UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 15) The Ministry of Justice and Police is in the process of drafting legislation to revise the Civil Code to address the situation in which women employed by companies in the private sector without the benefit of a Collective Labor Agreement, have no legal coverage for maternity leave services by their employers. Paid maternity leave for the private sector has been added to the draft Civil Code. Some companies have included paid maternity leave in their Collective Labor Agreement. For civil servants, paid maternity leave is covered by law.

Para 27) The Gender Work Plan has been formulated and contains six priority areas: decision-making, education, health, labor, income and poverty, and violence (domestic violence and sexual violence). The Gender Work Plan 2013 is currently being evaluated

Para 29) In February and June of 2012, the National Assembly organized round table discussions aimed at sensitizing members of parliament and leaders and representatives of political parties, including women representatives, on the empowerment of women in political parties and the involvement of women in decision-making structures and at mobilizing commitment to the candidacy of women in the general elections of 2015. As an outcome of both workshops, the Speaker of the House, a female herself, commissioned the political parties to develop an action plan.

Para 30) In 2014, the National Assembly carried out the project 'More women in decision-making 2015'. The purpose of the project was to mobilize commitments from political parties to nominate more women as candidates for parliament, in management positions or political administrative positions; to strengthen self-confidence and self-awareness of politically active women within political parties or potential female candidates (how to present yourself); increase awareness on the importance of having more women in politics. The activities in this regard included roundtable discussions on 'Gender and Politics' with political parties represented in parliament; training sessions with politically active women and potential female candidates; and exposure of female candidates for parliament.

Para 31) The major aim of the activities was to strengthen the capacity of women within the political parties and to increase the number of women in decision-making bodies after the elections in 2015. In the period 2014-2015, the project 'More female leadership in 2015', aimed at encouraging the increase of female leadership at the political administrative level, and in the private sector, was carried out by STAS International (NGO), supported by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The development of a database of highly educated women was part of this project.

Para 32) As a result of above-mentioned activities, parliament saw an increase of female members as follows. At the 2010 general elections, the number of women elected to the National Assembly was 5 out of 51 seats (10% female, 90% male). After the general elections held in May 2015, 13 women were elected out of 51 seats (25% female, 75% male).

Para 33) After the elections of May 2015, the Bureau for Gender Affairs sent an open letter to the media, calling upon the new government to nominate and appoint women on equal terms with men to various public decision-making positions, in view of the principles of democracy.

Para 34) In the public sector a fixed salary is maintained for officials with similar job functions and positions as mandated by the Functie Informatie Systeem Overheid (FISO). Private companies with a Collective Labor Agreement also have wage ranges. With regard to small companies, mostly family-owned, it is unclear how the wage structure looks like. Measures to increase employment opportunities are directly related to poverty reduction. To eradicate poverty and strengthen social protection, a national social security system has been established through the adoption and implementation, in 2014, of three (3) social laws, namely the Minimum Hour Wage Act, the National Pension Benefits Act and the National Basic Health Insurance Act. Major beneficiaries of these interventions are women, considering they are over-represented in lower income groups, and considering the growing number of female heads of households.