On March 30, 2022, a delegation from various women’s organizations, including the National YWCA of Korea visited the Presidential Transition Committee to hold a meeting with the committee chairman and its subcommittee members. Two representatives from each organization participated in the meeting, which took place from 1:30 PM and lasted for about an hour.
During the meeting, the women’s organizations emphasized the importance of an independent department overseeing gender equality policies and requested the inclusion of a specialized department for gender equality policies in the government’s organizational restructuring. They also conveyed the need for an improvement in the president-elect’s awareness regarding the structural discrimination faced by women and demanded specific operational plans for the gender equality promotion system.
The delegation argued that strengthening the specialized department for gender equality is a responsibility and commitment that member states of the United Nations should undertake. They emphasized the necessity of an enhanced independent department to ensure the effective operation of gender equality promotion systems at various levels, including global, national, and regional. Additionally, they conveyed the international community’s concerns about the clear regression associated with the controversy over the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in South Korea.
Furthermore, the delegation highlighted the importance of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol’s strong commitment to improving structural discrimination against women and emphasized the need to clearly communicate that women are an integral part of the ‘people’ he emphasizes.
Expressing regret over the lack of specific alternatives prepared by the Transition Committee, the delegation stated that they could not accept the meeting as merely an opportunity to justify the transition process. They asserted a firm stance on decisively addressing the issue during the subsequent government organizational restructuring.
In conclusion, the delegation explained that women are experiencing a sense of disappointment due to the election pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and stressed the necessity of recognizing the historical and meaningful aspects of the development of women’s policies. The women’s organizations committed to continuing their activities to establish a specialized department for gender equality policies and strengthen the gender equality promotion system in response to the discussions on the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
Title 1: Joint Declaration by the Women’s Community in Response to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s Pledge to Abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
The 11th article of the Constitution states that all citizens shall be equal before the law, and no one shall be discriminated against in political, economic, social, or cultural aspects of life based on gender, religion, or social status. Articles 32, 34, and 36 establish the duty of the state to eliminate gender-based discrimination. The international community, through organizations like the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, is actively working towards gender equality. The government of South Korea, as a member of the international community, has a responsibility to address gender inequality and discrimination.
South Korea ranks 102 out of 156 countries in the Gender Gap Index, has the highest gender wage gap among OECD countries for 26 consecutive years (31.5% in 2020), and is ranked lowest among OECD countries in the Glass Ceiling Index for ten consecutive years. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated career disruptions for women, increased the burden of sole caregiving, and heightened the prevalence of hatred and violence against women. This reality signifies that the duty of the nation to address gender discrimination is more important than ever before.
The reason for the disappointment and anger of women and the public regarding the election pledge of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is precisely because of this reality. At a time when we should be devising border and deeper policy alternatives to address gender discimination and actively implementing them, making the existence of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, a national duty, a subject of debate has cased division among the people. The Constituion of the Republic of Korea and the international community consider the elimination of gender discrimination and inequality as an important national duty because substantive equality is the foundation of human dignity and democracy and key to a sustainable future.
South Korea’s total fertility rate, the lowest among OECD countries at 0.81 births (2021), starkly illustrates the country’s unsustainable situation. The reasons for this and potential solutions can be found in the voices of women. President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol and the presidential transition committee need to listen extensively to the stories of women, carefully consider alternatives for addressing gender discrimination, and engage in thorough consultations with women’s civil society organizations for effective policy measures.
In 2021, the United Nations recommended that member states strengthen institutions for gender equality as key promoters of gender equality. The fulfillment of the Beijing Platform for Action involves three activities: strengthening institutions exclusively for gender equality, promoting gender mainstreaming policies and gender equality development, and efforts to collect, distribute, and utilize gender statistics. In the face of the current crisis and the experiences of the past 20 years, a more powerful and effective approach is needed to strengthen gender-specific institutions and explore concrete and realistic measures. It is crucial to keep in mind that gender-specific institutions with appropriate budgets and personnel are essential for promoting gender equality.
Women’s organizations, transcending political ideologies, have been actively working towards eliminating discrimination and violence against women, upholding human rights and peace. They collectively demand a “stronger executive agency” to effectively execute policies, taking into account the limitations of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family over the past 20 years. The name of the “stronger executive agency” should clearly reflect its purpose of resolving gender discrimination, as the government’s strong commitment to fulfilling constitutional duties must be evident.
Now, more than ever, the United Nations and the international community urge immediate acceleration in achieving gender equality and women’s rights. Urgent action is needed to enhance institutions exclusively for gender equality and set practical policy tasks. It is time to initiate discussions on the necessary changes, particularly focusing on strengthening the status and authority of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to effectively perform its original role as a policy coordination body for gender equality.
