ISSUE BRIEF

RETHINKING GENDER-RESPONSIVEPROCUREMENT: ENABLINGAN ECOSYSTEM FOR WOMEN’S
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

Copyright © 2021 UN Women and the International Labour
Organization (ILO)
This work is co-published by the United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) andthe International Labour Organization (ILO).
The designations employed and the presentation of the material
throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any
opinion whatsoever on the part of UN Women or ILO concerning thelegal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities,
or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Suggested citation: UN Women and the ILO, 2021.
“Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement: Enabling an Ecosystem
for Women’s Economic Empowerment.” New York and Geneva.
Authors: Anna Gollub (UN Women) and Charleine Mbuyi Lusamba
and Jaylan ElShazly (ILO)
Editor: Andy Quan
Design and layout: DESIGN [+]Acknowledgements: This brief is the result of collaboration
between the Economic Empowerment Section of UN Women,
for which the Nama Women Advancement Establishment (NAMA)
generously supports the “Stimulating Equal Opportunities for
Women Entrepreneurs” flagship programme, and the Women’s
Entrepreneurship Development programme of the ILO.

ISSUE BRIEF
RETHINKING GENDERRESPONSIVE PROCUREMENT:ENABLING AN ECOSYSTEM
FOR WOMEN’S ECONOMICEMPOWERMENTTABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION

2

I. CONVENTIONAL THINKING ON
GENDER-RESPONSIVE PROCUREMENT:EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH BUYINGFROM WOMEN’S ENTERPRISES
3
Governments

3

Private sector

4

II. THINKING BEYOND THE STATUS QUO

6III. (RE)FRAMING GENDER-RESPONSIVEPROCUREMENT TO BUYING FROMGENDER-RESPONSIVE ENTERPRISES

8

IV. CREATING A GENDER-RESPONSIVEPROCUREMENT ECOSYSTEM

11

V. CALL TO ACTION

13

Building the capacity of buyers and suppliers

13Collecting supplier data

14

Working with partners to articulate the businesscase and rights case
14
VI. GENDER RESPONSIVE PROCUREMENT
AND COVID-19

15

KEY RESOURCES

16

REFERENCES

17

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

1

INTRODUCTION
This issue brief, prepared by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the International Labour Organization (ILO),
discusses ways to broaden the scope of gender-responsive procurement (GRP) from a focus on
only promoting women’s enterprises to also include gender-responsive enterprises. The briefaims to inspire a transformative conceptualization of gender-responsive procurement that
supports both equal market opportunities for women’s enterprises and equal outcomes for
women in the labour market and the business environment.
The paper proposes an evolved vision of genderresponsive procurement that leaves no one behindand creates outcomes for gender equality andwomen’s empowerment, not only opportunities.
This vision would contribute to achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially
Goals 5 and 8, which focus on gender equality anddecent work respectively. Starting from the “buyfrom women-owned” approach, which seeks tooffer equal opportunities for women’s enterprises toaccess markets, the brief then takes a step forward toconsider the potential to leverage gender-responsive
procurement for expanded benefits to all women invalue chains as a means to address gender inequality.
This culminates in an expanded approach togender-responsive procurement that favours genderresponsive enterprises regardless of ownership,
thereby potentially allowing all women and men
to benefit from decent business and employment
opportunities. The brief further posits a GRP ecosystem
as a prerequisite for the transformation, and finallymakes a call to action for concrete ways to makethis vision a reality. Finally, the paper applies theseconcepts in the context of COVID-19.

Definition:
GENDER-RESPONSIVE ENTERPRISESFor the purpose of this paper, a “genderresponsive enterprise” is one that meets
criteria for integrating gender equality andwomen’s empowerment principles in its
policies and practices that are in alignment
with international norms and standards. To beconsidered gender-responsive, comprehensive
compliance with the Women’s Empowerment
Principles (WEPs) and ILO labour standards
would be required.

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

2

I. CONVENTIONAL THINKING ON
GENDER-RESPONSIVE PROCUREMENT:EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES THROUGHBUYING FROM WOMEN’S ENTERPRISESThe premise of gender-responsive procurement is that government and private sector
sourcing policies and practices can be strategic entry points for shaping markets to promote
the development of women’s entrepreneurship and women’s economic empowerment. Public
and private procurement generates trillions of dollars in economic activity and fuels market
interactions that span the globe. This is evident in the size of public procurement around theworld, which accounts for 12 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP),1 representing
10 to 15 percent of the GDP in developed countries and up to 30 to 40 percent in least
developed countries.2
The private sector also relies heavily on purchasing andprocurement. For example, 55 percent of sales in the
manufacturing sector are attributed to procurement.3
Most buyers do not comprehensively track how manyof their suppliers are women’s enterprises. From thelittle information that is available, it is estimated thatsourcing from women’s enterprises accounts for only
about 1 percent of spending of large businesses.4
Illustrative examples of government and private
sector policies and practices that focus on women’senterprises are discussed below.

1.1. Governments
Since public procurement is a significant proportionof GDP, public procurement laws and policies that
promote certain socioeconomic objectives can havea significant effect. Some governments and stateowned enterprises use procurement in a strategic way
to support women’s enterprises through a “buy fromwomen-owned” approach, focusing on enterprises

certified to be owned or led by women. An evaluationof public procurement policies in Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)member countries found that only 24 percent of them
have a policy on women’s enterprises.5
Countries that integrate the “buy from womenowned” approach into law and policy include:6• Tanzania’s 2016 Public Procurement Act allocates
30 percent of government tenders to enterprises
led by women, youth, older persons and people
with disabilities as a follow-up to the Women’s
Entrepreneurship Development (WED) assessment.7• Kenya has a policy of reserving 30 percent ofprocurement spending for women-owned enterprises
as well as those owned by youth and people withdisabilities.
• The United States has a target of 5 percent of federal
procurement spending to be allocated to small
women-owned enterprises.

