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MONTERREY,
Mexico -- An enthusiastic panel at the International
Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey,
Mexico, discussed on Tuesday the impact of trade
liberalization for those people-especially women-living
in poverty. The panel, Making Trade Work for
Development: Proposals to Bring Gender and Poverty
Eradication
into the Equation, was led by Noeleen Heyzer,
Executive Director of the United Nations Development
Fund
for Women (UNIFEM).
Heyzer
informed the panel at the start that the Monterrey
Consensus, the conference outcome document, has identified
trade as an important external source of development
financing and highlighted the need to ensure that
gender equality and poverty eradication follow. Panelist
Saraswathi Menon, resident representative of the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Mongolia,
warned a predominantly female audience of about 100
that, in her country, old prejudices stand in the
way of gender equality in a globalized world. She
referred to the mining industry-an industry in which
women are still unable to participate. "Women
have never been able to work in mines because they
are deemed too fragile," she said. Still, instead
of creating fair labor practices, which could make
it safe for women, women continue to face discrimination
in the industry and are not hired.
Mohau
Pheko, Coordinator of the International Gender
and
Trade Network in South Africa, brought
laughter to the crowd when she referred to
the Monterrey Consensus as "vague and
subject to multiple interpretations, like a
very bad lover."
She
also reflected on the pains endured by African
women as
a result of trade issues. "I
am reminded by a colleague of mine in Zambia
who described the growing anguish women are
experiencing by the wave of increasing trade
liberalization in her country," Pheko
said. "She depicted a situation where
millions of women are onlookers in their own
economy, they cannot afford to buy anything,
they own nothing in the community, and they
are increasingly becoming powerless to make
any decisions about their economy as citizens.
She says its like being a lucky guest-invited
to a very posh party with fancy clothes and
not even sure you should be indulging in the
exotic food without first seeking permission
or asking whose food is on the table." The
space around economic decision- making for
women is narrowing rather than expanding, Pheko
warned.
Panelist John Langmore, Director of the International
Labour Organization Liaison Office in New York
said that educating women about life in transitional
economies and making sure that women entrepreneurs
are given access to credit are just two of
the ways in which trade liberalization can
lead to gender equality.
The panel was optimistic, despite a two-hour
period filled mostly with painful stories,
that the benefits of trade liberalization will
ultimately outweigh the drawbacks, and that
gender equality will be achieved as a result.
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