Consultative Status for Fair Pay
ECOSOC Special Consultative Status
FPI holds the special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2021. We officially contribute our fair pay expertise as an international NGO at the global level. This means we can advise the United Nations in statements and use our expertise to influence political decisions.
It is of great concern to us to point out the importance of fair pay for sustainability. At the latest since UN Women impressively demonstrated in 2018 that gender equality is the most important cross-cutting issue of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, equality and fair pay belong firmly on the international agenda. “Equal pay for work of equal value” is Goal 8.5 – and we think it’s probably no coincidence that 8.5 is exactly the middle of 17:Economic independence is the prerequisite for a self-determined life, for equality, equal opportunities, education – and ultimately also for climate protection.
Equal opportunities are a prerequisite for sustainability!
Our goal is fair pay for all employees worldwide. Since the founding of the FPI, we have therefore been committed to fair pay at the international level. We were one of the first members of the Equal Pay International Coalition, which was initiated by the International Labor Organization (ILO), UN Women and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and hosted the first meeting of the global alliance at the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs in Berlin with over a hundred participants from all over the world. For years, we have participated in and hosted side events at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. We have been to the World Economic Summit in Davos and are regular conversationists at the Reyjkjavík Global Forum Women Leaders every fall. For us applying for ECOSOC Special Consultative Status was the logical next step.
Since our foundation, we have been monitoring international legislation and have been traveling around the world for several years in our Fair Pay Around the World series on some 80 transparency laws. For the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth, we wrote an expert report on the transferability of Iceland’s equal pay laws, and compared and evaluated national strategies in a study for the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS).
Last but not least, we developed the Universal Fair Pay Check®, an international certification for companies around the world that has been recognized as a certification mark.
FOR FURTHER READING:
ECOSOC Special Consultative Status at the United Nations
FPI Statement for the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
FPI profile at the Equal Pay International Coalition
Fair Pay a European Race to Equality and Equal Opportunities for All, November 2021, Policy Brief for FEPS
Creating Momentum for Fair Pay: Assessing Policies with Leverage, February 2022, Policy Study for FEPS
UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® certification trademark at EUIPO