For Immediate Release
Toronto, ON – Canada’s performance in achieving women’s equality is lagging badly according to a report by Labour and women’s groups. The report, “Reality Check Women in Canada and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Fifteen Years On, A Canadian Civil Society Response”, will be distributed at the Beijing plus 15 meeting held at the United Nations in New York, March 1-12, 2010.
“Five years ago, Canada was ranked amongst the top ten countries in the world for its achievements in women’s human rights, but in 2009 Canada had fallen to 73rd in the UN Gender Disparity Index,” says IAMAW Canadian General Vice President Dave Ritchie. “Changes to gender architecture, shifts in policy and programming within the government and the government’s response to the economic crisis have been felt by the most vulnerable women and girls in Canada.”
“Our government has sent a report to the United Nations that paints a rosy picture on women’s equality in Canada. We have written our own document and it’s a reality check on what the government is saying,” explained Ritchie.
The UN meeting in March will evaluate progress, identify challenges, and recommend policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women. This year holds special significance because it marks the 15th anniversary of the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women.
Ritchie adds, “Although Canada has made commitments to implement equal pay for
work of equal value, the federal government hasn’t lived up to its commitments. The
government removed the right to pay equity for federal public sector workers in 2009, with the adoption of the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act. We raise this issue in this report and it will be front and center for us next week at the United Nations in New York.”
The joint report was coordinated and produced by the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action and the Canadian Labour Congress, and is endorsed by a variety of other organizations.
Toronto, ON – Canada’s performance in achieving women’s equality is lagging badly according to a report by Labour and women’s groups. The report, “Reality Check Women in Canada and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Fifteen Years On, A Canadian Civil Society Response”, will be distributed at the Beijing plus 15 meeting held at the United Nations in New York, March 1-12, 2010.
“Five years ago, Canada was ranked amongst the top ten countries in the world for its achievements in women’s human rights, but in 2009 Canada had fallen to 73rd in the UN Gender Disparity Index,” says IAMAW Canadian General Vice President Dave Ritchie. “Changes to gender architecture, shifts in policy and programming within the government and the government’s response to the economic crisis have been felt by the most vulnerable women and girls in Canada.”
“Our government has sent a report to the United Nations that paints a rosy picture on women’s equality in Canada. We have written our own document and it’s a reality check on what the government is saying,” explained Ritchie.
The UN meeting in March will evaluate progress, identify challenges, and recommend policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women. This year holds special significance because it marks the 15th anniversary of the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women.
Ritchie adds, “Although Canada has made commitments to implement equal pay for
work of equal value, the federal government hasn’t lived up to its commitments. The
government removed the right to pay equity for federal public sector workers in 2009, with the adoption of the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act. We raise this issue in this report and it will be front and center for us next week at the United Nations in New York.”
The joint report was coordinated and produced by the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action and the Canadian Labour Congress, and is endorsed by a variety of other organizations.