International Financial Institutions

International Organizations and Gender: New Paradigms and Old Habits

Citation:

Bessis, Sophie. 2004. "International Organizations and Gender: New Paradigms and Old Habits." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 29 (2): 633-647.

Author: Sophie Bessis

Annotation:

Summary:
“The principal arguments that the bank presents to justify its 1987 conversion to a gender approach are of a purely economic and strategic nature. Women should be assisted not because their rights are scandalously abused but because the abuse of their rights is an obstacle to the reproduction of dominant economic models in the countries of the South. The fact that women, even in the most difficult circumstances, are able to capture the dynamism of the market sphere is, in the eyes of World Bank experts, a significant step toward the much-desired generalization of market forces. The question of women’s rights is thus secondary for an institution that sees women first and foremost as a new type of economic actor, a possible guarantor of social stability in an era when that stability is increasingly difficult to achieve. The World Bank has thus instrumentalized women in the sense that their promotion is not an end in itself but rather a means of implementing the bank’s policies for economic growth and eradication of poverty” (Bessis 2004, 641).

Topics: Gender Mainstreaming, International Financial Institutions, Rights, Women's Rights

Year: 2004

The Asian Crisis, Gender, and the International Financial Architecture

Citation:

Aslanbeigui, Nahid, and Gale Summerfield. 2000. "The Asian Crisis, Gender, and the International Financial Architecture." Feminist Economics 6 (3): 81-103.

Authors: Nahid Aslanbeigui, Gale Summerfield

Abstract:

This paper begins with an account of the Asian crisis, its creation and management by international financial institutions (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank), and the gender impact of their stabilization and structural adjustment programs. Next we consider the new debate on reforming the IMF and the World Bank and restructuring the international financial architecture to prevent crises and manage them more effectively. Finally, we consider the gender ramifications of these changes. Since feminists have been absent from this debate, we examine issues essential to the formation of a gender-conscious international financial structure. (Abstract from original). 

Keywords: international financial architecture, international financial institutions, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, structural adjustment, Asian Crisis, debt crisis, gender impact of the Asian Crisis

Topics: Globalization, International Financial Institutions, International Organizations Regions: Asia

Year: 2000

Gender Exploitation: from Structural Adjustment Policies to Poverty Reduction Strategies

Citation:

Ali, Khadija, and Eshya Mujahid-Mukhtar. 2003. "Gender Exploitation: from Structural Adjustment Policies to Poverty Reduction Strategies." The Pakistan Development Review 42 (4): 669-694.
 

Authors: Khadija Ali, Eshya Mujahid-Mukhtar

Annotation:

Summary:

This paper presents a comparison of Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) and Poverty Reduction Strategies, particularly with reference to gender issues. To strengthen the case for engendering, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), this paper provides empirical evidence of the effects of SAPs on the lives of women in many developing countries. A rich body of literature has been used to analyse how different policy measures imposed by the World Bank and the IMF have affected women, particularly the poor women. Most of the studies, regarding this aspect of adjustment policies, have found women in a deteriorated condition in every field of life. Women, whether they are producers, consumers, household managers, or community organisers, have been affected more adversely than their male counterparts, mostly because of the gender blindness of these policies. But while adopting alternative strategies meant for poverty reduction, no lesson has been learnt from past experiences. Only very few countries so far have engendered their PRSPs in an appropriate way. Others have given very little importance or no importance at all to this issue. It is therefore suggested that Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers must be engendered, if the objective is to tackle the problem of poverty, and gender issues must be mainstreamed in the PRSPs (Abstract from JSTOR). 

Topics: Gender Mainstreaming, International Financial Institutions, Privatization

Year: 2003

Gender in International Trade and Investment Policy

Citation:

Williams, Mariama. 2001. “Gender in International Trade and Investment Policy.” In Financing for Development: Proposals from Business and Civil Society, edited by Barry Herman, Federica Pietracci and Krishnan Sharma, 63-70. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

Author: Mariama Williams

Annotation:

“Of the world’s 6 billion people, 2.8 billion live on less then US$2 a day, and 1.2 billion on less than a US$1 a day (World Bank, 2000). Most of these people are women, who today constitute the backbone of the unpaid, and a growing pool of the paid workforce that is directly affected by trade liberalization and foreign direct investment, as in export processing zones, agri-business and services. Women are also over-represented in the informal economy, sex tourism/trafficking, poverty and destitution. Women are the major cushion for domestic structural adjustment, as has been well documented in numerous case studies of structural adjustment programmes (see, for example, Afshar and Dennis, 1992; Brown, 1995; and Sparr, 1995). Thus, there are important reasons for integrating a gender perspective into the themes of financing for development, especially foreign direct investment, other private capital flows and trade. We see these as inextricably intertwined with the topics of debt and systemic reform. (Williams, 2001, p.63)”

Topics: Civil Society, Democracy / Democratization, Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Financial Institutions

Year: 2001

Climate Finance: Why Does It Matter for Women?

