On September 20, 2023, the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment - CITE, as the promoter of the Equality Platform and Standard project, held a public presentation of the EQUAL@WORK Digital Platform, a product of the project, between 2pm and 5:30pm at the IEFP Auditorium in Xabregas – Lisbon.
After some welcoming words from the President of CITE, who stressed the importance of public policy measures as an instrument for correcting asymmetries between women and men in the labour market, and speeches by Miguel Fontes, Secretary of State for Labour, and by Sandra Ribeiro, President of the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality - CIG, operator of the EEA Grants Work-life Balance Programme, the EQUAL@WORK platform was presented. This is a digital solution to monitor the implementation of public policies under the scope of the Agenda for Equality in the Labour Market and Companies.
It was stressed that the Digital Platform brings together measures, targets, and indicators relating to the programmes and legal instruments of the strategic intervention areas defined in the Agenda, namely:
• Combating wage inequalities and disparities;
• Combating occupational segregation (in the professions);
• Parenthood;
• Reconciling personal, family and professional life;
• Parity in decision-making positions.
This innovative, dynamic, and flexible tool provides objective (quantitative and qualitative data), centralised and up-to-date information on public policy measures for equality between women and men at work and their implementation, and will make it possible to monitor the results of public policy measures, thus supporting decision-making in this area.
Although the main recipients of this tool are public administration bodies, namely those responsible for implementing gender equality policies, the Reserved Area of the EQUAL@WORK Digital Platform is also accessible to people outside the public administration, subject to authentication and validation. The Platform also has a Public Area open to anyone who wants to visit it.
After the presentation of the Digital Platform, the Round Table Monitoring public policies for gender equality in the labour market - Experiences and practices took place, moderated by Sara de Melo Rocha, journalist for CNN Portugal, and with the participation of Carla Tavares, President of CITE, José Luis Albuquerque, Director General of the GEP - Strategy and Planning Office of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Jón Fannar Kolbeinsson, representative of the Directorate of Equality, Iceland, and Ann-Helen Hopland, from the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombud - LDO, Norway.
It was discussed the importance of monitoring public policies on equality between women and men in the labour market, the importance of participatory systems for monitoring public policies on gender equality in the labour market, and what specific role the EQUAL@WORK Platform can play in strengthening and improving these systems, as well as how the Platform can be linked to other ways of monitoring public policies on gender equality in the labour market.
The role played by public policies in Norway and Iceland in promoting equality between women and men in the labour market and combating gender asymmetries was also addressed, and some examples of good practice were shared, namely the Icelandic Standard ÍST 85:2012 Equal wage management system - Requirements and guidance and the Activity Reporting Duty in Norway.
The session was closed by Isabel Almeida Rodrigues, Secretary of State for Equality and Migration.
The event was attended by representatives of all the project's partner organisations - the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment - CITE, the promoter; the Portuguese Quality Institute - IPQ and the Strategy and Planning Office of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security - GEP/MTSSS, the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombud - LDO, of Norway, and the Directorate of Equality (Jafnrettisstofa), of Iceland - as well as the Centre for Studies for Social Intervention - CESIS, the entity providing specialised technical advice to the project, and INETUM, the company that developed the EQUAL@WORK Digital Platform.