Employment Trends for Women 2012, Strategies for Change

Global Employment Trends for Women 2012

Reversal of gains in women’s employment

Women are still more likely to be unemployed than men around the world. That’s one of the conclusions of the ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Women 2012.

And the report also found that, while the numbers vary from region to region, the steady progress being made by women in the workplace slowed, stopped or reversed as a result of the global economic crisis.

 
 
Strategies for Change – One Woman’s Report

Policies affecting women’s employment in the formal sector: Strategies for Change

Barbara Ibrahim, The Ford Foundation, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Women’s participation in the formal workforce is increasing in most developing countries, but work conditions, wages, and job security are declining. As governments retreat from policies designed to protect workers and enhance their employment, the special needs of women workers are neglected. International pressures for structural adjustment in developing economies have resulted in relaxation of labor laws, privatization of industry and services, and the encouragement of international investment.

Joint action is called for among governments, donors, researchers, and labor activists.

They should examine the job creation process for possible interventions in investment decisions and address the nature of labor laws, the extent of their application, and the ability of unions and other workers’ organizations to lobby for effective defense of workers’ rights. BUY HERE

BARBARA IBRAHIM
Director, John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement
Member at the Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies

Barbara Ibrahim is founding director of the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, established in 2006 at the American University in Cairo. Prior to that she served for 14 years as regional director for West Asia and North Africa of the Population Council. From 1982 to 1990, she was a program officer at the Ford Foundation regional office in Cairo, responsible for programs in urban poverty, micro-enterprise lending, and gender studies.

In 1990, she was a senior research associate at the Center for the Study of Philanthropy, City University of New York. She has an MA in sociology from the American University of Beirut (1975) and a Ph.D. in sociology from Indiana University (1980). Her publications are in the fields of women’s employment, youth transitions to adulthood, gender and health, and Arab philanthropy.

In 1999, she was inducted into the International Educators’ Hall of Fame. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Middle East Women’s Studies in 2003.

Research Interests

• Women’s Employment
• Youth Transitions to Adulthood
• Gender and Health
• Arab Philanthropy

Honors & Awards

• 2003: Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Middle East Women’s Studies
• 1999: International Educators’ Hall of Fame Education
• 1980: Ph.D., Indiana University
• 1975: MA., American University of Beirut

Links:

RESEARCH/GEHART
FACEBOOK
TWITTER – GERHARTCENTER
TWITTER – BLIBRAHIM