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FIBGAR / Articles  / The standard “UNE-ISO 53800: 2024. Guidelines for the promotion and implementation of gender equality and the empowerment of women”

The standard “UNE-ISO 53800: 2024. Guidelines for the promotion and implementation of gender equality and the empowerment of women”

The Spanish Association for Standardization (UNE) has published the first standard “UNE-ISO 53800: 2024. Guidelines for the promotion and implementation of gender equality and women’s empowerment”.

ISO 53800 is a standard that includes a series of guidelines for organizations to promote and implement gender equality and women’s empowerment. These guidelines apply to all types of organizations, regardless of their size, location or scope of activity.

This standard is a further step towards addressing the systematic inequality and discrimination suffered by women on the basis of gender in all areas, including the workplace. It is intended that this standard will contribute to strengthening the culture of gender equality and thus achieve progress towards sustainable, people-centered development.

As stated by the International Labor Organization (ILO), despite the fact that in recent years there has been an increase in the presence of women in the staff of organizations, representing 40% of workers in 74% of business organizations, the reality is that women are underrepresented in decision-making positions, since only one in three business organizations has achieved gender balance at management levels. Similarly, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE), in the year 2023, the percentage of women holding positions in senior bodies and senior positions in the General State Administration was 41.8%. All this points to the fact that, as stated by the Global Compact Spanish Network, the trend of progress towards gender equality will take up to 131 years to achieve true gender equality.

Moreover, according to a 2024 report by the World Bank Group, the global gender gap in the workplace is much larger than previously thought. There is no economy today, not even one of the richest, that offers equal opportunities for women.

Gender equality is therefore achieved not only by eliminating the possible obstacles that women face simply because they are women, but also by empowering them with feminist approaches that shed light on the specific problems and rights of women at all levels. This not only allows for a more just, developed and cohesive society, but at the same time complies with SDG 5: gender equality in the 2030 Agenda.

To this end, the UNE-ISO standard provides guidelines that represent a roadmap in the field of gender equality by providing:

  1. A guide to promote and implement gender equality and women’s empowerment.
  2. Guidelines that guide organizations to build the necessary capacities to achieve a culture of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
  3. The framework, resources, policies, tools and good practices needed to promote and implement gender equality.

This standard is structured in four key areas of gender equality: the internal dimension, activity and investments, external relations and internal and external communication. For each of these areas, it establishes issues to work on and suggests concrete actions and expectations for the organization’s performance.

This new regulation is crucial in addressing systemic and structural gender inequalities and helps organizations to comply with their legal obligations regarding gender equality. In addition, it provides a model for organizations to integrate gender equality and, depending on their compliance, allows them to obtain certification in the promotion and implementation of gender equality.

It is clear that in the 21st century it is imperative to achieve gender equality in all areas and to completely eradicate the systemic and structural legacies that place women in worse, or even adverse, conditions in relation to men, simply because they are women. This, in addition to being an obligation in itself deriving from the fundamental rights of all people, would mean an increase and improvement in diversity of thought, leading to greater innovation and creativity, improved job performance, and the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women would lead to a much-needed reduction in social and economic inequality, consolidating the idea and culture of a more just and equitable development and growth for the whole of society.

Carmen Coleto Martínez, Junior Project Manager.

July 18, 2024