Women's Role in Modern World

Women's Role in Modern World

Shilaja Nagendra

ABD PUBLISHERS ]aipur, India

ISBN: 978-81-8376-160-4

First Published 2008

ABO PUBLISHERS, B-46, Natraj Nagar, Imliwala Phatak, Jaipur - 302 005 (Rajasthan) INDIA Phone: 0141-2594705, Fax: 0141-2597527 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.abdpublisher.com

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CONTENTS

l. Empowering Modern Women

1

2. Women and the Communication Technology45 3. Women's Development through Liberalisation

63

4. Women and the Economic Liberalisation

93

5. Employment Opportunities in Modern World

137-

6. Women in 21st Century

181

7. Women in Social Changes

223

8. Challenges of Women Empowerment

271

Bibljography

305

Index

307

"This page is Intentionally Left Blank"

CHAPTER 1

EMPOWERING MODERN WOMEN More than 800 million women are economically active worldwide-in agriculture, small and microenterprise, and, increasingly, in the export processing industries that drive globalisation. Over 70 percent of these women live in the developing regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Women's unemployment rates remain high relative to those of men, and when employed, they are paid less than men for the same work. It is not surprising, then, that women constitute 60 percent of the rural poor. Limitations on women's legal rights and participation in civil society are widespread. Political leadership positions are still largely occupied by men although women have increasingly provided dynamic leadership in the nongovernmental (NGO) and small enterprise sectors. Legal restrictions on women's land and property ownership continue to hamper women's ability to acquire productive assets and to reduce their vulnerability when family or other crises affect them. Girls' education has been shown to have a dramatic impact on women's earning power and on families' welfare but progress toward gender equality in education still lags, both in absolute terms and relative to those of boys. Conflict and crisis have a disproportionate impact on women, who are frequent targets of rape and other forms of sexual violence, branding, maiming, and displacement. Not only does such violence impede women's ability to

2

WOllEN'S RoLl!: IN MODERN WORLD

live full and productive lives, but it restricts their contributions to family, society and economic development, often leading to starvation, trafficking, disease, the disintegration of families, ostracism of the victims, and ultimately mental, medical and economic consequences of untold proportions. Promoting a stronger and more productive role for women in development demands a broad and flexible approach. USAIO's approach to gender integration is to design programmes that take both women's and men's participation into account. When this is done development programmes are more effective. WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA

Since India became independent in 1947, the democratic government has tried to introduce measures to empower women. Yet the expected measure of success has not occurred due to reasons like bureaucratic delays, political compulsions, social and cultural constraints and the continuing poverty of the masses. Obtaining some measure of economic self-sufficiency and irldependence is a prerequisite to any advancement of womeh at a social, cultural and political level. Only then do the discourses on feminism become relevant to their lives. The silver lining in the cloudy sky has been the development of several grassroots movements initiated by women themselves, especially those from the lower sections of the society. Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad is an entrepreneurial organisation resulting from one such movement by women. It is primarily a cottage industry" urban in its origin, which has eventually spread to the rural areas and to the other cities and. towns in several states of India. A study of the manner of its origin, growth and spread gives an insight into the selfpropelling process of econom~c empowerment of women that is taking place. It also gives rise to several questions. Since it involves the basic housekeeping and cooking atHlities of women, does it reinforce the

EMPOWERING MODERlf WORLD

3

traditional concept of woman's work being primarily centred on home? How far have these women, many of them illiterate, been able to gain the power of agency over their lives? The concept of trusteeship (the worker also being the owner), first enunciated by Mahatma Gandhi, is the basic philosophy professed by the organisation. How far has this concept sustained itself as a working proposition in the past forty years? Lastly, has the organisation contributed to bring a constructive change in the lives of the people in and around its orbit of work? This paper probes the functioning of the organisation to find an answer to these questions in the final analysis. The source materials for this Iresearch are the official files, annual reports, the in-house monthly newsletter published in English from 1979, newspaper articles, a biography and oral interviews of women working in the organisation. Mahila (in Hindi) means women, griha is house, udyog is work/industry, li.ijat is tasty (in Gujarati) and papad is a flat, thin, dried roll of kneaded flour mixed with spicy ingredients, like the tortilla. Papad has a reasonably long shelf life, can be toasted or fried in oil and it serves as a snack or is taken along with food. Throughout India, there have been varieties of papads made and stored at home. Hence, if anyone chose to make it on a large-scale, the market for the product was assured. It all began on 15 March 1959, as a united effort by seven women at making papad, on the terrace of their flats in an old, large, residential building, one of the five buildings known as Lohana Niwas in Girgaum, a thickly populated area in South Bombay. They were Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, Parvatiben Ramdas Thodani, Ujamben Narandas Kundalia, Banuben N. Tanna, Laguben Amritlar Gokani and Jayaben V. Vithalani and one more whose name is not available. Of them, only Jaswantiben is now around to tell the tale of those early days. She has studied till second class, though she did not pass the

4

WOIlU'S RoLE 111 MODEU WORLD

second class examination. She was in her early twenties with two young children in 1959. She explained how one Laxmidasbhai had started the making of papads but was soon running into a loss. These seven women, who were friends, decided to take over his venture along with its loss amounting to Rs.80, which they paid to him. Buying the needed ingredients, the measures of which she explained during the interview, they rolled out the papads. After drying and packing them in a plain plastic bag, they gave them to a known merchant in Bhuleshwar. Gradually they bought a cupboard to keep their stores and utensils in the terrace. During the first year, they had to stop production during the rainy season, as it rains in Bombay for over four months. But by the next rains they had the stove and a cot over it, where they could dry the papads. They tried using coal for heating, but it coloured the papads. Being very thin, they would dry very soon. In fact, one of them told that it has been so standardised that it now takes only fifteen minutes to dry. The quantity of flour also increased with time from one seer (unit of weight) to three to six and so on. The broken papads were distributed to the neighbors. In three months, there were about twenty-five women working in their group. In two years, there were over a hundred to hundred and fifty women working with them. Jaswantiben said that they got them through word of mouth and later through advertising in the local vernacular newspaper. In six months, with the profit that they made, they bought half a 'tola '(gram) of gold for each one of them. This was to become a standard practice of the organisation, extending to this day. Two m~n, whose wives were among the first seven women, helped them in. keeping accounts. The Lohana Niwas was renting rooms . to tenants and as rooms got vacated, they took them on rent and so they soon had four to five rooms, and eventually eight rooms for their -puIposes. By the end of the third year, the kneaded"~flour was distributed among

EMPOWERING MODItRK WORLD

5

the three hundred and odd women, to take it to their homes in the morning and bring the dried papads in a day or two, since the terrace could no longer accommodate so many of them. Lijjat, the name suggested by Dhirajben Ruparel, was chosen in a contest held for the purpose, with prize money of Rs.5/-. Chhaganlal Karamshi Parekh, popularly known as Chhaganbapa, one of the reputed elders of the Lohana community, became their guide and philosopher, a little after a month or two of their commencing operations. He told them not to make two different qualities of papads as they were doing originally (in order to sell the inferior one at a cheaper rate) but to make one standard papad and asked them never to compromise on qUality. From the beginning, the women had decided that they would not approach anyone for donation or help to run the organisation, even if they incurred losses. Again, it was Chaganbapa who emphasised to them the importance of running it as a business enterprise and of keeping an eternal watch on every facet of its working and maintaining proper accounts. The salient features of the organisation were laid in these first few years, as will be shown through its later developments. There are no written documents for these years, only the oral testimony of the women, who set up the unit in those days. Initial attempts to start branches in Malad in Bombay in 1961 and Sangli in Maharashtra in 1966 were unsuccessful. However, in 1962-63, the annual sales of papad rose to about Rs.1.82 lakhs. In July 1966, the institution registered itself under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as a society. On Chaganbapa's recommendation, U.N.Dhebar, Chairman, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (~VIC), Government of India personally inspected the institution in July 1966. In September, a formal recognition was granted to it as a unit belonging to the 'Processing of cereals and pulses industry group' under the Khadi and Village Industries Act. The KVIC granted a working capital of about eight lakhs of rupees and tax

6

WOIlU'S RoLK IX MODKRlf WORLD

exemptions.The institution was registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 as a Public Trust. In the General Body Meeting, the member-sisters adopted the first written constitution. Thus the formal organisation of the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad was completed by the seventh year of its existence. In spite of, or rather because of, its simple origin, Lijjat grew as a concept and the reason for its rapid growth was due to its basic philosophy and pragmatic approach. It was a voluntary organisation of the sisters. From its inception, the member-sisters had started sharing the profits or losses among themselves. It was in their interest to strive for the growth of production and sale and to run the business wisely.Thus the organisation grew on the basis of collective ownership. Its essence was to provide for self employment, dignity of labor and earning capacity for women, working from their homes. With time, this was consciously developed as a discourse and an ideology, based on the concept of Trusteeship, as conceived by Mahatma Gandhi. Trusteeship considers all assets as belonging to the society and thus business becomes a refined form of service. Hence, the ownership of any business devolved on everyone engaged in its functioning. In other words, there are no employers or employees and all membersisters' became owners of the institution. This idea was frequently emphasised in all meetings, gatherings and newsletters, year after year, all through the forty years of its existence. All decisions were based on consensus and any sister-member had the right to veto any decision taken by the organisation. All profits had 'to be shared in a judicious way depending on the needs of the person and her contribution to the business. This is a concept which is very difficult to practice and Lijjat is an experiment in this direction. 'There was a general feeling that the sisters understood this philosophy and were undertaking more responsibilities to ensure the success of the endeavor. This also provided for mobility of labor and access to

EIIPO~o MODERR WORLD

7

going up the ladder, in terms of responsibility and position in the organisation. The present President, Mrs. Jyoti J. Naik, started her career at the age of ten by rolling out papad during the day and studying in the night school, through which she passed the S.S.C. examination. At fifteen, she was a storekeeper, then rose to become Sanchalika, in charge of a branch having five hundred sister-members and eventually the President of the organisation. Another central philosophy, practiced from the very beginning, was that the Institution would never accept any charity or donation from anybody. This helped in a large measure to develop the self-confidence of the membersisters and to retain the independence of the institution from any outside agency influencing the policies of the organisation. A corollary to this was the concept that the organisation was not meant for 'poor sisters', meaning that the objective was to remove wrong notions of pity, sympathy or charity. Most of them came from the lowest economic sections of the society, yet this philosophy gave them a sense of pride in themselves and their capability to earn their livelihood independently. Only women could be members, and thus owners, of the organisation and the few men, like the acdountants in the offices or drivers of buses and vans, who were employed, as the salaried staffs were not members of the institution. Thus Lijjat, as it evolved, was very much more than a mere cottage industry providing gainful employment to women. It was 'a symbol of women's strength' as its logo proclaimed, a concept, a view and way of life and at its core was women, conceived beyond the particularities of their work, providing for their growth beyond the confines of the existing borders. Through its discursive practices, it helped to create an Indian slant to the discourse on feminism. Organisa.tion and management

Member-sisters owned the enterprise. Any woman,

8

WOMEN'S RoLli: IN MODItRl'f WORLD

irrespective of caste or reJigion, willing to work in any capacity could become a member by signing a pledge of devotion to the basic tenets of the organisation. It was a commitment to earn 'legitimate' honest income, through work on a cooperative basis. Initially even younger girls could join, but later eighteen was fIxed as the minimum age of entry. Renouncing of membership was entirely voluntary. No one could be asked to leave unless she had violated the tenets of the organisation. Men could only be salaried employees and no.t members of the organisation, since membership implied ownership. The central offIce at Bombay was responsible for coordinating the activities of the various branches. It shifted from Girgaum, which saw the beginning of the institution, to Kamal Apartments in Bandra, a suburb of Bombay. The purchase of the premises was initiated by the end of 1987 and the registered office shifted to Bandra with effect from July 1988. The Central OffIce dispatched raw materials to the branches and conducted business with the various exporters and suppliers. All branches were to send their accounts to it on a regular basis,' since it was here that the final auditing of accounts was done. The offIce housed the accounts and the advertisements departments. The running of the organisation was entrusted to the Managing Committee of twenty-one members, including the President, the Vice President, two secretaries and two treasurers. :rhey were all chosen from among the member-sisters on the basis of consensus once every three years, thus acknowledging their leadership qualities. Any member-sister could write her willingness to be a managing committee member and be selected by due process. There were a few salaried employees, both men and women. There was decentralisation of authority in the day to day running of the branches throughout India. Yet in view of its ever-increasing expansion in size, it was made clear that all the outstation branches and persons connected with it must, without fail, take the approval of

EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

9

the Managing Committee of the Institution, before committing to commerce any new project or starting a new product. Sanchalik as, selected through consensus by the member-sisters from among themselves once every three years, were placed in charge of each of the branches of the institution and its different divisions. The Sanchalik as could be transferred to different branches. To manage its affairs, each branch had a committee of eleven member-sisters, again chosen by consensus. There were Branch Coordination Committees and Area Meetings of the various branches in a region or a state. At the all India level there were the Annual General Meetings attended by member-sisters from all the branches and divisions, from allover the country. The responsibilities of every office-bearer and member- sister were laid down in the constitution and were modified with changing times and increasing growth of the organisation. Active participation by the member-sisters in the running of the institution was sought through open meetings with the sisters at the Head Office on all days from 12 to 1 p.m .. The responsibilities of attending and conducting the area meetings were to be delegated to other members in the branch, by respective Sanchalik as. It was in these meetings that the practical difficulties, with regard to supplies, production and inter-personal relationships, were discussed. The area meetings became less important with time. The Sanchalikas, along with the accountants and cashiers, were to verify the inventories of inputs and finished goods at theit respective branches and divisions. An important decision of the Managing Committee in Feb. 1988, placed the responsibility of handling all cash amounts, sales proceeds and other receipts only by the sisters and not by accountants or any other staff member at any branch in Bombay or out station. 'One sister in each branch' was 'to take the entire responsibility of handling the cash amount and go to the bank to deposit it. This is significant because many among the membersisters had had very little school education and they learnt through direct experience.

