CSW63 side event: Social protection, public services, and sustainable infrastructure: Policy coherence for the empowerment of women in informal employment

Globally, 740 million women make their living in the informal economy, accounting for 58 per cent of total female employment. They are over-represented in the least secure and lowest-paying jobs as domestic workers, home-based workers, or contributing family workers who are employed without direct pay in family businesses. Without their economic empowerment, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will remain out of reach.

While the need to extend social protection to women in informal employment is now widely recognized, the synergies and trade-offs between social protection, public services, and sustainable infrastructure for informal workers remain underexplored.

The panel will explore pathways to policy coherence for the empowerment of women in informal employment.

Moderator: Sarah Gammage, Director of Gender, Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)

Panellists:

• H.E. Cynthia Mamle Morrison, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ghana
• Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women
• Ms. Grete Faremo, Executive Director, UNOPS
• Ms. Ulrika Modéer, Director of the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy, UNDP
• Ms. Laura Alfers, Social Protection Programme Director, WIEGO, South Africa
• Ms. Susan Thomas, Head of Health and Childcare Team, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), India

This event is open to UN grounds pass holders.

• Concept note
• Flyer