General Assembly WOM/1875 - Ministry of Social and Family ...

Introduction of ReportMs. BINTE YACOB said gender equality was central to the continued rapidsocio-economic progress in Singapore. “With people as our only natural resource, itfollows that investing in, developing and maximizing the full potential of every individual,male or female, is a priority.” Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discrimination against Women was an ongoing process that requiredownership by all stakeholders. Besides Government agencies, businesses, unions andemployers, her Ministry worked closely with civil society, representatives of which werepresent today. She was pleased to announce that, last year, the country had ratified theamendment to article 20, paragraph 1 of the Convention.Singapore, she explained, was a parliamentary republic with a writtenConstitution, which guaranteed the principles of equality and non-discrimination. Theobligations of the women’s Convention were also realized through acts of Parliament,subsidiary legislation, policies and programmes, all of which were reviewed regularlyand provided avenues for individual women to pursue gender equality. What she calleda “whole-of-Government” approach was taken to advance such equality. A group ofsenior Government officials of all key agencies coordinated efforts related to theConvention, and that process was supported by the Office for Women’s Development inher Ministry, recently upgraded from what was known as “the Women’s Desk”.Aided by such governance and robust socio-economic development, women inSingapore had come a long way, she said. The country was ranked tenth out of138 countries on the United Nations Gender Inequality Index. In the World EconomicForum’s gender gap index, the country had risen almost 30 places in one year, from84 in 2009 to 56 in 2010. International organizations had also recognized the country’sexcellent health-care system, with a maternal mortality rate among the lowest in the world, at2.6 per 100,000 births in 2010 and zero in 2009. Women had a literacy rate of 93.8 per cent,and female students made up more than half the full-time intake at local universities andwere now well represented in traditionally male-dominated subjects. Stereotypes weredisappearing and women’s participation in the labour force had increased from below 30 percent in the 1970s to 56.5 per cent in 2010.Concerted efforts in helping people fulfil career aspirations, including grants to spurflexible working arrangements, had resulted in adoption by an increasing number ofcompanies of work-life integration initiatives. Since the last report, means-tested subsidiesfor child care and kindergarten had been significantly enhanced. Significant enhancementshad been made to maternity benefits, and tax relief supported working mothers andcaregivers. A national “dads for life” movement had been launched to encourage sharedcare-giving responsibilities. Enhanced paid child-care leave had resulted in many morefathers taking off time for child care. Women made up 25.3 per cent of employers in 2010and constituted 56 per cent of the civil service, as well as 59 per cent of the top-twocategories of officers. Six of the 22 top civil service posts were occupied by women, andmore than half of the judicial officers in the subordinate courts and just under 20 per cent ofthe Supreme Court were women.She said efforts were ongoing to overcome challenges for better work-life integration,to ensure that women’s skills remained up-to-date and to support elderly women in a rapidlyaging society. Measures were put in place to allow older people to work longer, to providebetter annuity opportunities, to maintain their health and to obtain financial maintenance fromtheir children.