Women at work

Ensuring that women have access to decent work is critical for women’s economic empowerment and the sustainable and inclusive growth that countries badly need. This chapter analyses recent reforms and initiatives in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia aimed at enhancing women’s labour force participation and providing them with decent work opportunities. The chapter is organised around four themes: (1) equality in the workplace, looking at efforts to increase flexible work, close gender pay gaps, increase women’s corporate leadership roles and give them freedom of choice over their sectors and working hours; (2) social protection reforms and actions to ensure women have decent maternity and childcare coverage to improve their work-life balance; (3) social dialogue and collective bargaining reforms to increase women’s participation and leadership in worker and employer’s organisations to ensure better working conditions; and (4) specific measures to encourage women entrepreneurs, including access to finance and investment.