ILO: Decent Work for Women in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco - Phase III

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

North African countries have a very high unemployment rate, and the gender employment gap is still very large. At the same time, the region is very vulnerable to the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation, which have a major impact on women due to their socially constracted roles and responsibilities. The Internation Labour Organization's (ILO) project seeks to promote simultaneously green development and women's empowerment. The project aims both to enhance women labor force participation and contribution to greening the economy through job creation entrepreneurship development in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. ILO's project aims to strenghten capacity of government and social partners in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco to promote green and inclusive growth and employment creation, improve ability of women-led informal businesses to develop green income-generating activities, and scale-up women-led formal SMEs in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia through use of green skills and technologies. The primary beneficiaries are women and women-led companies in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Finland has funded ILO's project since 2012. The project has achieved good results. For example, the project supported the establishment of the first of a kind Unit on Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination within the Ministry of Manpower in Egypt. In Tunisia, the project supported the first draft law in the country’s history to protect domestic workers in alignment with international conventions. The Tunisian parliament adopted the law in June 2021. In both countries, trainings on women's rights and gender equality have been provided for civil servants, members of trade unions and enterprises, and women's working life skills have been enhanced through trainings. In addition, the national knowledge base on gender-sensitive issues is improved. Finland's contribution for the project in 2022-2024 is EUR 2,850,000.