Políticas de género y empleo en Euskadi

Abstract

The mounting concern on an international level regarding unequal opportunities between men and women in society has given rise to different frameworks of action. In the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) the most noteworthy reflection of this concern is the creation of Emakunde, the Basque Institute for Women. The Institute was set into motion as an autonomous body under the auspices of the Presidency of the Basque Government. Its task is to elaborate, promote, co-ordinate and assess policies dealing with equality between men and women in the BAC. The criteria followed are laid down in the different Affirmative Action Plans for Women in the BAC, which are approved in each legislature by the Basque Government and ratified by the Parliament. The organic structure of the Institute facilitates relations with other departments of Government as well as both provincial and local administrations. This serves as a strategic framework for developing transversal lines of action in such a way that the entire autonomous administration, each department covering in its own area of responsibilities, can put equal opportunity policies into practice. This is the context in which European programmes are nurtured, such as NOW or Optima, the object of which is to move toward total equality between men and women in the workplace.