1

Bosio, E. and S. Djannkov. 2020. “How large is public procurement?”.
World Bank Blogs. 5 February. https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/how-large-public-procuremen
2 Kirton 2013.
3 Monczka et al. 2015.
4 Vazquez and Sherman 2013.
5 OECD 2019.
6 The ITC has a useful database at https://procurementmap.intracen.org/ to review legislative policies that promote women’sbusinesses. Another source of information is the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
The Committee has reviewed such practices when applying the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention,
1958 (No. 111) and under the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100). Documentation of the process can be found here
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_174846.pdf
7 ILO 2019.

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

3

WOMANOWNEDSHARE OFPROCUREMENT

Gender-Responsive Procurement is a Strategic Lever• South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment Act has affirmative procurement
provisions that apply to women-owned enterprises.
• Botswana, Chile and India, among othercountries, have some type of policy that supports
women-owned enterprises in public procurement
processes.8

Tools for supporting gender-responsive
procurement
The ILO and UN Women provide practical
tools to support governments in reforming
procurement policies to be more genderresponsive. For example, through national
assessments of Women’s Entrepreneurship
Development (WED Assessment), the ILO
works with national constituents to assess
frameworks and conditions conducive to theempowerment of women entrepreneurs,
including access to markets and technology,
and makes recommendations, such asencouraging public procurement schemes
to be more gender-responsive.9 UN Women
conducts training on gender equality andwomen’s economic empowerment for
procurement professionals in the public andprivate sectors.

1.2. Private sector
The private sector can take action by leveraging buying
power and supply chains to have a positive impact
on gender equality. In accordance with Principle 5 of
the Women’s Empowerment Principles, promoted by
UN Women and the UN Global Compact, enterprises
can support gender equality by procuring fromwomen suppliers and distributors and by supporting
contractors to promote gender equality in theworkplace, marketplace and community.
In 2017, companies, including Accenture, Citi, Ernst& Young and Procter & Gamble, announced a goal
to source USD 100 million each through their supply
chains from women’s enterprises in developing
countries.10 To contribute to this goal, Procter & Gamble
worked with UN Women to pilot strategies to expand
business relationships with subdistributors andwomen’s enterprises in Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan andSouth Africa. The results of the pilot project showedthat collaboration between the UN and procuring
entities can facilitate access to market opportunities
for women’s enterprises when companies review their
supply chain practices to make them more genderresponsive. While quantifying the direct benefits ofworking with women suppliers and subdistributors
is challenging, the reputational benefits that attract
customer loyalty was clear to UN Women’s pilot
project partners. Evidence supports these observations
because ethical consumption—which is when

8 Harris Rimmer 2017, Combaz 2018.
9 To get insight on the WED assessment methodology and read national assessment reports, please visit https://www.ilo.org/empent/areas/womens-entrepreneurship-development-wed/WCMS_504170/lang--en/index.htm
10 Dallas, K. 2017. “How Global Citizens Just Helped Secure $1B in Commitments Toward Gender Equality.” Chime for Change. 27 Sept.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/1b-in-commitments-towards-gender-equality-secured/
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment4

a company’s sustainability efforts and ethics become acornerstone of its buying decisions—can help enhancea company’s reputation, with potential positive impact
on its performance.11
According to the UN Global Compact, which provides
the Gender Gap Analysis Tool to help Women’s
Empowerment Principles signatories to diagnose areas
where they excel but also where they can improve, only
6 percent of companies globally who have used thetool actually count their spending on women-owned
businesses.12 Yet supplier diversity programmes arestill very common in the United States. Other examples
of companies that practise supplier diversity include:• Citigroup Inc (also known as Citi) have implemented
a number of innovative solutions in their supplier
diversity, sustainability and inclusion practices,which include methods for strategic sourcing,
capacity development and networking.13• UPS works with organizations such as the Women’s
Business Enterprise National Council, the National
Minority Supplier Development Council, and the
U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to develop
training for suppliers.15• Unilever aims to spend EUR 2 billion a year by 2025with diverse businesses owned and managed
by people from underrepresented communities,
including women, underrepresented racial andethnic groups, people with disabilities and lesbian,gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex
communities.16• L’Oréal’s Solidarity Sourcing Programme,
operational since 2010, includes inclusive
purchasing projects targeting women in vulnerable
communities.17• IBM’s global supplier diversity and inclusion
programme creates opportunities for women,
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,
veterans and service-disabled veterans, and disabled
persons.14

11 Manyukhina 2018.
12 BSR 2020.
13 UN Women 2017.
14 Ibid.
15 HBR 2020.
16 Unilever. Undated. “Promoting diverse suppliers.”
https://www.unilever.com/planet-and-society/equity-diversity-and-inclusion/promoting-diverse-suppliers/
17 L’Oréal. Undated. “How L’Oréal Encourages Women’s Economic Empowerment Through Sourcing?”
https://www.loreal.com/en/news/commitments/how-loreal-encourages-womens-economic-empowerment-through-sourcing/
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

5II. THINKING BEYOND THE STATUS QUO
A “women-owned business” is commonly defined by many countries, as well as theUN system, as an enterprise that has at least 51 percent ownership by one or more women.18
A “women-led business” is associated with firms with women in key decision-making
positions such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), President and General Manager.19 For the
purpose of gender-responsive procurement, it makes sense to some that ownership andleadership come together for a business to be considered a women’s enterprise. Some countries
have different thresholds and criteria. Egypt, for example, uses a definition that allows fora lower ownership threshold for women’s ownership if a company is also women-led.20
While the “buy from women-owned” approach has thepotential to contribute to economic growth and social
progress, assessing the effectiveness of such a strategy
on gender equality and women’s empowerment is notan easy task. The “buy from women-owned” approachto gender-responsive procurement has limitations forthree key reasons:designation, but are actually controlled and operated
by men. The ILO WED Assessment in Montenegro,
for example, revealed that most men would register
enterprises in the names of their female family
members (e.g. sister, wife, daughter and mother) toreap additional benefits associated with the status of
women’s businesses.21

