Catalogue of Questions - Public Hearing
"Globalisation and Gender",
18 February 2002
in connection with the Public Hearing of the Study Commission "Globalisation of the World Economy - Challenges and Responses" on Monday, 18 February 2002
Topic: "Globalisation and Gender"
I) Macro-economics and Macro-economic
Policy from a Gender Perspective
Presented by: Prof. Diane Elson
- University of Essex, UK, Special Advisor to the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Author of the UNIFEM Re-port: Progress of the World's Women 2000 (2000).
1) In recent years, economic processes - particularly in the financial markets - have accelerated enormously. Social processes in people's dealings with each other do not increase their dynamism in equal measure. This lack of synchroneity leads to opposition and conflict in society. What opportunities do gender-specific macro-economics provide for solving these conflicts?
2) What is behind "feminist economics"? What are the innovative approaches in the field of macro-economics?
3) What political consequences does the gender perspective have for a macro-economic policy making?
4) What impact do financial markets and global financial crises have on gen-der relations?
II) The Impact of Free Trade on Women in
the World
Presented by: Dr. Mariama Williams
- Visiting International Economist, the Center of Concern; Research Coordinator, the International Gender and Trade Network/the Caribbean Gender and Trade Net-work/DAWN-Caribbean; Research Coordinator-Trade, DAWN; Speaker in the WTO for Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN)
5) What are the most important gender-specific topics with respect to trade agreements and free trade?
6) What are the most important items on the WTO agenda from a gender per-spective? Why are these gender-specific? What role do issues such as agri-culture, GATS, TRIPS or TRIMS play?
7) Were women's interests represented at the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Doha? What role do trade unions and NGOs play in this context?
8) How do free trade zones affect women employed in them? What short-term and what long-term consequences are to be expected?
9) What role do core labour standards play in improving the economic and social situation of women in Newly Industrialised and Developing Countries?
III) Food Security and "Human Security"
in Africa
Presented by: Dr. Achola Pala Okeyo
- Senior Strategic Advisor, UNDP Africa Bureau, New York
10) The FAO has noted that "in a global atmosphere of increasing
poverty, food insecurity, rural out-migration and environmental
degradation, all potential actors in development must be given the
support and access to resources they need to pursue sustainable
livelihoods and strategies for a better life".
Why do women play a central role in food security? Does
globalisation have consequences for food security in Africa?
11) What are the objectives of the concept of "Human Security" and what does it entail? Does globalisation have consequences for human security? What is the connection between food security and "Human Security"?
12) What role does "good governance" play in achieving food security and "Human Security"? What importance does the interplay of different eco-nomic and social levels and players have in this? What institutions need to be set up or modified in order to boost human security?
IV) The Situation of Women in the German
and East European Labour Market
Presented by: Prof. Dr. Friederike Maier
- Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft, Berlin, expert in the network “Gender and Employment” of the European Commission
13) In what way has the labour market situation of women in the old and new federal states or Laender and in Eastern Europe been changed by the transformation process?
14) What special effects has this had on highly qualified women? Do the changes experienced by them differ from those experienced by highly qualified men?
15) What opportunities do women and men have for reconciling working- and family life? Has the global restructuring of the economy and society resulted in a worsening or an improvement of these opportunities? What factors have been responsible for these changes?
16) Are there models and experiences in other European countries which could provide a pioneering solution to the problem of reconciling working- and family life in Germany?
V) Gender Perspectives on Financing for
Development
Presented by: Prof. Dr. Maria Floro
- Professor of Economics, American University Washington D.C., FFD-Adviser to UNIFEM
17) The negotiations for the preparatory meetings of the UN-Conference "Financing for Development" in Monterrey/Mexico are largely gender-blind. What changes in Financing for Development are necessary to eliminate gender-specific inequalities concerning the distribution of access to and control over financial resources?
18) What kind of Financing for Development (public, private, bilateral, multilateral) is needed to promote gender-sensitive development? Is it possible to integrate a gender-perspective in the existing strategies or are institutional changes and new approaches needed to guarantee the effectiveness of strategies for gender-sensitive development for women?
19) What does "Gender Sensitive Budgeting" mean? What are the links between Financing for Development and Gender Budgets?
20) What tools have proved useful and are available for implementing "gender budgets"?
21) Do you see women at a greater disadvantage than men due to globalisation? Is "gender budgeting" a possible tool for offsetting these disadvantages?
VI) Mainstreaming Gender in International
Organisations (inter alia World Bank), against the background of
the topics of terrorism and violence after 11 September 2001
Presented by: Dr. Caroline Moser
- Senior Research Associate, Overseas Development Institute, London, UK, Lead Specialist Social Development (1997-2000) and Senior Urban Social Policy Spe-cialist: Urban Development Division (1990-1996), World Bank
22) Does globalisation have an influence on violence against women? If yes, what are the reasons for this?
23) How can institutions respond to present-day problems such as terrorism or violence against women? Are the existing structures of these organisations equipped to address these problems and combat them adequately?
24) What is meant by gender-mainstreaming?
25) Is gender-mainstreaming a tool enabling institutions to deal with such cross-cutting topics?
26) What strategies are successful in implementing gender mainstreaming at the World Bank? Can these serve as models for other international organisations?
27) What difficulties arose in implementing gender mainstreaming? How were these overcome?
28) Do we need a "Gender Organisation" at the international level?
VII) Effects of Globalisation on Human
Trafficking and Forced Prostitution in India
Presented by: Prof. Pawan Surana
- Principal, Maharani College, Jaipur, India
29) Do you see a connection between globalisation and human trafficking and forced prostitution?
30) Has the Asian financial crisis had negative effects on poverty, human traf-ficking and forced prostitution?
31) How do NGOs in India seek to counter human trafficking and forced pros-titution? Are their strategies a success?
VIII) Questions Touching Several Policy Fields
32) What action should be taken by national political systems and international organisations?
33) What gender-specific or gender-sensitive indicators and statistics are missing and should be collected at national, European and international levels in order to determine the gender-specific impacts of globalisation?
34) In which fields do you see an urgent need for research?
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