Monthly earnings for women in 2014 were on average 17% below those of men, according to the OECD. In many countries the difference between men and women’s pay is larger the higher the level of earnings and skills.
The Equal Pay International Coalition aims to achieve the target of equal pay for work of equal value by 2030, as set out in the UN sustainable development goals. Partners include the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) , UN Women and the OECD.
“One hundred years is too long to wait, and we must all work together to make equal pay for work of equal value a reality,” said Guy Ryder, ILO director-general.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women, added: “There is no justification for unequal pay for a woman when her job is of equal value to a man’s. This injustice has been unseen for too long, and together we are changing that.”
The coalition will “bring together a diverse set of actors at the global, regional and national levels to support governments, employers and workers and their organisations, and other stakeholders, to make equal pay between women and men for work of equal value a reality”.
