ISO has recently published a long-awaited international standard, ISO 53800 “Guidelines on the promotion and implementation of gender equality and women's empowerment“.
Developed from ISO/PC 337, the document provides guidance for promoting and applying gender equality and women's empowerment within organisations , regardless of their size, location or sector of activity.
This international standard provides a useful contribution to tackling gender inequalities and all forms of discrimination in a wide variety of fields in a reasoned and systematic manner, including obviously the workplace in which the gender gap still has a more than significant weight.
The intent is therefore to promote an authentic culture of gender equality, contributing to the achievement of Objective 5 ("Gender equity") of the SDGs : a model of sustainable development which - far from abstract formulas - confirms that it has its fulcrum in the role and potential of people.
ISO 53800 therefore aims to promote a global understanding of the phenomenon and offer the conditions to address the problem , encouraging those organizational cultures based on inclusiveness and equality and helping organizations to fulfill the legal obligations envisaged in the matter.
In this sense , ISO 53800 is a minimum common denominator that integrates other "local" tools and initiatives, sometimes more structured and ambitious, among which UNI/PdR 125 must undoubtedly be included which in our country represents the technical-regulatory document of reference for the creation of a management system for gender equality hybridized with specific performance indicators (KPIs).
The international standard now published cannot be certified and does not replace UNI/PdR 125 , which at a national level remains the most structured and certainly reference document also from a conformity assessment perspective, but can equally be a valid support tool .
It is useful to remember in this regard that, regarding the creation of a management system for gender equality, only the certification of compliance with UNI/PdR 125 can also give the right to significant contribution benefits as provided for by the Interministerial Decree of 20 October 2022 .
Gender equality is a fundamental element in the perspective of social responsibility and sustainable development . A society that guarantees conditions of equality and equal opportunities also indisputably leads to greater general well-being.
But, it is worth remembering, these are not just abstract suggestions but rather considerations based on very concrete data. It has in fact been shown that organizations that promote gender equality in the workplace benefit from improved decision-making processes and an increase in productivity, as well as undoubted advantages in terms of reputation. (Source: UNI, https://www.magazinequalita.it/)
Gender equality, the international standard ISO 53800