10

WOMEX'S ReLE IX MODEM WORLD

Each branch was to act as a self-administering unit, sharing its profits and losses among its member-sisters. Thus they were all directly responsible for the profitable functioning of their branch. In case of mismanagement or loss due to negligence, the concerned Sanchalika or other member-sisters would be relieved of their membership, if the charges were severe or be relieved of the responsibility of the position that they had mismanaged, though they could continue to perform other functions. In case of losses due to fall in standards of quality, the member-sisters bore the loss by reducing their vanai (daily rolling charges). Similarly when any branch was financially doing well, they not merely increased their rolling charges but a~so obtained additional rolling charges in terms of cash, varying anywhere between Rs. 300/- and Rs. 3000/-, or as gold coins, gold rings or gold chains of a particular weight and purity. Several issues of Lijjat Patrika, from 1979 to 2000, enumerate the names of the branches as well as the names/numbers of the member-sisters, who took these additional rolling charges along with the specific amount in rupees or grams of gold. It is important to note that all member-sisters, irrespective of their position in the organisation, received the same amount. In the past three years, the additional rolling charges have been given in money and not in gold. The application of the concept of trusteeship is witnessed in this practice of equitable distribution of profitt loss among all the member-sisters, who were also owners of the organisation. The daily routine in all the branches began early in the morning by five. The sisters arrived at their specific branches by the institution's transport from their homes with the papads that they had prepared the previous day and got their rolling charges paid. All payments were made on a daily basis. Flour was kneaded using a specific formula, divided by kilogram weight to be taken home for that day's rolling and drying. 'Veteran members took home as much as 25-35 kgs per

EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

11

day. Wages were cut for papads that didnot meet the standard quality. Finished papads were brought back to the unit for weighing and packing. 'Each member-sister was expected to roll out at least three kilograms of kneaded flour per day. There were groups of women designated to perform each core function through the day, like preparation and distribution of the raw material, packaging, payments etc in each of the branches. They were fetched from their homes, along with the prepared papads, by buses or vans early in the morning and left back in their homes with the kneaded flour to be rolled for that day. There are frequent references to he purchase/disposal of vans or buses by the various branches. Branches and Divisions, Sales and Export In May 1968, the first branch of the institution was founded in Valod, in Gujarat. Initially, a few membersisters. from Girgaum went by turns and stayed at Valod, for a couple of months at a- time, to train the new member-sisters who joined in the new branch. Once they had learnt the ropes of running it, they were entrusted with the administration of the branch.This was the basic manner in which branches in Bombay and in other states of India were opened, through the ensuing years.

Jaswantiben said that it was easy for her to go for the required few months to Valod, because she had her mother-in-law to hold fort at home ever since she started to work in 1959. The first branch that opened; in any particular state of India, took care of the other branches that opened in the state, especially in their initial stages. Later, they were allowed to manage their own affaires. Thus from the very beginning, the member-sisterS'" were entrusted with responsibility for the proper functioning of the institution .. The central office was the main promoter of these branches and had the overall responsibility. The pace of growth of the organisation is evidenced in the opening of

12

W~MEN'8 RoLE IN MODERN WORLD

several branches in different parts of India. The 21 branch was inaugurated at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh in Nov. 1979,21 branch at Borivili, Mumbai in March 1996, 21 branch in Baroda, Gujarat in April 1997 and 21 branch in Rahuri, Maharashtra in Dec.1998 and 21 branch in Veerayatan, R~gir, Bihar in Dec. 1998. A part from making papads, the institution noon started to diversify in allied or other areas that seemed feasible as a cottage industry. Of these, the Cottage Leather Division (1979), the Match. Industry DiVision (1979) and Agarbathi (Incense sticks) Division were eventually closed down, as they were not via~e. ' The processing- of those ingredients that were needed to make or to sell the papad, were the first to begin functioning. E.g. the Khakra Division in 1974, the Flour mills in 1975 (to grind lentils etc), Masala (Spices) Division in 1976, Printing Division in 1977 and Polypropylene Packing Division in 1978. In 1979, the institution entered into the production of Bakery Products. A very significant field of diversification, started by the Lijjat institution, was in the making of soaps. In 1988, the Managing Committee ga~ approval to the launching of the new Detergent Powder Division at Dahisar, near Bombay.The soap industry had shown a consistent growth of 15% per annum since 1983 and it was likely to continue. The synthetic detergents were cheaper and more efficient then ordinary soap. The raW" materials were locally available. The proce~ . enabled manual production and so was ideal as an appropriate technology to provide employment for rural women. These were the reasons for entering this field of production. Like the papads, soaps had a ready market and availability of labor and raw materials. It was proposed to initially start 20 centres on an all India basis. It was estimated 'that about 2000 to 2500 sisters will get direct benefits as earning members an
EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

13

the introduction of powder and later liquid soaps and soap cakes, under the brand name of SARA, was to see tremendous expansion in du ..~ course of time. 7he total quantity of SASA detergent powder sold by five centres in Dahisar, Pune, Rajkot, Valod and Calcutta till June, 1989 was over 1,000 tons, averaging around 150 tons per month from Dec.1988 to June 1989.' The Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad had expanded to have 32 Divisions and 61 branches of papad manufacturing. Among the divisions were the Sales, Export, Advertising, Printing, Polypropylene and the rest. The branches and the divisions spread over fifteen states of India, with Bombay itself having 17 branches. The strength of the member-sisters swelled to more than forty thousand from the original seven, who had literally and metaphorically set the ball rolling. The total sales figure of the institution for Feb.1980 was rupees forty lakhs~ five thousand and two hundred, averaging to about rupees forty-eight to fifty lakhs for the year. The total sales of the Inst!tution for the 12 months till 31 March 1999, the end of the [mandal year, was Rs.25866 lakhs, showing an increase of RS.1729 lakhs over the previous year. It included the export sales of Rs. 850 lakhs as compared to Rs. 850 lakhs of previous twelve months. In 1980, the exports had amounted to Rs.3.42 lakhs.The member-sisters' earnings, in the form of vanai (rolling) charges and additional vanai charges had risen from Rs. 2954 lakhs of the previous twelve months to Rs. 2954 lakhs during the year ending in March 1999. Broadening Horizons It was but natural that as the working environment

enlarged, the vision became more sweeping in its orbit. The interaction among the member-sisters was greatly facilitated by the occasional Area Meetings of the Branches of a region, Annual General Meetings and the All India Conventions of the Branches. Several issues of interest pertaining to maintenance of quality, inter-

