Gender equality helps us reach our full potential

Women team members of the DELTA/MDP unit.

       Today, March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day, recognizing women for their achievements without regards to divisions. Adopted by the United Nations in 1975, it commemorates the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century. In 2018 Turin, as men represent 61.8% of the workforce globally according to the World Employment and Social Outlook, the DELTA/MDP, where women have the lion’s share representing a whopping 72% of all staff, recognizes and observes on a daily basis that equal opportunities is not just a matter of justice, but of quality.

A predominantly female staff is not at all perceived as a disadvantage to male counterparts. Rather to the opposite, our male colleagues testify that the different opinions and work styles of their female colleagues challenge them in their work, keeping the creativity alive.

In the words of the DELTA/MDP head of department:

“Diversity is the key to our work in Learning Innovation and the gender factor in our team contributes substantially to that and with this I do not only mean in terms of (gender) balance. The perception of detail, the deep sense of empathy and the capacity to move beyond the rational … are only some of the characteristics that bring a higher degree of self-awareness in myself.” – Tom Wambeke

Others joined him by stating there would not be a different they’d wish to be part of. “I couldn’t imagine it any other way.” – says Luca Fiore, graphic designer. Each individual, with her capacities, embodies the motor of success.

The women in our team are professional, precise in all they do, team players, have an irreproachable work ethic, strong leadership, great organizational skills, and sense of social cohesion. Some of women’s implications can be seen when Alessia Messuti is leading the Innovative Diploma Programme, or when Mirella Scabini is voluntarily taking of her time to present ITC-ILO’s work to visiting students. The truth is that without them, we would be missing on 50% of our potential.

Still, there remains a lot of work to do. Women’s rights to equal work conditions and opportunities are not respected worldwide or in all organizations. Bias, stereotypes and gender-blind workplace rules still unconsciously produce discrimination, with important human and economic costs.

If you wish to understand how good your organization is doing on gender equality, take the ILO participatory gender audit. Gender balanced organizations are more successful. Become an agent of change yourself: invest in women’s potential.

Front Cover Photo: Jacopo Maino

The idea of this article came from Luca Putteman, and was co-authored by Carl Verrier Silva.