Women on Labour Market in Slovakia I
The concept of “good” governance in gender field requires normative judgments about what constitutes the legitimate acquisition and efficient exercise of power in the sphere of labour market in Slovakia. The aim of this paper is to analyze the gender issues in Slovakia from the point of view of good governance. For some social activists good governance implies democratic governance, and therefore implies an agenda of active participation, keeping human rights and social justice. Mentioning this justice it should be available for men and women both in the labour market and on several field of the life.This article takes seriously the proposition that ideas, recommendations and concepts in good governance can make better the situation on labour market. It situates the emergence of good governance in Slovakia. It discusses that governance cannot be effective if it does not advance gender equality and the realisation of women‘s rights, and fails to equally engage women and men in decisions. To achieve these goals, significant changes are needed at the level of institutional goals and within governance institutions and processes – addressing deep-rooted, implicit prejudices that affect women but can also affect men.
For some of us good governance means the management of national endowments in human and natural resources in such a way as to generate public goods , and to distribute them so as to createwealth and promote human development. [1]
Whether policy makers can take steps to reduce women’s poverty or address gender injustice depends upon the implementation of policies on the ground. Signing up to international treaties and passing legislation—on issues such as women’s rights, equal access to education, rape in marriage, and equal eligibility to credit and property ownership and enable equal opportunity in labour market—is only a first step. Legislation and policy has to be translated into government directives, budgetary allocations, institutional arrangements, bureaucratic procedures and monitoring standards. The connection between political commitment and effective policy implementation is expressed in the concept of “governance”. Programmes of governance reform have consumed considerable international and national attention in the recent past and present.[2]
„Good governance implies democratic governance, meaning an agenda for participation, human rights, and social justice.‟(UNIFEM 2008)
The concept of governance is a „catch-all‟ term for often „messy, unpredictable and fluid‟ processes. [3]Governance cannot be understood as management. Governance includes the visions we have and the strategic decisions we take. Nor can governance be divided simply into political and technical dimensions. Governance has five fundamental dimensions: 1) political, 2) contextual, 3) constitutional, 4) legal and 5) administrative/managerial. This concept of governance embraces a variety of ideas which encompass intergovernmental relations, such as negotiations, agreements and co-operative ventures among public and private parties. It implies bottom-up decision-making; having all concerned people at every level of government and non-government organisations participate.[4]
Definitions of “governance” range from a restricted view focusing on sound management of the economy, to an expanded view embracing such projects as the liberalization of politics and the reduction of social inequality. Governance is described by the World Bank as “the manner in which the State exercises and acquires authority”. For policy purposes, governance is broken down into two broad components: the capacity of the state to exercise authority, and its accountability doing so. “Capacity” encompasses the state’s “hardware”: its financial resources, the extent and effectiveness of its physical and administrative infrastructure for distributing public goods, the number and skills of its personnel, and the conduct of budgeting and policy-making processes. “Accountability” describes the “software”: the system whereby certain actors have the power to demand answers of others, and whether and how malfeasance is detected and punished.[5]
[1] UN Research Institute for Social Development: Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World. NY:UNDP.2000,pp 4-11 available at http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/%28httpAuxPages%29/E1EF70EDD72B0B63C1256FB1004DA8A5?OpenDocument
[2] Policy Report on Gender and Development: 10 Years after Beijing – See more at: http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpAuxPages)/E1EF70EDD72B0B63C1256FB1004DA8A5?OpenDocument#sthash.0QdRlEbm.dpuf
[3]Institute on Governance. 2013. [online] http://iog.ca/
[4] Jo Beal: Urban Governance: Why gender matters, NY: UNDP, 1996.pp 3-5. ISBN ,available at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/drivers_urb_change/urb_society/pdf_gender/UNDP_Beall_gender_matters.pd
[5] Policy Report on Gender and Development: 10 Years after Beijing . NY: UNDP. 2003. Pp.30. ISBN: 978 185864 576X http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpAuxPages)/E1EF70EDD72B0B63C1256FB1004DA8A5?OpenDocument#sthash.0QdRlEbm.dpuf