14

WOMEN'S RoLE IN MODERN WORLD

personal and other administrative problems were dealt with in these meetings. For example, at the All India Convention at Valod, held in Dec.1984, topics for discussion included steps to increase production, reduce expenses, maintain quality, have an uniform ac:;counting system and fIxing of rolling charges for the sisters. Apart from this, the travel and the exchange of ideas, for three days at a stretch, were a learning experience for them. Lijjat, and hence the member-sisters, also sponsored or participated in workshops and seminars. With the assistance of UNICEF, Lijjat organised a seminar in Bombay on Child Care and Mother Welfare, as part of the International Year of the Child celebrations, in which many women including member-sisters were present. Several papers pertaining to children and mothers like health care, diet and nutrition were presented and discussed. Lijjat se'"nt as its representative, Bhadraben Bhatt, to participate in the UNESCO sponsored international workshop on 'The role of women in the assimilation and spread of technological innovation' held in Oct. 1984 at NITIE Auditorium, Pawai, Bombay. Similarly, Alkaben Kalia took part in the national level meeting on women convened by the National Commission on Self Employed Women, constituted by the Government of India, to investigate the problems and needs of unorganised women labour. Ms. Ela R. Bhatt, a Member of Parliament and the renowned activist who had promoted the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA.) of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, chaired the Commission. This participation gave an exposure and a voice to the Lijjat member-sisters to relate to others, who were similarly situated and enter· into a dialogue with them for further improvements. Also, the experience gained by the practical functioning of the Lijjat organisation could be put to use to promote welfare measures and remove hurdles to facilitate women at an all India level. The Lijjat Patrika, published in English, Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi, worked as a cementing factor since it

EMPOWERlHG MODEM WORLD

15

published the happenings of significance in the Lijjat institution from all parts of India. It also dealt with other topics 'of interest to promote awareness among its readers. It wrote on the launching of 'A Women's Bank for Women' in Nairobi, Kenya and on 'the Working Women's National Organisation' in Madras, which aimed at promoting employment of economically or socially deprived women. As an entrepreneurial institution, Lijjat took part in several trade fairs and exhibitions held in various parts of India.This participation not only improved the sale of its products but also made the brand name of Li.iiat well known among the people. Tremendous organisational abilities were involved in all these efforts and they proved to be a training ground for the innumerable membersisters, to become active agents in the functioning of their institution, thus indirectly increasing their own selfconfidence. Advertising was undertaken from the initial years through the vernacular newspapers, television and radio. The institution sponsored programmes and gave away gifts for the winners of specific shows in the television.The cost of advertising was borne by all the branches and divisions of the Lijjat institution through an ingenious method. The money for advertisements was spent by the Polypropylene Division, which recovered the same by adding it to the price of the bags that it supplied to all the branches and divisions throughout India.Thus all of them shared the cost of advertisements equitably, according to their individual productive capacity. Once well established, Lijjat attracted attention due to its unique development. Several foreign visitors and officials thronged to see its functioning or to promote similar organisations in their countries. At the All Branches Convention held in Golan in Dec. 84, one teacher from among the group of twelve teachers from Sweden, then in Valod in Gujarat, gave an outline of the voluntary work being conducted by the group. The VicePresident of Uganda, Dr.Speciosa Wandtra-Kasib ,-.e,

, 16

WOIIU'S RoLE IK MODEU WORLD

visited the Central Office in Jan. 96, since she wanted to start a similar institution in Uganda. Visitors came from far and wide, from Israel, UK, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Iran etc. The Lijjat exports to all these and other countries had a hand in the increasing popularity of its name and products, both in the east and the west.

Contribution to Social Service, Health Care and Education Beginning as it did on the principles of trusteeship, it naturally followed that the member sisters made it a policy to return a little of what they had gained, back to the community, as a share in their earnings, either in cash or in kind. Also, they used their organisation asa medium to promote their and their families' welfare, by increasing the availability of health care, by providing scholarships for their children who showed promise in their studies and by cooperating to build houses and promoting their own bank. It was a multifaceted policy that contributed much to raise their own image and that of the organisation in the eyes of the society. In the Valod centre, Gujarat, the very first branch of the organisation, they set up an educational and hobby centre to provide the rural women, who lived there, to acquire new skills. Orientation courses in typing, cooking, sewing, knitting and toy making as well as other courses like child welfare, first aid and hygiene were taught. The fir~t ever pucca (tarred) road in Valod to be built and inaugurated in 1979 was with the help of the Lijjat, Valod branc;h.Thirty member sisters of the Golan sub-centre of the Valod branch participated in a camp organised by the Rural Protection Force at Golan. In the Catering Institute in Bombay, three member sisters gave demonstrations of making papad, along with the technology involved. When Mother Teresa met a few of them during her visit to Bombay, she exhorted them to take part in some activities of Asha Dhan, an institution to care for destitute women, set up by her in Bombay, which they eventually did. One of the most creditable

EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

17

works under taken by the Liijat was the rehabilitation in Chincholi (Jogan) , the earthquake affected village in the Latur district of Maharashtra. The institution provided the finance and supervised the work of construction of fifty-eight houses for the people of the village. Again in 2001, after earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat, Lijjat built forty houses for the rehabilitation of the people of Bhujpur, (Bhachau) in Kutch. It spent 49 lakhs of rupees, obtained as contributions from the several branches. On special occasions, the mem ber- sisters undertook specific activities of social service. E.g. Planting of trees,distributing nutritious food for poor children, donating money (Rs.5000j-) for conducting community marriage, instituting prize-money for spread of primary education, undertaking blood donation drive (1977) and donating a Kiosk computer with information on the city of Bombay to the Postal Authority (which was to be kept at the General post Office, Mumbai). In 1988, sisters of the Rajkot branch, Gujarat, donated 27000 life-saving mixture of salt-sugar packets to the Municipal Corporation, for distribution among the cholera victims in backward areas of the city. In the previous year, they had contributed voluntarily from their vanai (rolling charges) a sum of Rs.3,524 to purchase green fodder for the cows, as a measure towards draught relief work. They cooperated in the community effort in Rajkot by organising to supply one tanker of water to the surrounding villages, till the arrival of the next monsoon. They participated in the cleanliness drive by the Municipality of Rajkot by taking over a ward to clean it.ln 1996, they also donated Rs.I0,OOO, as a one time payment, to the T.B. Hospital for food expenses of one patient. In 1994, the Ramania branch distributed 5000 anti-malaria drugs. The Liijat institution donated packets of papads to the mountaineers, who were attempting to scale the Kanchenjunga, in the Himalayas. Thus there grew a strong tradition of giving donations, in cash or kind, by the m~mber-sisters to social causes.

