by the MPED and the JP on the gender pay gap to provide a clear picture of the extent, size, evolution, and determinants of the gender wage gap in Egypt over the decades. The Ministry of Manpower (MoM) Gender Unit is better able to support gender equality and has put in place centralized and decentralised action plans as a result of JP support. The national partners, including the Ministry of Social Solidarity, The Ministry of Finance and civil society organisations have access to information on care policies, gender and macroeconomics, including tools to support gender responsive policy and financial planning as a result of which there will be a clear picture on the needs for investment and the return from investing in selected economic sectors in terms of job creation and poverty reduction.
In Jordan, 117 childcare facilities, serving 585 working women, accessed financial support to remain open during the COVID-19 period from the Ri'aya Programme (in Arabic Care). This allowed nurseries to remain functional, enabled women employed in the sector to keep working and the mothers of children enrolled in the nurseries to continue in employment. The Social Security Corporation established Ri'aya Programme, with technical support from the JP, to allow the care sector, whose workforce is almost entirely comprised of women, to access financial support.
In Palestine, a National Coalition launched in April 2021, more strongly positioning the members to advocate for workers' rights and lobby for reforming labour legislation in line with international labour standards. The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), CSOs, union of journalists, lawyers, persons with disability (PWDs), youth, and several other human rights organizations, gathered to have one stronger voice in their efforts to influence policy making and reform. The national partners are now better able to promote and advocate for womens economic empowerment based on evidence, due to a new study on the impact of COVID-19 on the participation of women in the Palestinian economy as workers, entrepreneurs, and unpaid care workers.
Outcome 2: a gender responsive private sector that attracts, retains and promotes women is supported, the proportion of women in managerial positions has increased by almost one percentage point in Egypt (compared to the JP target of 5 percentage points) and by three percentage points in Palestine (compared to the JP target of 3 percentage points) in one year from 2018 to 2019 while in Jordan, it increased by 53 percentage points over four years (2015 to 2019) exceeding the JP target (which was a 2 percentage point increase), the JP target is achieved in Palestine and exceeded in Jordan.5 Moreover, progress is made towards achieving the percentage of permanent full-time workers who are female, as this metric increased in Egypt by 4 percentage points over four years (2016 to 2020), and 13.2 percentage points in Jordan over seven years (2013 to 2019), compared to the JP target which was a 10 points increase in each country.
Regionally, the percentage of companies committing to implement gender equality policies by joining the Womens Empowerment Principles (WEPs), has increased in the Arab states region by 94 per cent over three years (2018 to 2021). The number of business leaders that joined WEPs and took action towards gender equality was almost doubled in the region, from 174 in 2018 to 338 in 2021, surpassing the JP target which was a 50 per cent increase. As a result of the work done under the WEPs at the regional level on average 547,166 women and men benefit from better, safer and more equal workplaces (151,842 employees from 135 WEPs signatory in Egypt, Jordan and Palestine). A new Regional Strategy for engaging the Private Sector for Womens Economic Empowerment was developed in 2021 that is expected to further expand and deepen the collaboration with private sector, including through the establishment of common service lines and incentivisation for WEPs implementation.
Outcome 3: gender stereotypes about women and mens responsibilities concerning unpaid care work and occupational segregation are challenged, in 2021, about 498,657 women and men from the community accessed information and awareness raising resources around social norms related to unpaid care work and gender based occupational segregation. The total number of women and men reached is 577,562, surpassing the target of 220,000, equivalent to an additional 162 per cent. Regionally, to challenge the social norms around unpaid care and increase awareness among national institutions on the benefits from equal gender participation in the labour market, the JP has promoted the policy support tool on the care economy proposing a practical methodology that would: a) identify public investment needs in the care economy sectors; b) estimate investment costs and expenditures for addressing these needs; c) assess various economic returns to such investments in the short- and the long-run. At the country level, in Egypt and Palestine in particular, the advocacy and awareness raising activities to challenge social norms in the community around the redistribution of unpaid care work at home are implemented in close collaboration with the Men and Women for Gender Equality Programme.
