Participants
attending the World Economic Forum and the preparatory
conference for the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg (PrepComII) are getting
an earful about why globalization isn't working--but
do they know what women think? In Seattle, at Davos
and at this year's NGO events, women's groups have
shown up in full force, standing shoulder to shoulder
with other protesters against global injustice
and inequality. Some have sided with anti-globalization
politics, arguing that sustainable development
is incompatible with capitalism. But a surprising
number, such as the leaders of COWAN, a Nigerian
rural women's association, acknowledge that globalization
can have a positive impact on expanding employment
and stimulating economic recovery. They are right
to be cautious about demonizing globalization.
Like Durga, the seven-armed Indian goddess, it
is a mighty force that can either create or destroy.
How that power is wielded on earth depends mostly
on us.
The
women's movement is making sure that economic globalization
has a social and human rights counterpart. They are
giving voice to millions of poor women whose grievances
against the current situation are very real. An example
is the "Women's Action Agenda for a Healthy Planet
2002," a consensus document that evolved out of
the first environment meeting in Rio. This paper pinpoints
the power imbalances in society--between men and women,
rural and urban, poor and rich--as the root cause of
the problem. It argues that "liberalization of
the global economy and deregulation of financial markets
has led to the exclusion of large segments of global
society from political and economic decision-making." For
example, in the absence of adequate safety nets or
social programs, the privatization of the public industries
in transition economies has displaced millions of women
in textiles and food industries. Why do economic transitions
create more social problems? As one representative
from Croatia said, "We are being impoverished
by development because we have no say."
Even
when international conventions and national
legislation are
in place to protect women's
rights, many states are ill equipped to enforce
them. This vulnerability of governments in
transitional and developing countries is truly
alarming. For example, states are failing to
guarantee fundamental rights such as personal
security for women. In a recent report to the
Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Galina
Karelova, First Deputy Minister of Labor and
Social Development of the Russian Federation,
said that organized crime networks have accelerated
the marketing of sex across borders to Europe,
often abducting young women. Karelova acknowledged
that "sex as a profitable good" was
not dealt with adequately in Russia's national
laws. Although her government signed the CEDAW
years ago, the resources to encourage appeals
and enforce laws are at an all-time low. The
situation in Russia is not unique. Worldwide,
military expenditures are increased to combat
terrorism and ethnic conflicts while investments
in government infrastructures and the strengthening
of regulatory frameworks are put on hold. The
international community has failed to come
to the rescue as international development
assistance has fallen from about $58.3 billion
in 1992 to $53.1 billion in 2000.
Women's groups gathered at the UN this week
have declared that this is not acceptable.
Their leadership should be heartening news,
especially to businesses and governments. Representing
half of humanity, women bring knowledge and
expertise about the core issues that matter
to everyone, such as family welfare, food security,
biodiversity, health, appropriate technologies
and the environment. Their vision is humanist
and peaceful, but their greatest strength is
that they can move mountains if the cause is
just. The world should be grateful that women
are taking a lead in the global social movement
for social justice.
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