Gender equality

Since its founding in 1919, the ILO has been committed to promoting the rights of all women and men at work and achieving equality between them. The ILO vision of gender equality – which coincides with the organization’s four strategic goals – recognizes this goal not only as a basic human right, but intrinsic to the global aim of Decent Work for All Women and Men. This vision is based on the ILO mandate on gender equality as stated in numerous Resolutions of the International Labour Conference, the highest policy-making organ of the ILO, as well as relevant International Labour Conventions. The ILO Policy on Gender Equality and Mainstreaming, which is made operational through the ILO Action Plan, supports a two-pronged approach of gender mainstreaming: systematically analysing and addressing in all initiatives the specific needs of both women and men, and targeted interventions to enable women and men to participate in – and benefit equally from – development efforts.