NAME OF ORGANIZATION:

Ministry of Women's Affairs

ADDRESS:

P.O.Box 10-049
Wellington
New Zealand
Tel: (64 4) 472-4112
Fax: (64 4) 472-0961
Email: mwa@mwa.govt.nz
URL: http://www.mwa.govt.nz

STATUS:

Governmental

HEAD OF ORGANIZATION:

Chief Executive

YEAR OF ESTABLISHMENT:

The Ministry of Women=s Affairs was established in 1984 with Mary O=Regan appointed the first Chief Executive and the first woman to head a New Zealand government department. Key areas of policy work over the years include childcare, access to education, health, economic autonomy, unpaid work, domestic violence and women in decision-making roles.

LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY:

The Ministry works to achieve the Government=s goals for women and Maori.

* equity
* opportunity and choice
* full and active participation
* adequate resources
* no discrimination
* a society that values the contribution of women

OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS:

Vision
Making a difference for women in Aotearoa - New Zealand.

Mission
The Ministry provides quality advice to improve women=s lives.

The Ministry=s main function is to provide gender specific policy advice across portfolios to improve women=s economic and social participation, improve access to health services, promote safer communities, increase women=s participation in education and training, and enhance New Zealand=s involvement in the international community. The Ministry has a dedicated Maori policy unit which focuses on the design and monitoring of policies and programmes for Maori women.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES:

The Ministry=s work programme is reviewed annually to accommodate the priorities of government. Ongoing work includes:

Policy Advice
Continuing to provide high quality advice to the government on matters of significance to women especially in the areas of education, the labour market, economic autonomy, safety, participation in society, justice, health and well-being.

Mainstreaming Gender Analysis
Working with agencies to integrate gender analysis into the development of policies and programmes across government agencies to ensure that a gender perspective is always included.

Data Collection on Women=s Lives
Better collection of data on women=s lives - including completion of a full Time Use Survey in June 1999 with initial data available from December 1999. The information from this survey will be invaluable in the development of policies and programmes. A range of survey will also provide better information about women's lives.

Gender Pay Gap research
Continuing its research and policy development to examine and address the underlying causes of the gender earnings gap in New Zealand

Increasing the Participation of Women in Decision-making
Implementation of programmes to increase the proportion of women and Maori women on statutory boards. These include directorship training seminars and profiling of Maori women with the skills and experience to be in decision-making roles.

Liaison with International Bodies
The Ministry is co-ordinating the APEC Women Leaders Network Meeting to be held in Wellington, New Zealand in June 1999.

The Ministry is involved in the preparatory meetings for the Beijing+5 review in 2000 to review progress on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The Ministry was also involved in the conclusion of the CEDAW Optional Protocol.

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS:

Journal:
Panui newsletter\, (in English), an occasional publication of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs

A complete list of publications is available on the Ministry’s website at www.mwa.govt.nz. Recent additions include:

* The Full Picture: Te tirohanga whanui: guidelines for gender analysis, 1996.
* Gender wage gap, Part 1: scenarios of the gender wage gap, 1997.
* Gender wage gap, Part 2: an assessment of the relative impact of each industry, 1997.
* Homecare workers : a case study of a female occupation , 1999.
* Performance pay systems and equity: an analysis of five New Zealand organisations, 1999.
* Status of New Zealand women 1998: combined third and fourth reports on New Zealand’s progress on implementing the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against women, 1998.

STAFF:

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: