Skip to main content

Victory for domestic workers

The National Domestic Workers Alliance (VS) celebrated the Oscar for The Help in numerous ‘Be the Help’ viewing parties. Trade Union Women from all over the world, in New York for CSW 56, joined in last saturday night. They felt like having received the honour of the prestigious award for themselves.

Marieke Koning (International Trade Union Confederation) explained about the international campaign the global unions have embarked on. The international Domestic Workers Network is of course on of the partners in the campaign.The ‘12 by 12’ Campaign aims at 12 ratifications of C189, the new ILO Convention Decent Work for Domestic Workers, by 2012. The Campaign runs now in 56 countries. Dozens of unions /coalitions organised events in December 2011 to officially launch the Campaign.

Though the Netherlands has ratified the majority of the ILO-Conventions minister Kamp has decided not the ratify the new convention. Consequence of ratification would be that domestic workers ought to enjoy a better sociale protection and Kamp is not prepared to do that. See for more information in Dutch.

The global unions representatives aim to include recomendations targetted at improving the position of rural domestic workers in the Agreed Conclusions. We will report about the drafting process over the next few days.

Leontine Bijleveld

WO=MEN / Dutch CEDAWNetwork

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Women’s Rights Caucus Statement – Protect Women and Girls by upholding the Beijing Declaration

  The Women’s Rights Caucus, representing over 900 feminist advocates from around the world, urges you to oppose the proposed US draft resolution entitled  “Protection of women and girls through appropriate terminology.” Despite the title, we do not feel protected nor represented by this initiative. Download this statement as pdf.   Download this statement in Spanish.   On the heels of the first-ever recorded vote on the agreed conclusions of the annual meetings of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and in complete disregard of the significant opposition their proposal got in the negotiation room, the United States has circulated a new resolution proposal which attempts to falsely state that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action agreed that  “gender” was defined as “men and women”. It attributes to annex IV of the Report of the Fourth World Conference of Women a meaning that was never agreed by Member States, effectively rewriting th...

ARTivism for Change: Creativity as Resistance at CSW69

Artwork "Who can I trust with my story?" from ArtVism in Uganda During the 69th CSW, the Our Voices Our Futures (OVOF) consortium organised a creative ARTivism for Change space where bold protest sign-making, intimate film screenings, and thought-provoking feminist dialogues blended together. Over two days, March 12 and 13, 2025, artists, activists, and allies transformed the space into dynamic real-life canvases of empowerment, solidarity, and cultural and political resistance.   In the main space of the Blue Gallery participants engaged with various stations, including Button Making , Journaling with Art , Drawing , and Protest Sign Making . Participants moved between activities, creating powerful messages of resistance and hope. The creativity extended beyond the activities themselves. Access Denied The ACCESS DENIED campaign , initiated by WO=MEN, was set up to be a photo installation. It highlights the deep gap between the inclusive vision set forth at the 1995 Beijing ...

Women in Politics: Choosing between Ambition and Safety?

At the CSW69 NGO Forum's session Accelerating Progress By Addressing Barriers To Leadership And Democratic Participation examples of barriers for participation and programs and policies that promote inclusion where shared by speakers from Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.   Evidence shows that barriers such as limited access to mentors and networks, lack of flexible work arrangements, and harassment and discrimination all limit women's participation and advancement in leadership roles. “In a democratic society, it is necessary to display a fair distribution of men and women at all levels of decision-making,” Jenny Gulamani-Abdulla, Co-Founder of the Canadian Federation For Citizenship (CFC), shared. CFC works to ensure that all residents of Canada are embraced, included and respected as all Canadians to participate in Canada’s progress. According to her “participation is what leads to opportunities to lead” . Furthermore, she shared success stories about mentorsh...