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WOMEN'S RoLE Jlf MODERN WORLD

The cooperative effort of the member-sisters at earning a livelihood also translated itself into helping each other, in times of need and in promoting measures for health care. Initially, in each of the branches, they started an investment plan by which they set aside a small sum from their daily earnings, which were given back to them as a lump sum at a later date. This was scrapped with the alternative promotion of a cooperative bank, where individual savings were promoted and loans would be made available. The bank was started in some branches and others were also asked to promote it. However this too was not very successful and had to be closed.. Different branches promoted housing schemes for its members on a cooperative basis. In 1977, the first medical check up of the member-sisters along with their family members was begun. In Valod, in cooperation with the Navsari Rotary Institute, an eye camp was arranged. Similar camp was arranged in Bhopal, in 1980. In course of time, better facilities were set up, such as the Medical Care Dispensary, started at the Detergent division at Dahisar. When a member sister or her family needed costly medical help, like heart-surgery or treatment of cancer, the other sisters contributed a sum of money towards the expenses.The Ramania branch at Bhuj organised a T.B. detection camp for the member-sisters and a hundred and forty five likely T.B. patients were examined and necessary treatment was given to them free of charge.Talks by doctors on various aspects of health care were organised for the member-sisters in the urban and rural branches of the institution. Work brought an awareness of the importance of education as a means to advancement in life. Initially the effort was towards promoting the education of their children, especially the daughters. Monetary help and awards were given in recognition of excellence in examinations in schools and colleges. Scholarships were set up in the name of Chhaganbapa, who had been a source of moral support to them from the beginning.

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From the year 1980, several issues of the Lijjat Patrika listed the names of the girls, daughters of the membersisters, who were given Chhaganbapa Smruti Scholarships. These were for XI, XII standards and for university courses. Initially these scholarships were granted only in the Bombay branches, but slowly the idea spread to the other branches else where too.Daughters of Lijjat sisters who secured above 60% in the S.S.C. examinations were to be given a token prize of Rs. 101/ - and successful candidates were asked to send in their marksheets along with their photo, their name and their mother's name. These were published in the Lijjat Patrika.The student, a boy from a municipal school, who topped the S.S.C. list in the city of Bombay was given a token gift of Rs.2000/ - by the sisters.The Lijjat Patrika printed an appreciative article regarding the pledge to remove illiteracy taken by a group of women social workers of the Gandhi Memorial Trust. One major development made by the Lijjat institution was the policy decision to sponsor compute reducation for the daughters and sons of member-sisters from Mumbai-Thane area and this was pursued with great vigor by the institution through the following years. This is significant because though many of the sisters were not educated, the furthering of the education of their children, especially the daughters, was felt to be vital for their future. Computer classes were organised at Dahisar for th¢ daughters of the sisters from May 1997. Another important milestone was when the sisters began a literacy campaign for themselves. Literacy classes were started in the various branches in Mumbai and Bubaneshwar (Orissa). The Managing Committee decided to start similar classes in all the branches in India. The canvassing for the literacy programme was in consonance with the ideology of Lijjat. From the commencement of the institution, distribution of grams of

20

WOIlU'S RoLE III MODERII WORLD

gold, as chain or ring, to member-sisters had symbolised their share in profits and hence was a sign of prosperity. The circular for the call to literacy read, 'Each one Teach one! Literacy is a gold chain, Li.uat presents it to all its bens (sisters)!,'thus equating literacy to progress and prosperity. The first step for this programme began on 18 June, 99 in Girgaum, from where the Liiiat movement had begun. The teaching started in the various branches in Mumbai and in Orissa too on 28 June, 99. Wher. the sisters came to their respective branches to collect their share of the kneaded flour at 5.30 a.m., they were taught for about thirty minutes each day by volunteers or by the daughters of the member-sisters, who were educated. The flier of the programme declared, 'it is very important for anyone to be literate and more so, for a woman. Today a woman cannot be totally independent, unless she is literate. An illiterate woman has to depend on others, even for reading a letter. She cannot write her own letters, do her own accounts, go to the bank, pay the bills etc. on her own. A literate woman can teach her children, can help her husband in his work, can live respectfully without depending on anyone's mercy. Liiiat is very ambitious about this project, to our ambitions, sky is the only limit now!' Settlement of Disputes

Disaffection and dispute are ingrained in human affaires. It is but natural that in the forty two years of its history,

Liiiat faced quite a few discords. From the written records in the office of the Liiiat, it appears that in July 1979, the general secretary of a trade union made certain demands on behalf of a few sisters, who had enrolled as its memb.ers.The President, Mrs. Shashikala More, issued an appeal in Marathi to all the sisters that in case of grievances they should approach her to solve the same, after discussing it with the Committee appointed for the purpose. They were requested not to allow any outsiders to interfere in the matter of grievances of the sisters and

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they must try to sort out and solve their problems after mutual discussions. Shri L.C.Joshi, Labour Advocate of Bombay and a well-known industrial relations expert, was called for consultations. In his observations on Who owns Lijjat?,' he clarified that 'whilst it may be conceded that the women concerned are doing skilled, unskilled or manual work and they are being paid remuneration for the work done by them', under the Industrial Disputes Act, a workman had to be employed to do work in an industry and that there should be a relationship between the employer and him as between employer and employee or master and servant. This relationship of the employer and the employee was constituted by a contract, expressed or implied between employer and employee .. Apart from providing the raw material as per the requirement of each member and to exercise a periodic ~uality control when the papads were brought for delivery at the Lijjat premises as per specificities provided, the organisation had no control over them. The members themselves decided on the valuable articles given as gifts they may receive in six months, one year or two years as the case may be. He thus concluded that 'it appears that there is no master and servant relationship ~xisting between the members and the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad and their relationship does not constitute a contract of service. 'It was therefore open for the members collectively to decide how to improve their remuneration and get other benefits. As partners of the organisation, 'they were competent to take a decision for their own' and it was not 'open for an outside agency to interfere with the internal working of the Mandal. 'Repeated appeals were made to the members in meetings and in the Lijjat Patrika, not to allow those, who had been formerly conn~cted with the organisation, specially in the outside branches, to harass it. To damage its reputation was to harm themselves. The Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh branch, was taken over by one Shantilal Shah as his own unit, which he

