Social partners adopt a united approach to achieving gender equality

On 19 November 2008, the social partners discussed the National Strategy for Gender Equality. The strategy envisages more targeted measures and actions against inequality. It provides opportunities to revise legislation and regulations, in particular those that exert an important influence on the situation or status of men and women from poor or vulnerable groups_._

The National Council on Equality between Women and Men to the Council of Ministers welcomed the discussions which took place during a meeting on 19 November. Participants in the discussion included nationally representative employer and trade union organisations, nongovernmental organisations, representatives of the management of the National Statistic Institute (NSI), National Social Security Institute (NSSI), state agencies and deputy ministers of all ministries dealing with issues related to equality between women and men.

Gender equality legislation and policies

A great deal of progress has been achieved in recent years in Bulgaria. Bulgarian legislation guarantees the equal rights of women and men and non-discrimination. The Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria guarantees the fundamental human rights and freedoms of Bulgarian citizens, including non-discrimination on the grounds of gender. On the labour market, gender equality is guaranteed by the Labour Code, the social Security Code, the family Code and the Penal Code. Progress has been made regarding non-discrimination in the form of the adoption in 2004 of the Anti-Discrimination Act, but Bulgaria has not yet adopted specific legislation on gender equality. The Anti-Discrimination Act regulates gender equality to a certain degree and could be seen as a first step in the development and implementation of legal guarantees for the equal treatment of women and men.

The strategy’s measures and aims

The proposed national strategy for gender is based on EU strategic documents: the European Commission's Roadmap on Equality between Men and Women (2006-2010), the European Pact for Equality, good practices of the member states of the EU, and the principles stipulated in the UN conventions for women’s rights.

The document envisages measures and actions in two directions:

The main focus and aims are to:

• achieve gender equality;

• encourage work–life balance, including promotion of parental leave;

• encourage gender equality in the system of government and decision-taking, including the political involvement and representation of the women;

• eliminate violence and trafficking of people, including domestic violence;

• remove gender stereotypes in the areas of education, culture, labour market and elsewhere;

Employer and trade union positions

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) is looking for consensus on these issues and considers that the discussions need to be continued. The expectations of the trade unions lie in the direction of the design, discussion and adoption of a specific law on equal opportunities for women and men. Trade unions expect that a national coordinator on gender equality will be appointed, in addition to the setting up of a national institutional mechanism at central and local authorities for implementation of equality policy.

In the meeting, the Bulgarian Industrial Chamber (BIA) was represented by the director of Labour quality department – Snezhana Slavcheva. In her opinion, the elaboration of the national strategy for gender equality has helped to raise awareness in society more generally and constitutes a good basis for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality. However, BIA is the against establishment of a new administration for introduction of policy, envisaged in draft legislation on equal opportunities. She added that BIA has good practices with well-established policy frameworks on gender equality issues.

Commentary

The actions envisaged in this strategy are directed towards the whole of Bulgarian society and encourage equality in decision-making, awarenes-raising and the elimination of gender stereotypes concering the roles of women and men. Equality is central to the trade union agenda. In many forums the CITUB raises problems concerning equality. In order to develop and implement policies on equality, trade unions suggested mainstreaming equality issues in collective bargaining. Trade unions are keen to negotiate with employers, targeting issues such as long-term company strategy and policies to eliminate discrimination at workplace, together with actions for the development of human resources, professional development and careers, lifelong learning, creating a positive climate tolerant of differences, implementation of flexicurity principles and work-life balance.

Snezhana Dimitrova, ISTUR