Firstly, not all women’s enterprises qualify for thedesignation of “women-owned” according to somegovernments and companies because they lackcertification as such by a recognized relevant andcompetent entity. Certifiers of women’s enterprises,
such as WeConnect International, have had notableinfluence on the internationalization of the definition
based on the 51 percent threshold of “owned, managed
and operated,” which is the standard used in the
United States. In 2020, the International Trade Centre(ITC) SheTrades Initiative and the Swedish Institute forStandards (SIS) initiated a series of consultations aspart of the International Workshop Agreement (IWA)
to standardize the definition of a “woman-owned
business,” an exercise that requires questioning
the assumption that “women’s ownership” can beeasily defined and that it automatically leads toempowerment. Moreover, whereas the logic of buying
from women-owned enterprises is to assure thatthe profits go to women, paper ownership does notnecessarily mean actual control of the enterprise’s
operations and revenues. Businesses can be nominallyregistered in the names of women to take advantageof the opportunities offered by the “women-owned”

18 The 51 percent ownership should be complemented by unconditional control by one or more women over both the long-term
decision-making and the day-to-day management and administration of the business operations, and independence from nonwomen-owned businesses. UN Women 2017: XIII.
19 Piras et al. 2013.
20 Central Bank of Egypt. 2018. Circular dated 16 August 2018 regarding Women Owned Business Definition.
https://www.cbe.org.eg/en/Pages/HighlightsPages/Circular-dated-16-August-2018-regarding-Women-Owned-Business-Definition.aspx
21 Montenegrin Employers Federation 2013.
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

6Secondly, the gender identity of a firm’s owner andleader does not necessarily relate to the working
conditions for its female or male employees or meanthat gender inequalities are addressed or women
employees are economically empowered. For that,gender-responsive policies and practices would be
required. There is no clear evidence about the deficits
of decent work that do or do not exist in women’senterprises or, conversely, whether enterprises thatare not certified as “women-owned” in fact have goodpractices that support and empower all workers byprotecting their rights.
Thirdly, gender-responsive procurement is interpreted
by some as a form of “positive discrimination” since it
privileges certain categories of business over others.
This can be perceived to go against the principles ofmerit and fair competition, which are foundational
for the field of procurement, and non-discriminationin the language of procurement law and in World
Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. Exceptions
nonetheless do exist, for instance when parties decideto give developing countries special access to certain
markets under strict conditions22 or when governments
set specific preferences or quotas to increase the accessof small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to publictenders.23 Introducing gender-responsive provisionsin procurement and trade agreements remains achallenge. Inclusion of social criteria may be limited
within the scope of procurement law24 and procuring
entities might not see responsibility for social outcomesas their mission, which in most cases is operationaland not normative. Indeed, affirmative action is highly
contested and may not be legally possible.
Procurement decisions in public procurement are
driven by considerations of value for money, economy
and efficiency.25 The private sector also places
significant emphasis on achieving economies of scaleand cost reduction. Women-owned enterprises tend
to be smaller and grow more slowly due to structuralbarriers.26 They may not have the capacity to meetthose requirements and are therefore ineligible orunable to compete for tenders. Hence, there is aneed for reframing gender-responsive procurement
to promote equal outcomes for a wider range ofwomen and not only for a small subset of women
entrepreneurs who are able to compete at the levels
dictated by procurement practices which are driven byconsideration of efficiency and value for money.

22 See WTO’s non-discrimination principle at WTO. Undated. “Principles of the trading system.”https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm
23 See the International Trade Centre (ITC)’s recommendations on improving the access of small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) to public procurement: ITC. 2001. “Improving SME Access to Public Procurement”. International Trade Forum, Issue 1.
http://www.tradeforum.org/Improving-SME-Access-to-Public-Procurement/
24 Sarter 2015.
25 Keulemans and Van de Walle 2017.
26 Carranza et al. 2018.
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

7

III. (RE)FRAMING GENDER-RESPONSIVEPROCUREMENT TO BUYING FROMGENDER-RESPONSIVE ENTERPRISES
It is noteworthy that current GRP practice focuses primarily on creating opportunities for
producers. However, if gender-responsive procurement is to influence equal outcomes for
women and not just opportunities, practices need to be promoted that enable inclusive
development pathways and reduce inequalities for workers and consumers. This is necessary
because gender gaps are still pervasive in the labour market and the business environment.
In 2019, women’s labour force participation globally stood at 47 percent, 27 percentage points
below men’s27 and women continue to be paid on average 20 percent less than men28 in termsof both remuneration of wage work and remuneration of capital for women entrepreneurs.
An emerging reformulation of the concept ofgender-responsive procurement is to source fromgender-responsive enterprises, regardless of the gender
identity of the owners. A gender-responsive enterprisewould meet rigorous criteria for integrating genderequality and women’s empowerment principles inpolicies and practices in the workplace, marketplaceand community to have systemic impacts. Examples
of such criteria include offering decent work and social
protection or applying fair standards for contractors
and subcontractors, who often work and live in
vulnerable situations. Examples of such vulnerability
include informal work arrangements, health andsafety concerns, and lack of adherence to employment
standards such as minimum wage and working hours.29
The idea here is that buyers can work together withenterprises in their supply chain to create decent workin gender-equal environments by putting standards inplace for gender-responsive policies and practices.
In the absence of established standards andcertifications to inform and track gender-responsible
business practices, a number of international normative
frameworks are helping to define if an enterprise isgender-responsive.

