IFUT participated in the recent UN Council on the Status of Women as part of the Education International (EI) delegation.  This was a Trade Unions call to action to UN Member States to act by stepping up on their ambitions and prioritising plans for a gender transformative and inclusive Just Transition towards a green and caring economy.

Global Unions called on Member States to:

• Engage in social dialogue with workers and their Trade Unions and to adopt ambitious national Just Transition plans.
• Ensure a gender transformative and inclusive Just Transition and world of work.
• Increased public investments in care, rebuilding the social organisation of care and recognising the human right to care.

Highlighted were the urgency of eliminating persistent historical and structural inequalities, occupational segregation, the unequal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, gender-based violence, disadvantages in access to resources, public services, including universal health services and quality education.  A gender-responsive just transition should protect and promote the right to work and rights at work of all women, protecting against discrimination and abuse and ensuring the safety of all women in  the world of work, promote the right to organise and bargain collectively.  The impact of COVID and the increased demand for unpaid care and domestic work, reported surge of all forms of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence needs to be addressed urgently.

IFUT also participated in a recent ETUCE workshop as part of a project on ‘Education Trade Unions addressing sustainable environmental development’, which covered many gender equality and just transition issues.  The intention is to have a toolkit available later this year, that education Unions can utilise to help with our work on these issues.

The European Commission has called for environmental sustainability to be at the core of EU education and training systems.

There is a European Council Recommendation on learning for environmental sustainability.

ICTU is carrying out work on Climate Action and Gender Equality which it hopes to launch at the ICTU Women’s Conference this September.