22

WOMEN'S ROLE IN MODERN WORLD

ran with the help of a Sanchalika, a wife of his employee. The organisation went through tremendous pressures and court stay orders to retrieve the situation. The main approach of the institution in similar cases was to disassociate with the concerned branch and file cases for protecting its brand name. On the constructive side, it promoted an active participation by the sisters so that there could be better understanding and a sense, of deeper involvement in the progress of the institution. As the number of women increased in the branches, specially the outstation ones, there was the tendency 'for one or two individuals to take the initiative in all matters, not involve the other sisters and dominate the show'. Hence repeated requests were made to the sisters to take keen interest in the activities of the branch because it was 'their right as well as their duty. EQUALITY IN EDUCATION

A study from India by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) and SNDT Women's University, Bombay, of principals of women's colleges indicates that women principals function as confidently as their male counterparts. Men and women identified many similar problems and needs for training. A few problems were gender specific mobility, the ability to visit government offices, and capital city for administrative matters; inability to socialise as much as men and therefore to be less informed on relevant issues than the men, some problems with exercising authority over sexist males and over females who expect greater sympathy, etc., political pressures,' balancing responsibilities as college principals and home-makers, Specific inequities lie in the 'following: Absence of enabling conditions. Access to appropriate qualifications and training' (sponsorship for female academic staff for Ph.D. training), job openings; access to management structures; gender. perspectives in courses; gender on the agenda for all seminars, workshops; monitoring processes to track

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progress; an action plan with measurable indicators of the increasing presence of women on campus. The need for improving women's access to an enabling environment is highlighted in research on specific preparation and sponsorship for management roles. Less women participate in leadership training, are awarded overseas scholarships and get less opportunities for job related administrative training.

Discriminatory salary scales, and fringe benefits (e.g. housing or eost-of-living allowances). Women are less suitable to be appointed to these positions. Evidence from South Africa points out that the same level of education does not bring the same return to women and men. African women earn on average between 72% and 85% of what African men earn with the same level of education. The broad conclusions reached by the GendeI Pay Equity Study in Australia are: (a) as a group women staff of universities have lower levels of permanency and classification than male staff, and are more likely to be casual and parttime employees; and (b) in relation to ordinary time earnings, in universities women earned around 81% of male earnings in 1996, although the gap between male and female earnings has been diminishing during the 1990s. The Gender Pay Equity study suggests two key factors (qualifications and years of experience) which explain the inequities in the employment profile of male and female academics. These observed differences between male and female academics may derive from barriers such as family responsibilities largely inhibiting the ability of women generally to meet the criteria identified as critical to a successful academic career. Publishing productivity. A recent study in the United States by Creame. provides a synthesis of research on gender differences in publishing productivity. Female academics in general publish less over time than male academics. This finding is echoed in an

24

WOIIES'S RoLli: Uf MODEM WORLD

Australian study of early career researchers: Males had a significantly higher total publication index than females, al~o for pUblications in which they were solo or first"author. Women's performance is evaluated as less worthy and they are given fewer resources and opportunities to influence others and prove their competence, research grants, graduate students, and appointment to decision-making committees. Recruitment policies. I Data from the University of

Malaya indicate that women are recruited in greater numbers as assistant registrars and financial assistants. These positions attract a large volume of women applicants, although the university administrative service provides limited opportunities for promotion, compared with the civil service. Tendency is for men to seek employment in the more lucrative public service. While there is a willingness to appoint women at second level positions, greater effort is made to seek applicants (usually men) for the top jobs, often from government service and public sector. Cases of long-serving female assistant registrars moving up to being registrars are not common. The practice of appointment of the vicechancellor and depu ty vice-chancellors by the Minister of Education also inhibits as all involved in the appointment process are male. Segregation. Some countries segregate women in schooling and exclude women from professional and administrative areas which limits opportunities for management roles for women. In such contexts women are limited in the experience they can gain of wider educational planning and can never take a central role in important decision-making about education. Cultural and structural barriers. These are the many overt and covert 'glass-ceiling' factors that impede women's career paths. These include: male managerial styles, discourse and language that 'shut'

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women out; informal organisational cultures also referred to as the old boys club; women's reluctance to self-promote their achievements and capabilities making them institutionally 'invisible'; the persistence of cultural values and attitudes that strongly support women's childcare, family and domestic responsibilities as priority over career aspirations. 'Chilly climate' for women in universities. Women often self-select out of an untenable situation of working the double-day, maintaining a competitive research and publication record, sustaining an often unreasonable teaching load, counselling and supervising students, and putting in 14-hour days plus weekends in their administrative posts. Asmah Omar writing about the universities in Malaysia suggests that women often choose to work in the lower levels and less competitive jobs in universities for the sake of stability and permanency in their work. They reach high levels in their academic lives as associate professors and professors, but are often unwilling to put themselves forward for the management positions. ChandrC'. Gunawardena argues that orientation towards interpersonal relations with peers and children which characterise women may be deterring them from seeking upward career mobility. Under such conditions, women's career aspirations erode, guilt mounts over the inability to do it all., family tensions and break-ups are not uncommon and, finally, as women pull out of the race, they confirm patriarchy's self-fulfilling prophecy that women don't have what it takes to stay the course for the long haul. This, then, makes them seem like unreliable candidates for the most highly coveted positions in the institution. The consensus appears to be that an increasing number of competent women find themselves blocked to the very top positions, and there is a feeling that subtle factors are at play preventing their crashing through the

26

WOMEN'S RoLE Il'f MODERN WORLD

glass ceiling into the highest positions. Tpese are filled on the basis of trust and rapport, patronage or cloning .. Reasons advanced for not appointing women may be that it is a hard job.; we need someone who understands the culture.; we must have someone totally committed to the job. STATUS OF WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION

However strong are women's aspirations, and however much they support each other, progress will be extremely slow unless and until there is public recognition that a problem exists and needs to be tackled. Gender equity policies and programmes merely represent good intentions unless they are backed by appropriate legislation and infrastructure support. Legislation needs to work in tandem with mechanisms and structures that ensure the observance and implementation of the proposed legislation. Similarly, special programmes for women are necessary but they need to be supported at government and institutional level by anti-discrimination legislation and regulation. This support is a tangible expression of organisational recognition for creating an enabling environment for women and it undoubtedly can make a great difference to the capacity of women to manage multiple roles. A number of examples of international, national and institutional legislation and infrastructure support demonstrate this well. United Nations (1979) Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women

This comprehensive thirty article Convention sets out in legally binding form internationally accepted principles and measures to achieve equal rights for women everywhere. It reflects the depth of the exclusion and restriction practised against women solely on the basis of their sex, by calling for equal rights for women, regardless of their marital status, in all fields: political, economic, social, cultural and civil. It calls for national

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legislation to ban discrimination, recommends temporary special measures to speed equality in fact betw~en men and women, and action to modify social and cultural patterns that perpetuate discrimination. Other measures provide for equal rights for women in political and public life; equal access to education and the same choice of curricula, non-discrimination in employment and pay and guarantees of job security in the event of marriage and maternity. The convention underlines the equal responsibilities of men with women in the context of family life. It also stresses the social services needed (especially child-care facilities) for combining family obligations with work responsibilities and participation in public life. The Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development provides a framework for Commonwealth governments and identifies for planners and implementers fifteen areas considered desirable components of the. 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development. Since 1995, the Commonwealth Secretariat adopted special measures to strengthen its capacity to provide gender-inclusive and women-specific functional and technical assistance to governments in key programme areas. These measures were (Commonwealth Secretariat, Gender and Youth Development Division, 1996): 1. Inclusion of gender issues in all Commonwealth and divisional mandates, action and strategic plans. 2.