Decent work and social protection
Decent work is defined by the ILO and endorsedby the international community as productive
work for women and men in conditions of
freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
Decent work involves opportunities for workthat is productive and delivers a fair income;provides security in the workplace and social
protection for workers and their families;
offers prospects for personal development andencourages social integration; gives people thefreedom to express their concerns, to organize
and to participate in decisions that affect theirlives; and guarantees equal opportunities andequal treatment for all.30
Social protection is at the centre of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development; SDG
indicator 1.3.1 is dedicated to measuring the
proportion of the population covered by social
protection systems—which currently stands atonly 45 percent.31 Evolving employment patterns
and new forms of employment with limited
job and income security and without adequate
social protection are on the rise.32

27 ILO 2020a.
28 ILO 2018a.
29 ILO 2020b
30 ILO 2008.
31 See ILO. Undated. World Social Protection Data Dashboards. https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/WSPDB.action?id=32.
Accessed 15 April 2021.
32 ILO 2017b.

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

8UN promotion of gender-responsive procurement
Leading by example, the United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM) has integrated a gender indicator
in its online procurement platforms to help UN procurement officials report on their sustainableprocurement performance. The gender indicator “relates to sustainability considerations that aim at
the empowerment of women and girls and the promotion of equal treatment of people irrespective of
their gender—for instance through gender mainstreaming, which refers to the practice of assessing thedifferent implications of activities for people of different genders.”
For instance, bidders shall demonstrate their commitment to support gender equality and women’s
empowerment through their operations (current or future plans/activities regarding gender diversity in the
recruitment process, and/or ensuring equal pay between men and women, and/or opportunities for women
to be empowered and promoted internally, and/or prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse or any form of
discrimination at work, and/or paid parental leave policies for men and women, and/or provide professionalsafety training and access to equal protection facilities for all staff without discrimination, etc.).33
UN Women Procurement implements gender-responsive procurement internally, incorporating incentives forgender-responsive suppliers in the procurement process. This is in line with the United Nations Procurement
Network approach, which integrates gender issues as a social indicator into its online procurement platforms
to help UN procurement officials report on their sustainable procurement performance, which is available
at the UN Global Marketplace. Additionally, the Gender-Responsive Procurement Task Force was establishedwithin the Sustainable Procurement Working Group under the Procurement Network of the United Nations
High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM). The GRP Task Force led by UN Women is working on a set ofindicators for measurement of GRP implementation at the inter-agency level.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs)34 coverseven domains where a company can work to have apositive impact on gender equality internally and in society.
The ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning
Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (the MNE
Declaration) calls on multinational enterprises topractise principles of non-discrimination and to correct
any historical patterns of discrimination in order topromote equality and equal opportunity and treatment
in employment.35 The OECD Recommendations on Public
Procurement propose a strategy for inclusive growthand urge governments to employ selection criteriathat support small and medium-sized enterprises andpromote gender equality and social inclusion.36 The United
Nations Gender Dimensions of the Guiding Principles

on Business and Human Rights37 emphasize the role ofStates in procuring from businesses that have policies
and mechanisms in place to address sexual harassment,
gender-based violence, pregnancy- and maternity/
paternity-based discrimination, the gender pay gap,
and underrepresentation of women in leadership andmanagement positions.
Emerging evidence indicates that government
procurement can influence labour conditions incontracted firms.38 This vision of gender-responsive
procurement helps promote equal job and business
opportunities for women by awarding more business toenterprises that foster gender-responsive employment
practices, provide better working conditions anddecent jobs, and promote equal opportunities

33 United Nations Global Marketplace 2020.
34 For more information about the Women’s Empowerment Principles, see www.weps.org.
35 ILO 2017a.
36 OECD 2019.
37 UNDP and United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights. Undated. Gender Dimensions of the Guiding Principles
on Business and Human Rights. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/Gender_Booklet_Final.pdf
38 Ravenswood and Kaine 2015.

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

9

across all employment levels, and not just at theownership level. This is becoming an important pillarof sustainable public and corporate procurement
policies and practices, which has been put forward,
for example, by European Union (EU) governments.
EU and national public procurement provisions
require contractors to ban discrimination and develop
work–life balance policies, safety standards and labour
guarantees, as well as equal pay measures.39 The cityof Vienna welcomes not only participation to tenderfrom women’s enterprises but also companies that,during the contract, commit to promote women’s
employment and furnish proof of doing so during its
execution.40

Enterprises can, through corporate procurement,
encourage their suppliers to align with principles ofgender equality, with the private sector collectively
shaping markets to have a positive social andeconomic development impact. This can include
supplier development programmes, which can support
buyers to integrate gender equality into supplier work
practices. Enterprise development programmes, suchas the ILO’s Sustaining Competitive and Responsible
Enterprises programme, have developed a tool
called the Gender Equality Model (MIG SCORE),41
which provides practical guidelines for enterprises
for applying gender-responsive employment andmanagement practices for equal opportunity,
treatment and participation.

39 See the EU presentation during the webinar on Leveraging Inclusive Procurement amid COVID-19. 18 June 2020.
https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/community/events-opportunities/2020/06/leveraging-inclusive-procurement-amid-covid-19.
40 See the Vienna City website (in German), https://www.wien.gv.at/wirtschaft/gewerbe/vergabe-frauenfoerderung.html, whichlists the requirements and includes a checklist for suppliers. Section A, Point 1 discusses women’s share of employment.
41 ILO. 2018. MIG Score: Gender Equality Model explained.
https://www.ilo.org/empent/Projects/score/WCMS_651895/lang--en/index.htm#:~:text=We%20designed%20a%20new%20
SCORE,%2C%20and%20work%2Dlife%20harmony.
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