Citation:

Williams, Mariama. 2017. “Climate Finance: Why Does It Matter for Women?” In Financing for Gender Equality: Realising Women’s Rights through Gender Responsive Budgeting, edited by Zohra Khan and Nalini Burn, 273-311. Medford, MA: Springer Publishing.

Author: Mariama Williams

Annotation:

Summary:
“Ultimately, climate goals, priorities and the concomitant actions that are implemented to address the growing climate challenges concern the well-being, livelihood and lives of all citizens—women, men and children, across different socio-economic classes and life cycles. The preamble of Paris Agreement paragraph 7 exhorts Parties to the agreement, ‘when taking action to address climate change (to) respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity’" (Williams 2017, 276).

Topics: Civil Society, Class, Development, Economic Inequality, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Globalization, Indigenous, International Financial Institutions

Year: 2017

Feminist Transnational Organizing on Gender and Trade: The Work of IGTN

Citation:

Williams, Mariama. 2015. “Feminist Transnational Organizing on Gender and Trade: The Work of IGTN.” In The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements, edited by Rawwida Baksh and Wendy Harcourt, 1-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Author: Mariama Williams

Keywords: Gender, trade, trade policy, IGTN

Annotation:

Summary:
 
The chapter examines the status of gender and trade organizing through the present and explores the legacy of the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN)—a network of women’s organizations, researchers, and institutional gender focal points—in mobilizing to transform the impacts of economic policy on gender inequalities. These gender advocates joined efforts as the IGTN to mobilize around global and regional trade and investment policies and agreements from 1999 to 2009. The chapter explores how IGTN developed the triple strategy of knowledge building and research, economic/trade literacy and networking/advocacy to focus policymakers and trade negotiators’ attention on the gender implications of trade policy and trade agreements at multilateral, plurilateral, regional, and bilateral levels. (Summary from original source)

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, International Financial Institutions

Year: 2015

Gender Mainstreaming in the Multilateral Trading System

Citation:

Williams, Mariama. 2003. Gender Mainstreaming in the Multilateral Trading System. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

Author: Mariama Williams

Annotation:

“This reference manual is intended to serve as an information and training tool for policy-makers and inter-governmental and civil society organisations interested in building and enhancing their knowledge of the important linkages between trade and investment policy and gender equality objectives and priorities. It also presents recommendations on the key issues as well as the identification of strategies that could be utilised by different stakeholders (Williams, 2003, p. xv)."
 
Summary:
"The social dimension of trade policy and trade liberalization is now a common topic in many official trade fora. This discussion is proceeding with little or no attention to the different needs, constraints and interests of women. This handbook provides an integrated framework for a sustainable, propoor and gendersensitive approach to trade policymaking. It is an information and training tool for policymakers and intergovernmental and civil society organisations interested in building and enhancing their knowledge of the important linkages between trade and investment policy and gender equality objectives and priorities. It also presents recommendations on the key issues as well as the identification of strategies that could be utilized by different stakeholders. Each section includes case studies from Commonwealth countries." (Summary from Google Books)

Topics: Civil Society, Democracy / Democratization, Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Financial Institutions

Year: 2003

Gender Budgeting in G7 Countries

Citation:

International Monetary Fund. 2017. “Gender Budgeting in G7 Countries.” Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund

Author: International Monetary Fund

Annotation:

"Executive Summary:
At the request of the Italian Presidency of the G7, the IMF has prepared a paper on gender-budgeting as a contribution to the G7 initiative on equality. The paper provides an overview of gender-responsive budgeting concepts and practices in the G7 countries. It summarizes recent trends in gender equality in G7 and advanced countries, noting that while equality has improved overall, exceptions and gaps remain.
 
