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"Engendering Global Governance and Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development"

organized by the Working Group on Gender and Development


Aims of the Gender and Development Working Group sessions:
In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) concluded that inequality is the largest environmental problem in the world and that inequality is fundamentally a development problem. In response, feminists and other social activists have stressed that gender equality is a prerequisite for sustainable development. Indeed, development should be defined in gendered terms (for example, "socially responsible management and use of resources, the elimination of gender subordination and social inequality and the organisational restructuring that can bring these about" (Sen and Grown, 1987)). However, based on women's experiences as knowing, active subjects in the social, economic, and ecological processes of sustainable development, feminists and others have argued that the needs-based approach derived from WCED will not bring social transformation and greater equality both within and between societies. Instead, it is the "rights based approach" which opens up opportunities for participation leading to greater gender equality.

What progress has been made in gender equality within the social, economic, and ecological dimensions of sustainable development? Unfortunately, since the concept of sustainable development became part of the development discourse, living conditions in many parts of the world have been far from sustainable and indeed have worsened as a result of social crises, civil wars, financial policies (such as deregulation, privatisation, and neo-liberalisation) and environmental crises, such as climate change. In response to these crises two significant trends have emerged within the global economy which may lead to change in gender relations: women's emergence as the dominant group in the workforce in various sectors of the economy (particularly trade and agriculture) and migration. What are the implications of these processes for gender relations? Do the opportunities that open up compensate for the additional burdens and risks?

In terms of policies, although discourses on the reasons behind and ways to redress gender-biased discrimination have moved forward, policy interventions have lagged behind. Gender continues to be an issue relegated to and addressed within specific social sectors. Welfare approaches and a focus on women primarily through their reproductive roles dominate, with many development agencies focusing on women's access to education or social services for the poor. In spite of the massive policy commitments made following Beijing 1995 and numerous action plans to establish gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment, gender issues are found on the margins or continue to be neglected at the global level when it comes to designing policies and production-related strategies. For example, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) brings in market-determined user fees for a range of social services (water, utilities, healthcare, public transport) which work against poor women.

In terms of political and social gains, the visibility of women in elected assemblies and state institutions has increased but gender asymmetries persist in the public and private spheres. Within the political arena, forms of political organisation based on faith, ethnicity and nationalism have become increasingly prominent. Have they opened up new opportunities for women Or is the power now in the hands of "traditional" authorities resulting in a crawling back of, or hindrance to, women's advancement? Women have been active in a broad range of civil society movements and increasingly in political movements which organise around faith, ethnic identity or nationalism. How does women's participation influence gender roles and relations and women's rights within these movements and societies at large?

How then can women's interests and priorities be better addressed in global institutions? What new institutional forms can be created to bring women into the public domain on a more equal footing? Does the good governance paradigm create an entry point for re-dressing any failures of the global development institutions?

There is no standard definition of "good governance". However, a broad understanding of the term would encompass addressing social inequalities including political liberalisation, participation and human rights. Social activists see addressing issues of good governance as a means to make development more participatory and more responsive to the needs of marginalized groups, including women. In practice, however, good governance has been dominated by policies aimed at "sound" management of the economy. Addressing gender inequalities has been excluded or side-lined. How then can we influence global institutions to promote the inclusion of this broader vision of good governance? Global institutions can only be held accountable if national governments are also held accountable for their commitment to human rights and social goals. Therefore any models for achieving sustainable development must redress the structural inequality of gender at the micro-, meso-, macro- and global levels and recognise the inter-linkages (gender biased customs and traditions at the household level link with practices at the meso- and macro-levels working together to reproduce and exacerbate gender inequality). Such models should not only aim to reconfigure unequal gender relations but also to transform institutions, such as the market and the state (such as the judiciary, audit system, legislature, and public administration).

At the micro-level, how do macro-level forces influence events at the micro-level as well as interactions between people? At the meso-level: Public distribution systems and rules of operation have inherent gender inequalities and biases. The structure of decision making is crucial in determining the distribution of resources and activities at the household and individual level. For example, women are most often affected by ongoing conflicts over water but remain largely absent from decision making processes at the institutional level. How is the provision of social and physical infrastructure services determined? Women's movements have advanced women's rights and gender equality working both inside and outside state machineries. However, have they always secured their rights in transformed institutions - particularly when these transformations have been sudden or negotiated by elites? Or have men "captured" the power in new institutions? At the macro-level there is considerable empirical evidence to show that global economic institutions are not gender-neutral in terms of their policies and in terms of their staff. Feminists have now begun to advocate for greater gender equality in these institutions. What are our experiences of organising at this level? Are new partnerships emerging? How does this link to women's collective action at the grassroots and national levels? What positive synergies between activities at the three levels can be identified that have lead to improvements in women's lives and transformed gender relations?

Technology transfer from the North to the South was advocated as a corner stone of sustainable development. However, have the new technologies shaped by the forces of economic globalisation, such as genetically modified crops and bio-fuels, instead undermined sustainability threatening food security and increasing environmental problems such as the loss of biodiversity? What are the gender dimensions of these technologies?

Policy coherence is very much on the agenda of donor agencies. However, the emphasis is on vertical cohesion (between different levels) while horizontal cohesion is neglected (between different policy arenas). Without horizontal policy coherence we run the risk of social goals (including gender goals) being undermined by decisions in other arenas such as trade or macro-economics. However, does policy coherence alter or reinforce prevailing gender relations and biases? Does a commitment to women's rights enshrined in constitutional provisions and key policy statements translate into realities of policies, spending and deliverables?

Sustainable development and good governance are complex issues cutting across disciplines. Addressing these issues needs new alliances, and understanding other paradigms. The Gender and Development Working Group therefore adopts a trans-disciplinary approach aiming to communicate shared experiences and knowledge both within and beyond one's discipline bridging between political, economic, social and natural sciences.

Papers are welcome from different scientific disciplines and research traditions. Topics should fall within the general theme of the conference while focusing on the specific issues of the working group raised in this call:
Please use the Online Submission Tool to submit your abstract. We welcome submissions in English and French.


Conveners:

Joy Clancy
Technology and Sustainable Development Section
University of Twente
Netherlands
E-Mail: j.s.clancy@utwente.nl

Christine Mueller
University of Bielefeld
Germany
E-Mail: christine.mueller6@uni-bielefeld.de
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