PHM-Exch> WABA Labour Day statement 2019

Wed May 1 20:34:38 PDT 2019

From: Pei Ching Chuah <peiching.chuah at waba.org.my>
Date: Thu, May 2, 2019 at 9:16 AM
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*WABA Labour Day statement 2019*

*Decent work for all working parents*

*Let’s move the needle on breastfeeding and gender equality*

A ground-breaking survey report
<https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_546256/lang--en/index.htm>
from
the International Labour Organization (ILO) provides the first-ever account
of global views and experiences of women and men regarding women and work.
According to Guy Ryder,  ILO Director-General “This survey clearly shows
that most women and men around the globe prefer that women have paid jobs.
Family-supportive policies, which enable women to remain and progress in
paid employment and encourage men to take their fair share of care work,
are crucial to achieving gender equality at work."

A century has passed since the start of the ILO <https://www.ilo.org/>, but
much more needs to be done concertedly to achieve decent work for all
workers. Decent work is part of the Sustainable Development Goals
<http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/2016/images/wbw2016-af-i.jpg> (SDG 8).
Today’s global economic and labour conditions are changing rapidly, with
some positive but many negative implications on workers’ health and
livelihoods, as well as that of their children and families. Decent work
includes parental social protection (PSP) policies and legislation,
public-funded paid leave policies, legislation
<http://www.waba.org.my/whatwedo/womenandwork/pdf/mp_chart_2015_updated-Feb%202015.pdf>,
parent-friendly or family-friendly workplaces that help transform social
norms, protect workers from job discrimination and help achieve the balance
in work and family life for all workers.   These measures recognise that
workers have responsibilities as breadwinners and caregivers, and
contribute to achieving a more equitable sharing of care responsibilities,
in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) on gender equality.

Balancing work and family life, including breastfeeding, is increasingly
necessary for all workers. This will ensure a productive and healthy
workforce thus leading to a better society. By enabling the integration of
workers’ productive and reproductive work and lives, all sectors of society
will benefit. Benefits include increased productivity, family income, job
security, workers and children’s health and well-being, and a nation’s
socio-economic health and stability.

Breastfeeding is a cost-effective way to increase health, human capital and
stimulate economic growth. Scaling up optimal breastfeeding according to
the international recommendations could prevent more than 823 000 child and
20 000 maternal deaths each year.  Not breastfeeding is associated with
lower intelligence and results in economic losses of about $302 billion
annually [1] <#m_1822289283298878695__ftn1>. Many barriers to optimal
breastfeeding exist, one of the largest being lack of support for parents
at work. Supporting parents at work is a prerequisite for optimal
breastfeeding, distributing care work and transforming social norms.

Research shows that paid maternity leave policies could help reduce infant
mortality by 13%  for each additional month of maternity leave[2]
<#m_1822289283298878695__ftn2>. Paid leave enables women to physically
recover from childbirth before returning to work and benefits their
physical, mental and emotional health in the short and long-term. Policies
that ensure parental and paternity leave, should not compromise
existing maternity
leave
<http://www.waba.org.my/whatwedo/womenandwork/pdf/mp_chart_2015_updated-Feb%202015.pdf>
benefits
or leave availability. Rather, these policies should enable
fathers/partners to prioritise family-related responsibilities while
meeting work demands. Limited or no paternity leave reduces the time
fathers can spend with their families to develop the relationships and
patterns that result in gender-equitable parenting. Fathers who are given
leave are able to work with mothers and shape a parenting and breastfeeding
team. Working as a team empowers parents, enables exclusive breastfeeding,
improves father-infant attachment, couple’s relationship and infant
development.

The ILO tripartite structure comprising of governments, employers and trade
unions must work in synergy together with civil society organisations to
realise the decent work goal for all workers. Governments and policymakers
should implement global guidance and national policies that promote
flexible and family-friendly workplaces to support breastfeeding. They
should also ratify and implement key conventions that contribute to the
decent work agenda such as the ILO C183
<https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C183>
- Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 and R191 as the minimum standards,
C156
<https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C156>
- Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981; C184
<https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C184>
- Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001; and C102
<https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312247>
- Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952. Trade unions and
CSOs must advocate for workplace support on issues such as breastfeeding
facilities, paid breastfeeding breaks, and flexible working arrangements to
support breastfeeding. Employers must provide supportive workplaces and
flexible work arrangements for all workers.

Achieving decent work for workers that encompasses all the demands on
parental social protection, including those required for optimal
breastfeeding is vital. We must set and implement global standards that
will promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth and employment for
all as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs
<https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300>).

On Labour Day 2019, WABA and partners call upon all workers and
stakeholders to join the Empowering Parents Campaign
<http://waba.org.my/epc/> to advocate for parental social protection
<http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/> that will enhance workers’ rights,
breastfeeding, health, and survival and lead to achieving decent work and
greater gender equality.

For more information, contact:

Revathi Ramachandran (WABA) : *revathi at waba.org.my <revathi at waba.org.my>*

------------------------------

[1] <#m_1822289283298878695__ftnref1> Rollins, N. C., Bhandari, N.,
Hajeebhoy, N., Horton, S., Lutter, C. K., Martines, J. C., Piwoz, E. G.,
Richter, L. M., Victora, C. G. (2016). Why invest, and what it will take to
improve breastfeeding practices? The Lancet, 387(10017), 491-504

[2] <#m_1822289283298878695__ftnref2>Nandi, A., Hajizadeh, M., Harper, S.,
Koski, A., Strumpf, E. C., & Heymann, J. (2016). Increased duration of paid
maternity leave lowers infant mortality in low- and middle-income
countries: A quasi-experimental study. PLoS Medicine,13(3): e1001985

-- 
Websites: www.waba.org.my
             www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org
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