10IV. CREATING A GENDER-RESPONSIVEPROCUREMENT ECOSYSTEM
The sections above have presented two visions of gender-responsive procurement. The first is
the conventional approach based on supplier diversity that promotes sourcing from certified
women-owned enterprises leading to more equal opportunities for women in the market.
The second is a newer concept whereby organizations source from gender-responsive
enterprises, regardless of ownership, leading to equal outcomes for women more broadly
in local, national and global value chains.
Value chains, described as “the full range of activities
that are required to bring a product or service fromconception, through the intermediary phases of
production and delivery to final consumers,”42 area key element of the global economy. They shapebusiness ecosystems between and within countries.
Procurement is a process then that happens in a wider
ecosystem with implications not only for buyers andsuppliers, but also for consumers and the support
systems and infrastructure that enable different actors
to carry out their transactions.
In order to expand gender-responsive procurement
beyond opportunities for a small group of suppliers
that are certified as women-owned enterprises,
to include the potential for equal outcomes for womenas producers, workers and consumers, a systems view isrequired. This means taking into account how sourcing
decisions affect the wider interconnected set of actorsthat play a role in delivering the sourced service or
product. Gender-responsive procurement can only
flourish in an enabling environment fostered by anumber of actors. The bird’s-eye view of procurementin Figure 1 illustrates the interactions and relationships,
often overlapping and multidimensional, as well as
institutions in a market system, that make genderresponsive procurement possible.
Governments, as duty bearers, are responsible forprotecting human rights and for regulating enterprises
public and private, big and small. Governments arealso responsible for physical and social infrastructureand services that make doing business possible, andthrough policies and regulations that apply across the
public and the private sector, ensuring labour rights andsocial protection coverage for workers and consumers.
Women use those services and infrastructure, as
suppliers of goods and services to the government andprivate sector, and as enterprise owners, contractors andworkers. Therefore, an analysis and understanding ofgender is required to understand the differential impactof the procurement process on women at all stages inthe value chain. For example, women may access andbenefit from public services, such as education andsocial care that receive large shares of public investment,
in different ways than men.43 An often-overlooked linkin this chain is the unpaid care and domestic work thatis essential for families and economies to function,
for which women are disproportionately responsible,
subsidizing public services at the expense of theirability to participate equally in the paid labour market.
Women have a vested interest, not only in who wins
a procurement contract, but also how the procured
goods, services and public works affect livelihoods andthe gender division of labour more broadly.
Well-functioning GRP ecosystems rely on strong public
policies and enforcement measures, especially when
the provision of public goods or services is outsourced
to private entities, which may not have the samelabour and employment standards as the government.
Government and companies alike are obligated torespect international human rights frameworks
and conventions and standards to which countries
have committed. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, the Sustainable Development Goals andthe other frameworks discussed above provide guidanceon the strategies that can have a positive impact on
business operations and gender equality and women’s
economic empowerment, as well as other social andenvironmental issues. Transformative measures areneeded to cultivate ecosystems that resist and eliminate
discriminatory social norms and stereotypes andstructural barriers that hold women back from equal
participation in the labour market and the businessenvironment. To be gender-responsive, government and

42 Kaplinsky 2004.
43 UN Women 2018
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

11

FIGURE 1

Gender-responsive procurement ecosystem

GRP Facilitators(UN, Civil Society,
Trade Organizations)der-rpra espon
ctics
es iveSupplySupplyWomenOwned
Enterprises

ly
pp
Su

SupplyPhysical and social
infrastructure andenabling environment

Gender-responsive
practices

InformalWorkers

Workers

ly

pp

Su

GenderResponsive
Enterprises

Other Typesof Enterprises(SMEs, etc.)

Government

n

latio

Regu

pp
ly

GenderResponsive
Enterprises

SupplyRegulation

Gen

Su

Public and Private
Companies

Partnership/norms/capacity

Subcontractors

Unpaid Care Consumers/
workers
Users

Demand for products/
support for workers

A gender-responsive procurement ecosystem
Figure 1 illustrates six clusters of actors in a gender-responsive procurement ecosystem, showing themultiple roles and relationships that actors have in procurement. Gray dashed lines refer to relationships
between suppliers and buyers. The main large buyers are governments, enterprises and organizations thatplay a dual role as buyers and facilitators of gender-responsive procurement, like the UN. The cluster in thecentre—women-owned enterprises, gender-responsive enterprises and other types of enterprises—cansupply directly to these buyers. Workers, informal workers and subcontractors supply to these businesses,
but they also sometimes supply directly to the large buyers. Of course, nothing would be possible without thecontribution of care work. Consumers, who include the many women that bear the disproportional brunt ofcare work and domestic reproduction that supports workers, drive demand (shown in grey with the turquoiselines). Blue lines in different shades represent relationships that aren’t necessarily transactional, but are still
related to procurement.
enterprises should enable the meaningful participation,
voice and representation of gender experts and women
entrepreneurs and workers and their associations in theadvancement of procurement policies and practices
that will support inclusive and sustainable growth ofthe local, national and global economy.
Putting in place transformative measures is not easy.
The norms that govern procurement laws and policies
are driven by financial considerations. Reforms, such as
e-procurement, focus on savings and efficiency gains
by improving value for money and lowering prices.44

Since gender-responsive procurement prioritizessocial outcomes in addition to financial returns,
procurement practitioners may consider it to beoutside the scope of their mandate, or they may only
want to practise it when there are direct cost-saving
returns. The diffusion of gender norms may, therefore,
be at odds with the values that drive these reforms.45
For this reason, a business case and a rights case forgender-responsive procurement will always go handand hand. The following concluding section offers
guidance on practical steps to move forward.

44 OECD 2017.
45 Nyeck 2015.
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

12

V. CALL TO ACTION
Procurement is a process that reflects the values of the procuring entity. In mostorganizations, the core of the procurement department’s mission is to secure costs savingsand value for money. Prioritizing social outcomes requires changes in institutional culture aswell as the policies and practices of all actors in procurement ecosystems.
How can gender-responsive procurement serve not only
as a tool that creates opportunities for some women’senterprises but also as a transformative lever that,
under the right conditions and by giving preference togender-responsive enterprises, can create decent jobs
and better economic outcomes for women?
Three pathways are critical to achieve this vision:
1. Building the capacity of buyers and suppliers to stayaccountable to gender equality standards.
2. Collecting supplier data on women’s enterprises
and gender-responsive enterprises.
3. Working with partners to articulate both thebusiness case and the human rights case forgender-responsive procurement.

