Séoul Action plan-gender rights

The 24th Congress of the IFJ, meeting in Seoul from June 11-15th, 2001 <br/> <br/> • Commends the work of the Women’s Working Party; <br/> • Instructs the Executive Committee to expand the activities of the working party (now called Gender Council), particularly through the regional structures of the IFJ and within its project programme. <br/> • Adopts the following Plan of Action: <br/> <br/> Plan of Action <br/> <br/> 1. Women in Journalism <br/> <br/> Action: <br/> The Gender Council must prepare an overview of best practice examples used by unions to increase the number of women in decision-making positions in media. Such a survey should focus on best practice examples on equality provisions achieved in collective bargaining. <br/> <br/> This should include best practice in collective agreements on: <br/> • parental leave; <br/> • Social protection; <br/> • Working time; <br/> • Models for reconciling work and family responsibilities; <br/> • Promotion; <br/> • Access to training. <br/> <br/> The IFJ should support implementation of best practice examples through trade union training and other seminars. National unions should ensure that the best practice examples are being made into demands in their own national collective bargaining and report to the IFJ about implementation of the best practice examples. The Gender Council should develop a code of conduct for women media managers. <br/> <br/> 2. Women in the Union <br/> <br/> There is no overall agreement among unions whether special structures for women, allocation of seats or quota systems are the way to improve representation and participation of women in the union. <br/> <br/> Action: <br/> The Gender Council should prepare a review of women’s committees and systems setting targets for female representation explaining if and how these structures have contributed to improving participation of women in the union. National unions should use the survey to create women’s committees and systems setting targets for female representation and report to the IFJ on the creation of these structures. The IFJ should sensitise women to take up leadership positions through special training programmes and activities. <br/> Congress determines that the IFJ Executive Committee should prepare an Annual Plan directed to women journalists to promote principles and values of trades unionism. <br/> <br/> 3. Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: An Issue for the Union and the IFJ <br/> <br/> Action: <br/> The Gender Council should initiate a campaign on equal pay. The campaign should be organised at regional and national level and should focus on achieving equal pay for women in practice. The IFJ should prepare a best practice survey on equal pay and circulate the information to member unions for action at national level. <br/> <br/> Each region should nominate a campaign co-ordinator. <br/> Asia-Pacific: IFJ Project Office <br/> North America: TNG-CWA <br/> Latin America: IFJ Regional Office <br/> Africa: WAJA, EAJA, SAJA <br/> Europe: EFJ <br/> <br/> The IFJ should co-ordinate the campaign with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (representing the trade union centres). Campaign targets should include regular salary reviews with employers; consultation rights for unions on payment grades and promoting best practice in collective agreements. The campaign should be supported by practical seminars and meetings. <br/> <br/> The IFJ should assist unions to develop national strategies and campaigns that are tailored to the specific needs in the country. The campaign should aim to achieve implementation in practice of all key ILO conventions safeguarding women’s rights. <br/> <br/> 4. Portrayal of Women in the Media <br/><br/> Action: <br/> The Gender Council should co-operate with other groups working on portrayal of women in the media. An IFJ initiative will focus on collecting unions’ experience with reporting guidelines and promoting the use of such guidelines in journalism training. The IFJ should prepare materials to assist unions to address the issue of portrayal in pursuit of fair and balanced reporting. <br/> <br/> 5. IFJ Women Network <br/> <br/> An e-mail network of IFJ women exists but it must be expanded and it should be co-ordinated at regional level by the IFJ offices and regional federations. <br/> <br/> Action: <br/> The e-mail network should form the basis for the Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value Campaign. Each region should nominate a co-ordinator of the e-mail network. The Gender Council should be responsible for overall co-ordination of the e-mail network. The IFJ secretariat and regional offices should ensure that all information concerning IFJ events, activities and actions are circulated on the women network to ensure full participation of women. <br/> <br/> 6. Women in the IFJ <br/> <br/> Action: <br/> Congress calls on the IFJ unions to nominate female delegates for positions in the IFJ Executive Committee. Congress instructs the new Executive Committee to develop a strategy in co-operation with the Gender Council to ensure that women’s issues will form an integral part in all IFJ activity. Equality must be included in all issues debated by Congress. <br/> <br/> 7. Access to Training <br/> <br/> The IFJ Women Working Party should develop strategies for unions to improve access to training for women journalists. This should include access to initial journalism training, access to further training and access to specialised training. The IFJ should form alliances with universities, schools of journalism, training centres etc. to reach out to young women. <br/>