Strategies to Promote Gender Equality

A delegation from the Ministry of Labor and Social Prevision of El Salvador, headed by Minister Sandra Guevara, travelled to Colombia to learn about the National Program on labor equity with a focus on gender – Labor Equity Seal “EQUIPARES”, that seeks to contribute to eradicate the existing gaps between men and women in the labor force through working directly with the private sector. With elements of this Colombian initiative, El Salvador proposed establishing a similar program that certifies companies committed with reaching gender equality. This on-site visit did not only allow to have detailed information about the design and methodology of the seal, but also included visits to companies that participate in the initiative like Argos and Nutresa in Medellin and Sanofi Pasteur in Bogota, giving the opportunity to receive direct feedback from the primary actors of the program, like how it works and its benefits.
 
The Ministry of Labor and Social Prevision of El Salvador will be the governmental institution that promotes the installation and execution of the Labor Equality Seal in the businesses in conjunction with the Ministry of Economy and the Salvadorian Institute for Women Development ISDEMU – with support of the PNUD. Having passed one year since the cooperation, the MTPS has organized multiple activities in sensitizing and planning to launch the seal, including a visit to San Salvador from Colombian companies that have the EQUIPARES seal, as well as the people responsible for the initiative in Colombia. This allowed the to share with the private sector of El Salvador the benefits of this initiative, and in general, the benefits of promoting gender equality for companies in terms of improvement of the work climate, public image, and optimization of human resources to increase efficiency and competition.