Building the capacity of buyers andsuppliers
It is important to recognize the power of top-down
leadership in the corporate environment andthe private sector, which tend to be hierarchical.
Procurement managers and executives can foster aculture of social impact and gender equality by publicly
affirming their commitment to gender equality, as
well as helping to build institutional accountability
for gender-responsive procurement. This can include
creating organization-wide targets for sourcing fromgender-responsive enterprises, and holding managers
accountable for delivering these targets, for example
with concrete milestones in performance reviews.
Gender-responsive procurement requires working
across the whole organization, taking into accountsupplier diversity as well as risk management. For
example, when conducting due diligence, companies
and governments can carry it out in a genderresponsive manner and use gender-responsive
procurement as a mitigation strategy to reduce theorganization’s potential adverse impact on humanrights. What’s more, gender-responsive due diligence
may reveal risks in the upstream and downstream
supply chain. An example of a tool that can help is

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)’s Gender Dataand Impact (GDI) Tool, which helps companies track
their impact at all levels of the supply chain.46
In terms of capacity—the capacity of the buying
entity—it is essential that procurement organizations
are empowered to see how their actions and practices
can have a positive impact on the world. If they can see
themselves as agents of social change in a system thatis not gender-neutral, they can build practical solutions.
Procurement professionals need to know how to apply
a gender lens to their work to recognize the structuralbarriers that women’s businesses in value chains facein negotiating and developing sustainable business
relationships. They also need to know how to put
programmes in place for supplier development, tailoredspecifically towards women’s enterprises, especiallythose owned and run by women who face multiple andintersecting forms of discrimination due to factors suchas poverty, ethnicity, religion, race, disability, sexual
orientation, gender identity and nationality. They alsoneed the resources and training to conduct genderresponsive due diligence and to institute requirementsthat advance gender equality among their supplier base.
The capacity of suppliers is similarly important.
Many buyers find it hard in practice to find qualified
women’s enterprises that can compete at the same
cost and quality as other businesses. This is precisely
because of the various well-known gender-specificbarriers women’s enterprises face. Furthermore,enterprises—regardless of ownership—need todemonstrate commitment towards fostering genderresponsive practices by training staff and ensuring
different units do their part in working towards gender
equity. Many organizations, including UN Women andthe ILO, offer enterprise and supplier development
programmes that can help women’s enterprises
compete at the necessary level and that can help allenterprises foster gender-responsive practices. At thebroader level, governments and policymakers should
support women entrepreneurs by facilitating theiraccess to capital and financial services, informationand networks, and markets.

46 BSR 2019.
Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

13Collecting supplier data
The evidence and data needed to make the businesscase and show the benefits of gender-responsive
procurement are still relatively scarce. A UN Womenand Fundação Getulio Vargas study in Brazil foundthat very few enterprises collect data on their suppliers
that would make it possible to understand andmonitor gender-responsive procurement. Also needed,
as a prerequisite to making data available, are thedissemination and adoption of standards that would
clearly identify gender-responsive enterprises andwomen’s enterprises. Limited coordination, capacity
and regulations are also of concern. Coordination
among actors collecting data would be required alongwith public dissemination of these data to facilitate
accountability. Serious attention should also be devoted
to improving the quality and quantity of publicly
available procurement data. Organizations like Open
Contracting that collect and publish sex-disaggregatedprocurement data have a key role to play here. UN
Women can also help: their Women Count flagshipprogramme helps governments across the world toimprove gender-data collection and analysis.

bility
a
t
n
u
Acco
Data
Partn
erships

Working with partners to articulate
the business case and rights caseA major point of action is to articulate and disseminate
a persuasive “business case” that shows the
incentives and benefits of putting gender-responsive
procurement into practice and how it fits within
legal and rights frameworks. This would help dispel
concerns that gender-responsive procurement is aform of “positive discrimination” that favours someenterprises over others.
Indeed, there is consumer demand for goods andservices that are produced in compliance withinternational norms and standards of human rights.
Enterprises that have a positive social image withrespect to gender equality and women’s empowerment
can accrue reputational benefits. The Corporate Guide
to Gender-Responsive Procurement details evidence
and examples of companies that have seen benefits
due to their procurement programmes.47 Furthermore,when the private sector procures for social good, they
reinforce positive values and strengthen public policies
that are designed to address inequality.

No gender-responsive procurement programme canexist without the full participation of and consultation
with women and women’s business organizations aswell as organizations working on advancing genderequality. There is help for companies and governments
to advance gender-responsive procurement within
their organizations. As discussed in this paper,
UN Women and the ILO, among other UN agencies
and partners, create resources, knowledge and tools
to carry out gender-responsive procurement. The UN
stands ready to support companies and governments
to embed gender-responsive procurement in theirmandates to have a collective positive impact on
the world, achieve gender equality and meet the
Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