Recognizing that many fiscal policies have gender-related implications, this paper:
• Sets out the main fiscal policy instruments, both expenditure and tax, that have a significant impact on gender equality.
• Provides a conceptual framework for the public financial management (PFM) institutions that play an enabling role in implementing gender-responsive fiscal policies. These instruments include gender budget statements, gender impact assessments, performance-related budget frameworks, and gender audits. Ministries of finance have an especially important role in promoting and coordinating gender budgeting, and associated analytical tools.
• Provides an assessment of the status of gender budgeting in the G7 countries. In preparing the paper, the IMF carried out a survey of PFM institutions and practices in the G7, as well as in three comparator countries that are relatively strong performers in developing gender-responsive budgeting (Austria, Belgium, and Spain). This information was complemented by other sources, including recent studies by the OECD and the World Bank.
 
The main policy implications and conclusions of the paper include:
• Well-structured fiscal policies and sound PFM systems have the potential to contribute to gender equality, furthering the substantial progress already made by the G7 countries.
• While G7 countries have made effective use of a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal policies to reduce gender inequalities, there has generally been less progress in developing effective gender-specific PFM institutions; embedding a gender dimension in the normal budgeting and policy-making routines varies across G7 countries and is not done systematically.
• Fiscal policy instruments of relevance to increasing gender equality include the use of tax and tax benefits to increase the supply of female labor, improved family benefits, subsidized child-care, other social benefits that increase the net return to women’s work, and incentives for businesses to encourage the hiring of women" (IMF)

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Budgeting, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Financial Institutions Regions: Americas, North America, Asia, East Asia, Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe Countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, United States of America

Year: 2017

Gender Justice: The World Bank’s New Approach to the Poor?

Citation:

Schech, Susanne, and Sanjugta Vas Dev. 2007. “Gender Justice: The World Bank’s New Approach to the Poor?” Development in Practice 17 (1): 14–26. 

Authors: Susanne Schech, Sanjugta Vas Dev

Abstract:

Gender inequality is now widely acknowledged as an important factor in the spread and entrenchment of poverty. This article examines the World Development Report 2000/01 as the World Bank's blueprint for addressing poverty in the twenty-first century, together with several more recent Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), with a view to analysing the manner in which gender is incorporated into the policy-making process and considering whether it constitutes a new approach to gender and poverty. It is argued that the World Bank's approach to poverty is unlikely to deliver gender justice, because there remain large discrepancies between the economic and social policies that it prescribes. More specifically, the authors contend that the Bank employs an integrationist approach which encapsulates gender issues within existing development paradigms without attempting to transform an overall development agenda whose ultimate objective is economic growth as opposed to equity. Case studies from Cambodia and Vietnam are used to illustrate these arguments.

Keywords: aid, East Asia, South Asia, Governance and public policy, gender and diversity

Topics: Development, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, International Financial Institutions, Justice Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Cambodia, Vietnam

Year: 2007

The People and their River, the World Bank and its Dam: Revisiting the Xe Bang Fai River in Laos

Citation:

Baird, Ian G., Bruce P. Shoemaker, and Kanokwan Manorom. 2015. “The People and Their River, the World Bank and Its Dam: Revisiting the Xe Bang Fai River in Laos.” Development and Change 46 (5): 1080–1105.

Authors: Ian G. Baird, Bruce P. Shoemaker, Kanokwan Manorom

Abstract:

Sustained criticism in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in a decline of World Bank funding for large hydropower dams. The Bank subsequently participated in the World Commission on Dams process, which set higher global standards for hydropower dams. In 2005, the World Bank agreed to support the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project (NT2) in Laos, and in 2010 NT2 began diverting water from the Theun River into the Xe Bang Fai River. The World Bank has promoted NT2 as a successful model of poverty alleviation, justifying support for other large dams. Assessing actual impacts and associated mitigation and compensation is thus timely. This article presents qualitative field research from early 2014 about the downstream impacts of NT2 in the Xe Bang Fai River basin and a description and analysis of efforts to compensate for losses. The authors consider the situation with the assistance of baseline data collected in 2001, before project approval. Findings suggest that NT2 has had a significant negative impact, including on the livelihoods of large numbers of people dependent on the river's resources. Many of those impacted view compensation and mitigation efforts as having failed to adequately address their losses. Further independent investigation and documentation are needed.

Topics: Gender, Women, Infrastructure, International Financial Institutions, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Laos

Year: 2015

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