1) Equal Pay Day is observed on April 9th each year to raise awareness of the persisting gender pay gap in all EU member states. 2) In Finland, equal pay is regulated by law but a gender pay gap remains, and the government has implemented a tripartite program since 2006 aimed at reducing the gap to 15% by 2015. 3) Various international declarations and conventions, including the Finnish constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establish the principle of equal pay for equal work regardless of gender. However, implementation challenges persist in closing existing pay gaps.

1. Equal Pay Day within the EU member states is on the9th of April 2013 .It remindsus all that a gender
pay gap still exists in fact in all the EU Member States. That is we should together find out effective
measures to finally close this gap.
In Finland all fact concerning equality and equal pay is regulated by law, but there is still much to do.
( this text also in Finnish)
It is never too early to start preparing for Equal Pay Day — April 9, 2013. This year will be especially
important, as 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of theEqual Pay Act.
What will your state or branch do to observe Equal Pa
In Finland, the government and the social partners have been trying to close the gender pay gap since
2006 through a tripartite Equal Pay Programme. The common goal is to bridge the gender pay gap to 15
per cent by the year 2015.
Suomen perustuslaki ( Finland‟sconstitution)
Sukupuolten välisestä tasa-arvosta Suomessa säädetään perustuslaissa sekä laissa naisten ja miesten
välisestä tasa-arvosta.Suomen perustuslain §6 määrittää, että sukupuolten tasa-arvoa edistetään
yhteiskunnallisessa toiminnassa sekä työelämässä. Tämä koskee erityisesti määriteltäessä palkkausta
ja muita palvelussuhteita.
Kansainvälinen ihmisoikeuksien julistus (UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights)
23. artikla (Article 23)
1. Jokaisella on oikeus työhön, työpaikan vapaaseen valintaan, oikeudenmukaisiin ja
tyydyttäviin työehtoihin sekä suojaan työttömyyttä vastaan.
2. Jokaisella on oikeus ilman minkäänlaista syrjintää samaan palkkaan samasta työstä.
3. Jokaisella työtä tekevällä on oikeus kohtuulliseen ja riittävään palkkaan, joka turvaa
hänelle ja hänen perheelleen ihmisarvon mukaisen toimeentulon ja jota tarpeen vaatiessa
täydentävät muut sosiaalisen suojelun keinot.
4. Jokaisella on oikeus perustaa ammattiyhdistyksiä ja liittyä niihin etujensa puolustamiseksi
Samapalkkaisuusohjelma käynnistyi 2006 (EqualPayPMiten voisin osallistua? (How could I
participate? WhatcouldIdo?)
rogrammestarted in 2006)
Hallitus ja työmarkkina-keskusjärjestöt ovat sitoutuneet edistämään palkkatasa-arvoa.
Kolmikantainen samapalkkaisuusohjelma käynnistyi jo vuonna 2006. Sillä on haluttu edistää naisten
ja miesten palkkatasa-arvoa. Ohjelman päätavoitteena on kaventaa sukupuolten palkkaeroa
15 § vuoteen 2015 mennessä.
Vuonna 2011keskimäärin säännöllisen työajan perusteella maksettava naisen palkka
oli noin 18 % miehen palkkaa pienempi.Lähde: Tilastokeskus, Ansiotasoindeksi 2011.
Naisen euro on edelleen keskimäärin 83 senttiä EU-maissa ja he tienaavat keskimäärin 17 % miehiä
vähemmän, yksityisellä sektorilla jopa 25 % vähemmän. Palkkakuilu vaihtelee EU-maasta toiseen:
Maltan 4 § Viron ja Kyproksen 25 §. Lähde: Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö.
Mitenvoisinosallistua? (How could I participate? What could Ido?) ( This is general text. Could it suite
all partners ??
Business and Professional Women (BPW) have already planned to offer the EU brochures about the Pay
Gap
with informative information. They will be available in 22 languages. In 2013 BWP will arrange events
and trainings
for companies.
What about your country? What happens there? Would you like to work for the equal pay for men and
women?
You could have a look at twitter or Face book is up to? What are they up to ?
The Business and Professional Women‟s Foundation (BPW) launched its international „„Equal Pay Day‟‟
campaign with Şişli Municipality Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül in İstanbul on Tuesday.
The BPW‟s “Equal Pay for Equal Work” campaign, an ongoing initiative in 50 countries that began in
1988, aims to close the gender gap in income between men and women doing the same jobs.

2. “The Business and Professional Women‟s Foundation represents and focuses on two goals -- increasing
the influence of women in the economy and in decision-making roles,” BPW International President
Freda Miriklis said.
Miriklis, who said she was impressed by the progress in women‟s rights she had witnessed in her last
three visits to İstanbul, stated that she was excited to bring this international campaign to Turkey.
But Sarıgül and the President of BPW in Turkey Arzu Özyol said the battle for gender equality has not
yet been won in Turkey. Özyöl stated that March 8, International Women‟s Day, always makes her
angry. Every year women groups, politicians and the country in general unite around the advancement
of women‟s rights. “But then March 9 comes, and the work finishes. This is not a one-day fight,” she
pressed.
Turkey, the world‟s 17th largest economy and a growing regional power, ranks 122 out of 135
countries surveyed last year by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for its Gender Gap Index. Sarıgül,
expressing his wholehearted support for the campaign and struggle for women‟s rights, agreed much
work remains to be done. Focusing on the underrepresentation of women in Parliament, he asked,
“Why do women only make up 14 percent of Turkey‟s Parliament?” Sarıgül‟s support represents a
“new style of leadership,” Miriklis added, “a leadership where men and women lead side by side.”
The gender pay gap is a global malady, Miriklis explained. “There is not a single country in the world
where gender pay gap does not exist. In the EU, women are currently earning 17.5 percent less than
men. The situation is the same in Australia and is even worse in the United States, where women
make 23 percent less than their male counterparts,” Miriklis said. The campaign‟s effectiveness in
narrowing the gender pay gap is clear. BPW‟s members in Germany have been awarded 1 million euros
to work on the Equal Pay Day campaign for the next three years. Germany, since the start of the BPW
campaign in 2009, has whittled its gender pay gap down to 4 percent, said Miriklis.Miriklis also called
for a discussion of successful women in the media.