(10-17 January 2005)
Welcome to Week 1 of the online discussion
on Women and Poverty. I am Josette Murphy Malley and will
facilitate this discussion for the World Bank. I look
forward to a lively sharing of experience from people
working in very different settings. Each week, I will
post an introduction to the week's topic as well as a
summary of the previous week's discussion. As explained
in our introduction to Women and Poverty, the objective
of this discussion is to stimulate an exchange of ideas,
learn from specific achievements in the last 10 years,
and identify emerging issues and priorities that the Commission
on the Status of Women should address in its forthcoming
meeting. Your contributions will be summarized in a final
report presented to the Commission before its session
starts on February 28, 2005.
In 2000, the Beijing+5
Outcome document stated that there was "increasing
recognition of gender dimensions of poverty." The Report
also noted progress in "pursuing a two-pronged approach
of promoting employment and income-generating activities
for women and providing access to basic social services,
including education and health care."
This week, we will focus on two areas of macro-economic
1) The preparation of comprehensive, national poverty
strategies and national reviews of public expenditures;
and 2) Reforms in labor legislation and regulations.
Women and national poverty strategies
Since Beijing, many countries have prepared some form
of national strategic plan for poverty reduction, whether
a poverty reduction strategy developed in low-income countries
in the context of debt relief, or an in-depth assessment
of poverty issues. Preparation of these plans has led
policymakers to improve the linkages between sectoral
strategies and poverty reduction goals, to reassess priorities
across sectors, and sometimes to broaden grassroots participation
in the planning process.
Preparing a poverty reduction strategy creates opportunities
for addressing gender inequalities, opportunities that
countries as diverse as Benin and Vietnam have taken up
by mainstreaming gender into their analysis. Frequently,
women's organizations have been involved in this process.
These efforts have often occurred concurrently with a
review of public expenditures to assess how the allocation
of public funds to various sectors affects males and females
differently. Examples include Bangladesh, the Islamic
Republic of Iran, and Morocco.
Labor legislation and regulations
Since Beijing, many countries have pursued a policy of
reforms to develop their private sector and to increase
their exports of goods and services. This opens up opportunities
for relatively skilled workers and entrepreneurs, but
women are often hampered by lack of skills, or by distortions
in the labor market, in training, in labor regulations,
and in unemployment benefits. Many countries are revising
their labor codes, for example by providing state benefits
to workers in the informal sector (Thailand, South Africa
and Chile). Others are adopting policies to improve women's
access to highly skilled technology positions (Brazil,
India and Malaysia).
Many countries are also reviewing their legislation on
wages, pensions, and benefits, including maternity leave.
In some cases, labor reforms intended to protect women
workers have, perversely, increased discrimination against
them in the labor market. For this reason, an understanding
of the gender impacts of labor regulations among policymakers,
labor officials, employers, and unions is important. Women,
too, must be well informed of their rights and of how
to get help if needed.
Some questions that explore these areas include:
- What are some specific cases in which women were able
to influence the national poverty strategy of their
country? What factors were critical in making this happen?
- Can you give examples of how a participatory process
led to a significant contribution by women groups or
women's advocates? What were the factors explaining
this success? Are there examples of fruitful partnerships
between women organizations and other local, national,
or international organizations?
- What specific cases do you know of in which the needs
of women were identified in the diagnosis, action priorities
and monitoring indicators in the poverty reduction strategy?
Were such needs identified for sectors other than the
social sectors, such as infrastructure and transport?
- What are specific cases of reforms in labor laws regarding
wages, pensions, specialized skills training or employment
benefits which helped women gain access to better job
and business opportunities? Are there reforms you know
of that appear to have backfired, reducing opportunities,
wages or benefits for women?
- What are examples of steps taken to ensure that the
reforms are actually applied, that women are aware of
their rights and opportunities, and that discriminatory
practices are curbed?
- Can you cite specific experiences in other macroeconomic
analyses, such as public expenditure reviews and studies
of labor regulations, particularly examples that have
influenced subsequent public expenditures or labor legislation?