Decent Work

Ghana woman cloth.jpg

Women’s participation in the paid workforce will not on its own be sufficient to advance gender equality and women’s rights.

Policies are needed that promote ‘decent work’ and improve the terms on which women engage with the labour market.

These policies should be appropriate for women who work in the informal sector, where work is unregulated, insecure and precarious.

GADN recommends that governments

  • Promote and protect labour regulations ensuring decent work for women, including collective bargaining and freedom of association, and support the proposed ILO convention on gender-based violence in the world of work.

  • Set and enforce minimum wage levels sufficient for workers to attain their right to an adequate standard of living.

  • Ensure that employment regulations and social and legal protection are extended to cover workers in the informal economy, and throughout the supply chain.

  • Create more decent work for women, including investing in public sector jobs and funding targeted job-creation schemes.

📷 Informal worker Juliana Brown Afari at her fabric stand in Mazola market. Accra, Ghana (August 2015) © Jonathan Torgovnik

GADN Coordinator