Gender Equality and Family Minister Lee Jung-ok attends APEC Women and the Economy Forum and high-level meetings of the 75th UN General Assembly

- To discuss how to enhance women's capability in the post COVID-19 period with the international community -





□ The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) announced that Minister Lee Jung-ok will attend the videoconference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy Forum on Wednesday, September 30 and high-level meetings of the 75th UN General Assembly held in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women the following day to introduce the results of the Korean government’s gender equality-related policies and discuss how to enhance women’s capability in the post COVID-19 period as part of the effort for global solidarity on women-related issues.

ㅇ At the videoconference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy Forum, the attendees plan to adopt a joint statement* on the following: △ adoption of a gender perspective-based system for the provision of support for women’s participation in the economy; △ sophistication of the infrastructure/education for narrowing the digital gender divide, and; △ encouraging women to make forays into science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), etc.

* Subject : Optimizing Women’s Economic Empowerment to Strengthen Post-Pandemic Recovery and Resilience



[APEC Women and the Economy Forum]




□ The APEC (host country: Malaysia) is a leading multi-party meeting. Its Women and the Economy Forum was founded in 1998 to enhance the economic capability of the women in the region and disseminate gender-equality issues.

ㅇ Every September and October, a total of five high-level APEC meetings* are held. The agenda for this year’s meeting of the Women and the Economy Forum is Enhancement of Supportive Ecosystem for the Enhancement of Women’s Economic Rights.

* High-Level Meeting on Health and Economy (Sep. 23), Finance Ministers’ Meeting (Sep. 25), Women and the Economy Forum (Sep. 30), SME Ministerial Meeting (Oct. 23), and Ministerial Meeting on Food Security (Oct. 27)

ㅇ At the ministerial meeting among those from 21 member countries scheduled for the morning of September 30 (KST, pre-recorded), Minister Lee Jung-ok will share the country's policies designed to strengthen the social safety network with the other attendees concerning the need for expansion of child care support in the post-COVID-19 period, provision of everyday necessities to low-income households, provision of counseling for multicultural families, and interpretation/translation of COVID-19-related Self-Quarantine Guidelines, etc.

ㅇ She also plans to cite the need for dissemination of gender-equality culture in labor markets, formation of social consensus that child/family care is not a burden to be shouldered only by women, and establishment of a social care system to back up such ideas.



--[Major contents of Minister Lee Jung-ok’s presentation]--

● What has been experienced by Korea in coping with COVID-19 from a gender perspective

- Expansion of child care service, vocational training for women in areas where jobs are expected to be created in the post-COVID-19 period, counseling for multicultural families, interpretation/translation of COVID-19-related Self-Quarantine Guidelines, etc.

● Effort to enhance women’s economic capability in the post-COVID-19 period

- Narrowing the gender divide in overall labor markets, conversion in view of labor as in child care, establishment of a social care system, etc.

● PR on the result of the 2020 Korea Gender Equality Forum (Sep. 3 and 4)

● Stressing the need for international collaboration to realize the idea of gender equality



[High-level meeting of the UN General Assembly]




□ The high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women* is to be held on October 1 on the subject of Promoting the Realization of the Goal of Enhancing Gender Equality and Capability of Women and Girls. The meeting will be attended by high-level dignitaries including Mr. Volkan Bozkir, who was elected as the President of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and representatives of member countries.

* World Conference on Women : An international meeting hosted by the UN and participated in by government/non-government organizations the world over to strive to enhance the status of women / Its first ~ fourth meetings were held in Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985), and Beijing (1995).

ㅇ At this year's meeting, which is being held as part of the '75th UN General Assembly High-Level Week', the attendees are to check the status of execution of the Beijing 'Platform for Action*' on the occcasion of the 25th anniversary and reconfirm the international community's commitment to the realization of the goal of gender equality.

* The Beijing Platform for Action refers to a platform adopted at the 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. It includes an action plan as well as future strategies aimed at the promotion of gender equality and building of women’s capabilities at the national/regional/global level.

ㅇ Minister Lee Jung-ok attended the videoconference on Multi-Stakeholder Hearing held by the UN General Assembly on July 21 and discussed how to execute the Beijing Platform for Action as part of the preparations for the meeting held this time.



□ In her turn at the high-level meeting held this time, the Gender Equality and Family Minister will explain the achievements made by the Korean government, including enhancement of women's representativeness, following the adoption of said platform and stress the need for cooperation among the members of the international community for the execution of the platform.

ㅇ Especially, her plan includes the sharing of information on the following with other attendees: systems of gender impact assessment, gender perspective-based budget, and Gender Equality Committee adopted for gender mainstreaming in the overall sectors of government operation and adoption of Gender Equality Policy Officer in the eight leading ministries of the government.

ㅇ She also plans to publicize what the country is doing for gender equality including the following: enactment of the Framework Act on the Prevention of Violence against Women, formulation of ways to get rid of digital sex crimes, plan to enhance women’s representativeness in the public sector, and Balanced Inter-Gender Partnership for Inclusive Growth.*

* Balanced Inter-Gender Partnership for Inclusive Growth : A program for publicizing well-performing businesses and providing consulting/education support through agreements reached with businesses willing to train and give more opportunities to talented women (30 MOUs signed as of August 2020, 82 businesses participated at the time MOUs were signed)

ㅇ In addition, the Minister will introduce the government’s plan to strengthen the social security network such as employment and child/family care to establish the groundwork of an inclusive nation, including future plans to accomplish economic innovation through Korean New Deal policy based on Digital New Deal/Green New Deal.



□ Commenting on the matter, Minister Lee Jung-ok noted that the world is experiencing an unprecedented crisis situation due to COVID-19, but South Korea is overcoming the crisis through democratic regulation and balance on the back of people’s positive participation and consensus.

ㅇ “My ministry will push ahead with innovation in cooperation with civic society so that the structure of gender-based discrimination may be improved and the gender mainstreaming perspective may be applied to society in general in the post-COVID-19 period,” she said.