Gender training workshops to develop the capacity of in-house professional staff for gender planning and gender analysis.

3.

Appointment of consultants and experts, who either have, or will acquire, the capacity for gender analysis and planning.

28

WOMEN'S ROLE IN MODERN WORLD

4.

Equal and equitable participation of women and men in all secretariat activities.

5.

Collation of gt;nder-disaggregated information related to implementing the Plan of Action.

6.

Use of this information to monitor the effectiveness of each division in implementing the Plan of Action.

7.

Gender accounting that identifies and allocates resources to facilitate gender integration as well as undertaking women-specific projects and initiatives to help women 'catch up'.

National Policy of Education, India The Constitution of India guarantees women equality, liberty and fraternity. To overcome prolonged deprivation women were also accorded the privileges of free education and reservation in educational institutions. The National Policy of Education (NPE) is a landmark in the approach to women's education. It has attempted for the first time to address the basic issues of women's eqUality. In the section titled Education for Women's Equality, the policy states: Education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women. In order to neutralise the accu· .lUlated disadvantages of the past, there will be a well conceived edge in favour of women. The national education system will playa positive, interventionist role in the empowerment of women. It will foster the development of new values through redesigned curricula, textbooks, training and orientation of teachers, decisionmakers and administrators. Women's studies programmes would have four dimensions, namely teaching, research, training and extension. Women's issues would be incorporated in courses under various disciplines. Research would be encouraged on identified areas/subjects. Seminars/ workshops would be organised on the need for women's studies and for dissemination of information and interaction.

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The objectives are, by 2000, to enrol more women in various professional degree courses so as to increase substantially their number in medicine, teaching, engineering and other fields. The crowning achievement of this decade have been the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments (1993) which guarantee women a minimum one-third representation in all local bodies both in the rural and urban areas and also reserve one-third of all chairpersons for women. The government in the 1970s moved to bring Australia more into line with United Nations equity initiatives, and to lay the foundations for social change, which included improvement in equity for women. Two pieces of legislation were enacted: Sex Discrimination Act (1984)

The objectives of the Act include the removal of discrimination in the workplace, in educational institutions and other areas of public activities, on the basis of sex, marital status or pregnancy, sexual harassment, and family responsibilities. Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act (1986)

The provisions include the requirement of employers with 100 or more employees to develop an affirmative action programme and to report annually on this programme, to the Affirmative Action Agency. Affirmative Action is appropriate action taken by the employer to .:!liminate discrimination by the relevant employer in relation to employment matters; and measures taken by the relevant employer to promote equal opportunity for women in relation to employment matters. Each year since 1987, this legislation has required Australian universities to report to the agency which assesses their reports against the requirements of the Act. The legislation outlines four areas for review: recruitment and selection, promotion and transfer, training and development and conditions of employment.

30

WOMU'S ROLE IX MODERN WORLD

In 1988 the federal government published its National Agenda for Women setting out the national/priorities for women for the rest of the century. Education was seen in this agenda as a key factor in achieving the full and equal participation of women in all aspects of social, cultural and economic life. Arising from this, a major discussion paper, entitled Fair Chance for All, committed the government to developing a long-term strategy that would make equity centr;:il to the management, planning and review of higher education institutions. Since 1999, all publicly funded higher education institutions have been required to develop equity plans and programmes as part of their annual submissions for funding and student places. Funding allocations under the Higher Education Equity Programme (HEEP) have been based on Institutions' equity plans. In 1995 the Higher Education Council (HEC) began to assess the progress of the higher education system towards meeting the objectives identified in the 1988 higher education White Paper and further emphasised in A Fair Chance for All. HEC has also been given the brief to provide advice on the appropriate foundation, principles, broad national objectives and means of monitoring achievements of the system over the next five years. As part of the assessment process a joint HEC/DEET (Department of Education and Employment) discussion paper Equality, Diversity and Excellence: Advancing the National Equity Framework, was released in 1996 as the basis for consultation with the higher education sector. In June 1998 an independent committee presented a report, Unfinished Business, Equity for Women in Australian Workplaces, to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business. The review's objectives were: (a) to assess whether the benefits to the community from the legislation/regulation outweighed the costs; (b) to assess whether the objectives of the legislation/ regulation couldn't be achieved more efficiently through other means; (c) to have regard to the effects on welfare

EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

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and equity, economic and regional development, consumer interests, the competitiveness of business and efficient resource allocation; and (d) to ensure compliance costs and the paperwork burden to small business be reduced where feasible. The government response to the review was released . in December 1998 and The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Amendment Bill 1999 was passed through the Senate on 9 December 1999. The name of the Act changed from the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity) Act 1986., to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999. The Affirmative Action Agency became the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. A new, simplified report form and guidelines are currently being developed. Organisations will continue to report to the agency annually, unless waived. An advisory board will establish high speed links between the agency and business. The initial priorities for the advisory board will be to give advice on: (a) designing an improved reporting system; (b) targeting industries most needing assistance; (c) developing educational materials; and (d) preparing guidelines on practical ways to provide equal employment opportunities. EQUALITY IN EMPLOYMENT

For the provision of support for gender equity policies and practices, some higher education institutions have taken an important step by establishing equal employment opportunity offices. A study of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) offices in India (Jawaharlal Nehru University), New Zealand (Auckland University) and South Africa (University of Cape Town) throws considerable light on their establishment, development strategies, management, work and impact on the status of women in these institutions. In all three institutions government policy and legislation played a facilitating role in· the establishment of EEO offices. In the case of Jawaharlal Nehru

