Committee: United Nations Economic and

Social Council
Topic: Promoting women’s access to education
and economic opportunity
Country: Russian Federation
Delegate: Peeravich Chirakunakorn

_______________________________________________________________
It is only natural in the ever growingly progressive world that women
would demand gender equality and the same rights as men. Today millions of
women are walled off from accessing education and equal opportunity as men.
So, the United Nations had released the Sustainable Development Goals, and
one of the five of the SDG is about gender equality. By these goals, the UN
hoped for nations to cooperate with each other to ensure that these goals become
a reality.
The Russian Federation has its own unique stance. While education for
women is surprisingly even better than men’s education as 37 percent of
Russian women have a higher education which is eight percent more than men.
Furthermore, according to UNESCO, 41 percent of scientific research from
Russia are coming from female scientist, while only 29 percent of worldwide
scientific research are coming from women. Despite the fact that Russian
women enjoy a decent education, female in Russia still facing a big challenge.
While the female population of Russia has more education than their male
counterpart, they are paid significantly less. According to the Russian Federal
State Statistics Service (Rosstat) in 2017, women in Russia earn an average
salary only about 71.7% of men’s average salary. Moreover, women in Russia
also face employment discrimination, as many of the employers believed that
women should be the one taking care of the “family duties” and thus getting
their work hindered. Additionally, as the there is a law for maternity benefits,
many employer force women to signed a contract that would guarantee
“absence of possible pregnancy” which can result in the female losing her job if
she ever gets pregnant.
As far as the government of the Russian Federation is concerned, they are
already attempted to address the problem and there is no plan for further actions.
In 2001, adopted the Labor code of the Russian Federation (2001) that contain
articles that address the issue of the wage gap. Article 66, prohibits the
unjustified refusals of employment based on sex, race, etc. Article 132, forbids
any discrimination when it’s come to changing or setting wages.
The possible solution for the problem can simply intensify the
enforcement of the existing rules. As Russia already have the rules in place to
protect women from wage gap, then the Russian government should be trying to
actively enforce its rules on employers. For nations that have yet to adopt such
laws, then it is highly encouraged for them to adopt one and enforce them to the
best of their ability.
Reference:

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rights with men
in Russia? Retrieved from https://humanrightshouse.org/articles/
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NATLEX. (n.d.). LABOR CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION OF 31
DECEMBER
2001. Retrieved from
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/60535/65252/E01RUS0
1.htm
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Where is the
Gap Even Greater than in Russia? Retrieved from
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