Fraternidad-Muprespa Support for Women's Empowerment
In May 2011 Fraternidad-Muprespa signed support for the “Empowerment of Women”, a project developed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
This project is not only to promote gender equality, but the name is derived from the philosophy of “empowerment” that has its origin in popular education developed by the American sociologist, Margaret Shuler, who identifies empowerment as “a process through which women increase their capacity to shape their own lives and their environment, an evolution in awareness of women about themselves, their status and their effectiveness in social interactions.”
Although it is true that in Spain, as far as gender equality is concerned, much progress has been made in the last 30 years, but there are still barriers to achieving full equality, since changing a traditional culture where women have always taken a backseat requires many years of effort.
In more than 200 countries around the world, women still remain marginalized due to the validity of norms and laws anchored in tradition and clearly discriminatory. These limit access to productive resources, to inherit and to be able to participate in decision-making processes in both public and private spheres.
Regarding this type of discrimination, empowerment has reached its maximum expression in different studies.
UNIFEM calls on companies to support these seven principles:
- Promote gender equality from management to the highest level.
- Treat all men and women equally at work, respect and defend human rights and non-discrimination.
- Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all workers.
- Promote the education, training and professional development of women.
- Carry out business development, supply chain and marketing practices to strengthen women.
- Promote equality through community initiatives and lobbying.
- Evaluate and disseminate the progress made in favor of gender equality.
