PHA-Exchange> Helping poor countries and gender empowerment

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

from "Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)" <ruglucia at PAHO.ORG> -----
    
How to Help Poor Countries

Nancy Birdsall is President of the Center for Global Development in
Washington, D.C. Dani Rodrik is Professor of International Political
Economy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Arvind
Subramanian is Division Chief in the Research Department of the
International Monetary Fund
Foreign Affairs, July/August 2005

 

Read preview at:
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050701faessay84410/nancy-birdsall-dani-r
odrik-arvind-subramanian/how-to-help-poor-countries.html
<http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050701faessay84410/nancy-birdsall-dani-
rodrik-arvind-subramanian/how-to-help-poor-countries.html>  

 

"..... Increasing aid and market access for poor countries makes sense
but will not do that much good. Wealthy nations should also push other
measures that could be far more rewarding, such as giving the poor more
control over economic policy, financing new development-friendly
technologies, and opening labor markets.

 

.... The year 2005 has become the year of development. In September, at
the UN Millennium Summit meeting of heads of state, in New York, leaders
of wealthy nations will emphasize their commitment to deeper debt relief
and increased aid programs for developing countries. The Millennium
Development Goals, the centerpiece of the conference's program, call for
halving the levels of world poverty and hunger by 2015.

 

...The summit will focus on increasing international aid to 0.7 percent
of donors' gross national product to finance a doubling of aid transfers
to especially needy areas, particularly in Africa. With respect to
global trade, efforts will center on the Doha Round of multilateral
trade negotiations and opening markets to important exports (such as
cotton) from developing countries. The discussions will thus proceed
based on two implicit but critical underlying assumptions: that wealthy
nations can materially shape development in the poor world and that
their efforts to do so should consist largely of providing resources to
and trading opportunities for poor countries.

 

These assumptions ignore key lessons of the last four decades -- and of
economic history more generally. Development is something largely
determined by poor countries themselves, and outsiders can play only a
limited role....."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Discussion on the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and the Gender 
Empowerment Measure (GEM).
            United Nations Development Programme, 2005. 
 

We recently started a discussion on our HDRStats-Net (our statistics network

on human development measurement issues) on the GDI and GEM.  The Human 
Development Report Office has initiated a project to review these two 
indices,  The first step of this process is to draw on human development 
professionals, such as members of the HDCA, to identify specific limitations

of the indices, their policy relevance, how their methodologies have been 
adapted to local contexts and considerations for reviewing them.  The
network 
discussion will take place over the next weeks.  

 

To participate in this discussion moderated by Stephan Klasen, Professor of 
Economics, University of Göttingen and Haishan Fu, Chief of Statistics,
HDRO, 
UNDP.  Please visit the website at
http://hdr.undp.org/network/messageview.cfm?
catid=8&threadid=100 <http://hdr.undp.org/network/messageview.cfm?
catid=8&threadid=100>  . 

 

In order to join the network, please go to
http://hdr.undp.org/network/reg.cfm 
<http://hdr.undp.org/network/reg.cfm>  .  
To contribute to the discussion, please send your message to surf-hdr-
stats at undp.org <mailto:surf-hdr-stats at undp.org>  (if you have any 
difficulties, please email sharmila.kurukulasuriya at undp.org).

 

(forwarded email from Stephan Klasen and Haishan Fu)

 

It is our pleasure to moderate this three-part discussion on the Gender-
related Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). 
These internationally-recognized composite measures of gender inequality are

critical to the promotion of women's empowerment worldwide. And as Kevin
noted 
in his introductory message <http://hdr.undp.org/network/messageview.cfm?
catid=8&threadid=100> , in response to your demand we would like to revisit 
these indices - so that any technical limitations or weaknesses in our own 
understanding of these measures do not limit the use of these indices in the

fight to achieve gender equality. Indeed, there has been a great demand from

you for such a review and discussion, and we believe that this important 
effort will further help you advocate more effectively for policies that 
promote gender equality and women's empowerment.

The topic of this first discussion is 'How has GDI and GEM been used in
policy 
discussions, research, advocacy and/or monitoring activities?' Specifically,

we would like you to respond to any or all of the following questions:

*         How, specifically, have these measures been used in policy 
discussions, research, advocacy or monitoring activities?

*         How has publishing these measures in global, regional or national 
HDRs impacted policymaking for women's empowerment?

*         What have been the advantages and/or limitations of using such 
aggregate measures, rather than focusing discussions on more straightforward

gender-related statistics?

*         Please provide papers, citations and other materials that show how

GDI and GEM have been used in policymaking, research, advocacy or monitoring

activities

We aim to wrap up this first of three discussions by Monday, August 1, 2005.

Please do share the discussion among your colleagues who might be interested

in participating in the debate.

Thank you for your participation, and we look forward to an informative and 
thought-provoking discussion.

Sincerely,
Stephan Klasen
Haishan Fu

 

Discussion Topics and Timelines

To this end, we would like to begin a discussion with you on these issues -
to 
tap into the unique experience and knowledge that human development 
professionals on this network possess. Given the multiple objectives of this

discussion, we will stagger the discussions - devoting a few weeks to each
of 
the following topics:

Weeks 1-2 (July 18- Aug 1): 
Discussion topic: In your experience, how has GDI and GEM been used in
policy 
discussions, research, advocacy and/or monitoring activities?

Weeks 3-4 (Aug 2 - Aug 15)
Discussion topic: How has the GDI and GEM methodology been adapted to the 
local context, and what lessons can be drawn from these efforts for this 
current review? 

Weeks 5-6 (Aug 16 - Aug 29)
Discussion topic: Next steps --- what are some key considerations to keep in
mind during the review of these measures over the coming months?

 





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