13 May 2022 – Due to domestic work 84 thousand women in Moldova are inactive in the labour market. And this while more than 100 thousand jobs are vacant in the country. This is the data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

Also the data of the National Centre for Studies and Information on Women’s Issues “Partnership for Development” show that the wage gap between women and men in our country is 25%, in 16% of cases this gap is unexplained.

To support women’s economic empowerment and help the state and the business sector in this regard, a Roadmap has been developed and launched at the Government. The document aims at 5 major objectives: Removing barriers to equal access to resources; Education, skills and competencies development; Promoting female entrepreneurship; Improving access to labour market participation; and Strengthening partnerships with the private sector in implementing women’s empowerment principles.

Attending the launch event, Doina Gherman, Chair of the Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Policy and European Integration, welcomed the launch of the Roadmap. This document, according to the MP, unifies the efforts of all actors in the field in the process of promoting women’s rights. “Women’s economic empowerment is crucial for society as a whole, as it is a woman’s right, and policies and laws are needed to ensure that it is respected. And we MPs are already taking measures and actions in this regard”, added Doina Gherman.

Dominika Stojanoska, UN Women Moldova country representative, said at the event that “This roadmap is an important document developed with the aim of accelerating women’s economic empowerment in the Republic of Moldova and is of major importance in the current socio-economic context of the country. Women’s economic empowerment is crucial in advancing women’s rights and gender equality. This document represents the joint effort of the members and experts of the Economic Council, dedicated to identifying actions needed to improve women’s economic empowerment in Moldova.”

The Head of the Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister of Moldova Ion Lupan, stressed at the event that the Roadmap is a real sustainable platform for the involvement of business associations, the donor community, government agencies in promoting initiatives aimed at increasing the role of women in the economy. The Head of the Secretariat called on stakeholders to help highlight critical issues related to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment through actions that can be implemented and owned in the Roadmap.

Stela Jemna, Head of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, told the event that the Roadmap needs to be implemented in practice so that more women can be involved in business and find a balance between family and professional life. “We are on the right track because we are aware of the problem, now we are on the way to find solutions to overcome it”, Stela Jemna stressed.

“The Roadmap actions are very ambitious. We at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection will provide all the necessary support to help improve women’s opportunities in the economic and social spheres so that their rights are respected,” said Felicia Bechtold, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

The implementation of the actions of the Roadmap on Women’s Economic Empowerment will be discussed at the Economic Council to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova with the presentation of optimal solutions to the institutions responsible for their implementation. To this end, an ad-hoc working group on women’s economic empowerment and gender equality will be set up within the Economic Council to monitor this process and to make the developments in the implementation of the Roadmap on Women’s Economic Empowerment publicly available.

The Roadmap on Women’s Economic Empowerment is being developed by the Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, with the support of UN Women and financial support from Sweden.

The Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, funded by the UK Government’s Good Governance Fund.