2024-07-04

Ensuring that All Employed Women Can Access Maternity Leave and Other Labour Rights

Open Dialogue on the Position of Pregnant Women and Mothers in the Labour Market

It is crucial to take a step forward in the field of gender equality and to ensure that all working women, regardless of employment status, have access to maternity leave and other labour rights, stated the Secretary General of the Center for Democracy Foundation, Nataša Vučković, during panel discussion entitled Woman, Mother - the European Union as part of an open dialogue on the position of pregnant women and mothers in the labour market.

The Center for Democracy Foundation has long been dedicated to protecting economic and social rights, with particular focus on labour rights. We are also engaged in promoting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which offers a distinct perspective on human rights, viewing them through the lens of sustainable development.

Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality includes many elements related to empowering women in the labour market. These include achieving equal opportunities and rights to economic resources, recognising and valuing unpaid work, etc.

Gender equality must be linked to other sustainable development goals, such as Goal 8, which emphasises that decent work must accompany economic growth. The standards of decent work, as defined by the International Labour Organization, include the right to a living wage, the right to a safe and secure working environment, the right to unionisation and social dialogue, the protection of social rights, and social security, among others.

When discussing the necessary regulations, the primary issue is the amendment of the Employment Act, which is critical. A continuous demand from trade unions and civil society is to halt the fragmentation of labour legislation to more effectively address issues in the labour sector.

The event took place on 4 July 2024 as part of the project Maternity Leave – A Right, not a Privilege, implemented by the association entitled Mame su zakon (in English: Mothers Are the Law) with the support of the Trag Foundation, in collaboration with the Centre for Social Policy (CSP) and the Coalition for Solidarity Economy Development (KoRSE), and with financial support from the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia.