Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) pledging event

This event aims to accelerate the pace towards achieving equal pay for work of equal value, aligning with SDG 8.5 and SDG 5. One year after the launch of EPIC, global leaders, including Heads of State, CEOs of multinational companies, Heads of employers’ and workers’ organizations, and representatives of renowned universities and civil society organizations are coming together to publicly demonstrate their commitment to work together under the EPIC umbrella by making a pledge. 

In September 2017, a strategic multi-stakeholder partnership, the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), was launched to assist UN Member States in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goal 8, target 8.5 which calls for equal pay for work of equal value by 2030, as well as Goal 5, as equal pay is central to the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The parties committed to EPIC will work together at the global, regional and national levels to support governments, employers and workers and their organizations, and other stakeholders, to make equal pay between women and men for work of equal value a reality, and reduce the gender pay gap. This will be supported through research and data collection, advocacy, knowledge sharing, capacity building, technical advisory services, data analysis and monitoring. Improving the collection of sex-disaggregated data on earnings and clarifying the merits and demerits of different methods to measure the gender pay gap are key to informing policy action and assessing its effectiveness.

The innovative work of EPIC will contribute significantly to challenging some of the main issues underlying gender pay gaps, by strengthening the evidence base for policy action, sharing good practices and lessons learned, promoting the business case for change in favour of gender equality, and by investing in initiatives already proven to lead to positive results.

One year after its launch, global leaders, including Heads of State, CEOs ofmultinational companies, Heads of employers’ and workers’ organizations, and representatives of renowned universities and civil society organizations will come together to publicly demonstrate their commitment to work together under the EPIC umbrella.

Speakers include:

• Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President, Iceland

• Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain

• María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the General Assembly

• Ana Maria Menéndez, UN Under Secretary General and Senior Advisor on Policy

• Angel Gurría Secretary General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

• Guy Ryder, Director General, International Labour Organization

Be in line with the EPIC’s vision, mission and goals (see the Pledge Note );