47 UN Women 2017.

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

14VI. GENDER RESPONSIVEPROCUREMENT AND COVID-19
Procurement carried out in response to the pandemic can make or break the equitable
distribution of necessary items such as essential health equipment, personal protective
equipment (PPE) and vaccines. Women’s enterprises are extremely underrepresented among
those competing as suppliers for the myriad business opportunities the pandemic has
generated. Enabling them access to these markets carries with it the double dividend of
supporting women entrepreneurs and contributing to the COVID-19 response and recovery.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought far-reachingeconomic shocks, felt most by those who were already themost vulnerable in society. The pandemic has exacerbatedpre-existing gender inequality in the economy. The labour
market was already segmented, with women moreprevalent in precarious, part-time and informal work andin sectors that have lower pay, yet they have been at thefront lines of the COVID-19 response and essential services.
In the healthcare sector globally, 70 percent of workers
are women.48 Mass closures in the retail industry have
impacted women disproportionately because they make up
a disproportionately high share of employment; 42 percent
work in this sector compared to 32 percent of men.49
Women are 24 percent more likely to lose their job
compared to men while also expecting their labour
income to fall 50 percent more than men, according toa study in six countries representing a variety of income
levels.50 According to ILO data, globally and across all
regions and country income groups, women havebeen affected by employment loss to a greater extent
than men. At the global level, the employment loss for
women was 5 percent in 2020 versus 3.9 percent for men.
Moreover, across all regions, women have been more
likely to drop out of the labour force during this crisis.51
Major funds are being invested all over the world insmall businesses as part of national fiscal strategies toaddress the economic fallout of the pandemic. Withthe total spending on economic stimulus worldwide
set to soar past US$20 trillion,52 high-income economies
are dedicating 40 percent to firms, and low-income

economies are dedicating 25 percent to firms.53 Yetbigger firms are not only more likely to access the funds,
but they access more of it.54 Women’s enterprises areusually smaller firms, and these disparities reinforce
major gender gaps. Given that only 177 of more than
2,500 reported gender-responsive COVID-19 policy
measures worldwide focus on women’s economic
security,55 it is clear that women entrepreneurs andworkers are not getting the targeted support they need.
Quick and substantial government procurement and thelifting of trade barriers have been identified by a numberof countries as part of their fiscal response. Many
economic recovery public policy responses mention

48 WHO 2019b.
49 ILO 2020a.
50 Dang and Nguyen 2020.
51 ILO. 2021. ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Seventh edition. Updated estimates and analysis. 25 January 2021.
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_767028.pdf
52 IMF 2020.
53 Cirera et al. 2021: 33
54 Ibid.
55 UNDP. Undated. COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker. https://data.undp.org/gendertracker/. Accessed 15 April 2021.

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

15

procurement in terms of leveraging it to support both
SME growth and inclusion.56
Moreover, there is a need to ensure that the large
contracts and new investments for economic recovery
are distributed equally and that women benefit fromthe government’s buying power. According to Pulse,57
as of March 2021, about 6 percent of COVID-19–related
procurement contracts in the United States havebeen awarded to women-owned enterprises, totalling
only US$2.978 billion of the total of about $US46.9
billion tagged as COVID-19 related. For reference in
2019, reported federal government procurement fromwomen-owned enterprises was about US$25 billion andjust over 5 percent of the total.58
According to publicly available data analysed by Open
Contracting, which houses data standards to guideprocurement reporting, several countries stand out intermsoftrackingCOVID-19–relatedspendingonwomen’senterprises. In the Dominican Republic, 31 percent of
the COVID-19–related contracts and 27 percent of thetotal value were awarded to women-owned businesses.
In Colombia, 46 percent of the COVID-19–related
contracts and 42 percent of the total value wereawarded to female suppliers, or firms with a female
as a contact point. This suggests that emergencyrelated procurement could be a stimulus for women’senterprises, though further research would have to
be conducted for verification. However, the problem
remains that many governments do not track thepercentage of their procurement spending on women’senterprises, so it is difficult to see how contracts are
distributed.
In terms of the linkages between gender-responsive
procurement and fair and inclusive employment
practices, governments could prioritize supporting
enterprises that make efforts to respond to the needsof their female and male workers during the crisis, suchas the increased burden of care many face due to theclosure of day-care centres and schools and an increase in
the sick. Moreover, due to the segmentation of the labour
market and women’s overrepresentation in the careeconomy, investments in occupational safety and healthas well as social protection could have an impact on
business resilience and gender-responsive employment
practices. These assumptions suggest that practisinggender-responsive procurement in a crisis could generateor sustain full and productive employment.

56 IMF. 2021. Policy Responses to COVID-19. https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19.
Accessed 15 April 2021.
57 See the Pulse of Government Contracting. https://thepulsegovcon.com/
58 See SAM.gov (USA). https://sam.gov/reports/awards/static

KEY RESOURCES
ILO

UN Women• MIG SCORE: https://ilo.org/empent/Projects/score/
WCMS_651895/lang--en/index.htm• UN Women. 2017. The power of procurement:
How to source from women-owned businesses.
Corporate Guide to Gender Responsive
Procurement: https://www.unwomen.
org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/3/
the-power-of-procurement.

• ILO MNE Declaration portal:
www.ilo.org/mnedeclaration• ILO Helpdesk for business: www.ilo.org/business• ILO Women’s Entrepreneurship Development
Programme: www.ilo.org/wed• Women’s Empowerment Principles: www.weps.org• Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Branch(GEDI): https://www.ilo.org/gender/lang--en/index.htm

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

16

REFERENCES
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). 2019. The
Gender Data and Impact (GDI) Tool – A Tool for
Conducting Gender-Responsive Due Diligence in
Supply Chains.
______ 2020. Women’s Empowerment and Business2020 Trends and Opportunities.
Carranza, E., C. Dhakal and I. Love. 2018. “Female
Entrepreneurs: How and Why are they Different?”
Washington, DC: World Bank.
Cirera, X., M. Cruz, E. Davies, A. Grover, L. Lacovone,
J-E. Lopez Cordova, D. Medvedev et al. 2021.
“Policies to Support Businesses through the
COVID-19 Shock: A Firm Level Perspective.” The
World Bank Research Observer 36, no. 1: 41–66.
Combaz, E. 2018. Models of gender-sensitive
procurement used by international aid entities,
K4D Helpdesk Report. Brighton: Institute ofDevelopment Studies.
Dang, H-A H. and C.V. Nguyen. 2020. “Gender
Inequality during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Income,Expenditure, Savings, and Job Loss.” World
Development, Nov: 105296.
Global Banking Alliance for Women. 2015. The Powerof Women’s Market Data: A How-to Guide.
HBR. 2020. Why You Need a Supplier-Diversity
Program.
https://hbr.org/2020/08/
why-you-need-a-supplier-diversity-program.
Hale, T., N. Angrist, E. Cameron-Blake, L. Hallas,
B. Kira, S. Majumdar, A. Petherick, T. Phillips, H.
Tatlow and S. Webster. 2020. Oxford COVID-19
Government Response Tracker. Blavatnik School ofGovernment.
Harris Rimmer, S. 2017. Gender-smart procurement:
Policies for driving change. London: Chatham
House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
International Labour Organization (ILO). 2008. Toolkit
for mainstreaming Employment and Decent Work.
Geneva: ILO.
______ 2016. Value Chain Development For Decent
Work. How to create employment and improve
working conditions in targeted sectors. Geneva:
ILO.
______ 2017a. Tripartite Declaration of Principles
concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social
Policy (MNE Declaration) – 5th Edition. www.ilo.
org/mnedeclaration.
______ 2017b. World Social Protection Report
2017–19. Geneva: ILO.
______ 2018a. Global Wage Report 2018/19: What lies
behind gender pay gaps. Geneva: ILO.
______ 2018b. Women and Men in the Informal
Economy. Geneva: ILO.

______ 2019. A Quantum Leap for Gender Equality:
For a Better Future of Work For All. Geneva: ILO.
______ 2020a. Impact of lockdown measures on theinformal economy. Geneva: ILO.
______ 2020b. Promoting employment and decent
work in a changing landscape. Geneva: ILO.
______ 2020c. World Employment and Social
Outlook: Trends 2020. Geneva: ILO.
International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2020. A Year Life
No Other. IMF Annual Report 2020.
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/ar/2020/
eng/downloads/imf-annual-report-2020.pdf
Keulemans, S. and S. Van de Walle. 2017. “Costeffectiveness, domestic favouritism andsustainability in public procurement: A comparative
study of public preferences.“ International Journalof Public Sector Management, Vol. 30, No. 4:
328–341.
Kaplinsky, R. 2004. “Spreading the gains fromglobalization: What can be learnt from value-chain
analysis.” Problems of Economic Transition, Vol. 47,
No. 2: 74–115.
Kirton, R.M. 2013. Gender, Trade and Public
Procurement Policy. London: Commonwealth
Secretariat.
Manyukhina, Y. 2018. Ethical Consumption: Practices
and Identities: a Realist Approach. Routledge.
McCrudden, C. 2017. Buying Social Justice: Equality,
Government Procurement & Legal Change. Oxford:
OUP.
Monczka, R.M., R.B. Handfield, L.C. Giunipero and
J.L. Patterson. 2015. Purchasing and supply chain.
Cengage Learning.
Montenegrin Employers Federation. 2013. Assessmentof the Environment for Women Entrepreneurship inMontenegro.
Nyeck, S.N. 2015. (Out)bidding Women: Private
Procurement Reform Diffusion and Gender
Equality in Africa.” Wagadu:
A Journal of Transnational Women’s and GenderStudies, 2015, vol. 14: 13–56
Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD). 2017. Benchmarking Public
Procurement. Assessing Public Procurement
Regulatory Systems in 180 Economies.
______ 2019. Reforming Public Procurement:
Progress in Implementing the 2015 OECD
Recommendation. OECD Public Governance
Reviews. Paris: OECD Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.1787/1de41738-en.
Piras, C., A. Presbitero and R. Rabellotti. 2013.
Definitions Matter: Measuring Gender Gaps
in Firms’ Access to Credit. Inter-American
Development Bank.

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

17

Ravenswood, K. and S. Kaine. 2015. “The role ofgovernment in influencing labour conditions
through the procurement of services: Some politicalchallenges.” Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(4):544–562.
Sarter, E.K. 2015. “The Legal Framework ofContracting: Gender Equality, the Provision ofServices, and European Public Procurement Law.”
Wagadu: A Transnational Journal of Women’s andGender Studies, vol. 14: 55–83.
United Nations Global Marketplace. 2020. Sustainable
Procurement Indicators Guidance, Guidance on
how to choose the right sustainability indicator on
UNGM.
UN Women. 2017. The power of procurement: How tosource from women-owned businesses. Corporate
Guide to Gender Responsive Procurement.
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/3/the-power-of-procurement.

UN Women. 2018. Social protection systems, accessto public services and sustainable infrastructure forgender equality and the empowerment of womenand girls. New York, New York: UN Women.
Vazquez, E.A. and A.J. Sherman. 2013. Buying for
Impact: How to Buy from Women and Change theWorld. Charleston, South Carolina: Advantage.
WHO. 2019a. Delivered by women, led by men:
A gender and equity analysis of the global healthand social workforce. Human Resources for Health
Observer Series No. 24.
WHO. 2019b. Gender equity in the health workforce:
Analysis of 104 countries. Health Workforce
Working Paper 1.
https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/311314

Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement:
Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment

18

UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving
gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws,
policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are
effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works
globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for
women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects oflife, focusing on four strategic priorities: Women lead, participate in and benefit
equally from governance systems; women have income security, decent work andeconomic autonomy; All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence;
women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable
peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters
and conflicts and humanitarian action. UN Women also coordinates and promotes
the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the United Nations agency for
the world of work. It brings together governments, employers and workers
representatives of 187 member States, to set labour standards, develop policies
and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men. Its uniquetripartite structure gives an equal voice to workers, employers and governments
to ensure that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in labour
standards and in shaping policies and programmes. The main aims of the ILO are
to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhancesocial protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.

International Labour Organization
Route des Morillons 4
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland

220 East 42nd Street
New York, New York 10017, USA