Costa Rica: Global Women’s Organising Assembly

The 3rd ITUC World Women’s Assembly, being held in Costa Rica from 11 - 13 October, brings together 200 women trade union activists from around the world to chart a course for organising to achieve gender equality and equity in the world of work.

ITUC Equality Director Chidi King said, “The Assembly takes place at a crucial time for women workers. We are living through a persistent global economic and jobs crisis, worsening impacts of climate change, deepening social and economic inequalities in many parts of the world, and the rise of populist misogyny and nationalism. Trade union organising and activism is all the more important if we are to change course and create the future we want for ourselves, for our families and for our communities.”

  • The four priority themes, shaped around the ITUC’s Count Us In! campaign, are:
  • Peace, freedom and democracy
  • The future of women at work
  • Economic and social justice for women
  • Ending gender-based violence in the world of work

“This Assembly will be a launching pad for the next phase of our gender equality work, with organising women workers at the core of campaigning to achieve justice and equality. The political, social and cultural barriers to equity will not disappear by themselves – we need to build women’s power. It is women organising in unions, and joining forces with other progressive movements to mobilise, that will bring the changes that the world so urgently needs,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

To read more about the 3rd ITUC Women’s Organising Assembly