2006 Annual Report

UNIFEM: Strengthening women's economic security

The majority of women in developing countries are in informal employment. In developed countries, part-time work and self-employment are a more important source of income for women than for men. Moreover, women generally earn less than men, have less access to quality jobs, and fewer opportunities for the education that could help

These Palestinian women have used small loans to jump-start their food business and turn it into a profit-making venture.

them find better, safer means of income. These are some of the findings of Progress of the World's Women 2005: Women, Work and Poverty, published by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The report makes the case for an increased focus on women's economic security and argues that more should be done to achieve appropriate legal and social protection for women in the informal economy and ensure that their work is valued and supported in policy-making.

UNIFEM promotes women's empowerment and gender equality through a network of 15 sub-regional and two national offices. During 2005, UNIFEM, which is administered by UNDP, continued its efforts to strengthen women's economic security. Through its initiative in support of women migrant workers in the Arab States and Asia, for example, the Ministry of Labour in Jordan is now evaluating its internal regulations and investigating violations against women migrant workers, monitoring labour recruitment offices and working closely with the Ministry of the Interior and the Police Department. In Indonesia, a local law on the protection of migrant workers is awaiting passage in Blitar; similarly, in Nepal, a Foreign Employment Bill has been drafted.

UNIFEM's efforts to promote budget analyses that look into how the allocation of public resources benefit women and men also showed new and promising results in 2005. In Morocco, the national budget for 2006 included, for the first time, a special annex on how gender equality priorities will be addressed. In India's state of Karnataka, elected local women leaders used training on gender-responsive budgeting to advocate successfully for a doubling of resources to reintroduce a women's health insurance scheme in the city of Mysore.

For more information about UNIFEM, please visit www.unifem.org.