Last December, the ILO Office in Moscow with the participation of the UNDP organised a seminar on "Enhancing Women's Employment and Equality in the CIS Countries." Representatives from Azerbaidjan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Russia who attended the seminar said the position of women in the labour markets in their countries has deteriorated since 1991 and that women are facing new forms of segregation in employment.

Seminar participants agreed that it is the state's responsibility to create an enabling environment for women's advancement, including the design of policies for gender equality and the ratification and effective implementation of international labour conventions, especially Ñ 100 and Ñ 111, through federal laws and legal instruments. They suggested that gender-based statistical information systems should be established to provide a complete understanding of women's socio-economic and employment situation. Women also need to receive appropriate vocational guidance and labour counselling. Labour market institutions working in partnership with the private sector should facilitate self-employment and small-enterprise development for women. While designing and implementing gender-policy measures, governments should work closely with partners in civil society, with workers' and employers' organisations and NGOs. Strengthening women's organisations is a necessary first step in implementing effective changes in relevant legislation and employment policies.

The ILO will use its available resources and expertise to assist CIS countries in their efforts to enhance employment equality for women.

Detailed ILO programme to assist Russian labour and social reforms

In response to a request made by Sergei Kalashnikov, Minister of Labour and Social Development, the ILO office in Moscow headed by Director Jean Victor Gruat is currently assisting the Russian Government in a special, ad hoc muli-sectoral collaborative initiative. The programme will help to formulate over the next six months a series of measures aimed at ensuring that the population enjoys a decent standard of living and that the country makes more effective use of functioning institutions. Consolidating tripartism and the rule of law will be addressed specifically in the following sectors: employment, labour law, social protection and wage determination. Six seminars and numerous consultancy meetings will be arranged to brainstorm solutions for these issues.

Pierre de Lame addresses participants of the Conference on Social Partnership in Saratov.

Saratov, a city of one million people on the banks of the Volga River, was the venue of a recent two-day conference on Social Partnership. The conference was organised by the Saratov regional Labour Ministry together with its federal counterpart, represented by several high-ranking officials. The conference attracted 300 participants, including representatives from several other Russian regions. The opening day was devoted to a plenary session while on the second day the participants split into groups to discuss their concrete experiences in social partnership with local industry.

Conclusions adopted by the conference will be recommended as guidelines for social partnerships to state and communal bodies, enterprise management and trade unions.