32

WOMEN'S RoLE IN MODERN WORLD

University (JNU) a cell was established in response to the University Grants Commission to strengthen the machinery for implementation policies. At the University of Cape Town (UCT) the development was consistent with the democratisation process in South Africa. The composition of the staff became a pressing issue as the student body changed. The University of Auckland was responding to special needs of Maori women and other disadvantaged minority groups of women. In each case there was an emerging sense of the need to increase the fairness of all procedures and practices in employment .. This was accompanied by the recognition that large reservoirs of talent were not being used. The JNU Cell is firmly oriented towards effective implementation of government policies, systematic followup, and the maintenance of information bases; UeT has a vision of an institutional culture that is free of all forms of discrimination. The goal of the EEO is to make a decisive difference, through playing a challenging and supportive role, to UeT becoming an institution in which equity is a substantive and lived reality as experienced practically by staff and students, and as indicated by a race, gender and disability proftle broadly corresponding to that of the wider South Mrican population. At the University of Auckland, the task is expressed as to make good intentions a reality, by effective evaluation and monitoring of all employment procedures. At UCT and University of Auckland broad mission statements or goals are followed by designation of target audiences., specific targets and objectives to achieve those, and methods of measuring progress. All need cooperation and liaison with other people and support and involvement from the top (vice-chancellor) are vital. All three offices are responsible for collecting and collating data and reporting on results. Each university provides many examples of innovative strategies and practices to raise awareness of equity issues, to plan new initiatives, to mot.:itor the

EMPOWERIXO MODERK WORLD

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implementation and development of the equality opportunity (EO) plans, and to keep the profile of activities high among opinion leaders. Strategies range from arranging for provision of child care for students and staff, to development of a temporary workers' employment bureau, to re-wording of advertisements for staff to let possible applicants know of reservations or EO policies, to introduction of personal safety measures. Strategies alSOl include routine work such as providing support for the introduction of new ideas and practices in faculties and university departments; offering training programmes, collecting and analysing data; monitoring of recruitment, selection and promotion procedures; and finding ways to increase the pool of qualified applicants for positions. A key issue is the main streaming of activities. Importance of power in universities reinforces the need for EO principles and practices to b~ accepted and promoted at the highest levels within the university, and at managerial levels (whether academic or administrative) throughout the university. WOMEN'S UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES

In many countries, especially in Asia, enrolment of girls in higher education is extremely low. Among conservative families and communities, parents, fearful of their daughters' reputation and marriage prospects, are opposed to sending their daughters to a mixed gender institution. There is also a feeling that their performance will suffer in the face of the distractions provided by the presence of men students. In such circumstances, as a step towards enabling more female students to obtain the benefits of higher education, a number of countries have encouraged the establishment of all-women colleges and universities. Women's universities have been established in many countries to provide for the special needs of women students and to enable a larger group of women to have access to university education. Until recently women's universities existed in the United Kingdom. Japan has

34

WOMEN'S RoLE IN MODEM WORLD

several women's universities, Bangkok has one, the Philippines Women's University was established in 1919 and was born out of an inspiration and a vision of women's potential roles in nation building and India has several while Pakistan has just established its first women's university. The SNDT Women's University in Bombay was established in 1916 by a social reformer to make higher education available to poor and low-caste women. Since then there are four more women's universities, two deemed universities and nearly 1,000 women's colleges, constituting nearly 10% of the total number of colleges in India. These recognise that women are still denied to higher education because of poverty, social and cultural situations and uneven opportunities. The Fatima Jinnah University in Pakistan has been established' on persistent demand of parents who prefer to educate their daughters in a womer.'s institution rather than sending them to co-education instItutions. Pakistan has twenty-three other public co-education universities. The focus and curriculum of these universities in India has moved ahead with the times and now provides high-quality professional and academic education to women, comparable to that available in the coeducational universities and colleges. They retain their special focus on women who may enter universities late and provide courses for non-traditional groups and adult learners. These universities introduce areas of special interest to women, offer courses which meet challenges of modern times and make women self-reliant. Some also assume responsibility for monitoring, conducting research with a feminist orientation through women's studies and consultancy. The programmes and courses of the Fatimah Jinnah University have been formulated to prepare the students to meet the challenge of the next century. The university hopes to prepare all the students to grow into self-aware, confident and contributing members of society. The

EMPOWJtRllfG MODERN WORLD

35

courses and programmes are non-traditional, and in the areas which are economically viable in management sciences, computer sciences, information technology, social sciences, fine arts and education. Women and development is a compulsory course for all disciplines. Similarly, research methods, introduction to computers and creative and scientific report writing in English are some of the core courses currently being offered. In addition, a Women's Resource Centre has been established on the university campus to involve the students in awareness raising activities. Many of the women's colleges have been able to introduce gender positive initiatives. These initiatives have included both curricular and non-curricular interventions. Among curricular interventions are a large number of courses in emerging areas; offers of job oriented gender-neutral vocational courses; introduction of women-related topics in various subjects. Noncurricular interventions included: gender sensitisation programmes; personality development programmes for improving skills in communication, leadership, etc.; selfconfidence building courses; and life skills programmes for balancing career and home. India affords one of the best examples of increasing access for women through women only universities and colleges. In a gender segregated society like India, separate women's universities playa significant role in promoting women's education. The number of students at these colleges may otherwise never have had an opportunity to work in higher education. The teaching staff as well as the management and administrative staff of these colleges and universities are mostly women, providing these women a greater avenue of employment, further training, and promotions. Opportunities exist for more women to be appointed to positions of ieadership. There are also clearly more openings for women to be at the helm of these institutions. The only woman Vice-Chancellor in Pakistan is the Vice-Chancellor of the newly established Fatimah

36

WOMEN'S ROLE 11'1' MODERN WORLD

Jinnah Women's University. The programmes which are specially geared to the development needs of women have had significant impact on student's perceptions and selfimage. Indiresan reports several perceived advantages of attending a women's college. These include confidence building, improved communication skills, better social interaction, greater freedom to participate in sports and physical activities, greater intellectual development through improved participation in debates and discussions, more opportunities for developing leadership qualities and greater awareness of ethical, aesthetic, cultural development and gender sensitisation. In general, the women students feel that the type of exposure that they get in women's colleges, the opportunities provided to them and the safe, secure and supportive climate all enhance their sense of overall competence, gives them confidence and makes them feel empowered to face the challenges of life .. Women's studies and, more recently, gender studies are taught in many universities. However, in very few instances they aim to improve the participation of women in higher education. Most of the studies are academic studies and do important work that illuminates the problems faced by girls and boys, men and women in various facets of their lives, especially in education and employment. These groups seldom play an activist role in lobbying for change within their own institutions. Some women working in the field of women and higher education are convinced that women's studies should not only shed light on the issues and solutions but should also play an important role in enhancing the participation of girls and women at all levels of the education system. In India, as a follow up to the National Policy of Education, 1986, the Programme of Action 1992 recognises the value of women's studies as a critical input to promote better understanding of women's contribution to social processes within social, technological and environmental change, their struggles and aspirations, conceptual obstacles that make them

EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

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invisible in many areas of scientific enquiry. The programme aims to investigate and remove structural, cultural or attitudinal causes of gender discrimination, and thus empower women to achieve effective participation in all areas of national or international development. Dimensions to be supported are: research, teaching to change present attitudes and values of men and women to one of concern for gender equality; training of teachers, decision-makers, administrators and planners. The Women's Studies and Development Centre, University of Delhi, which is supported by the University Grants Commission focuses its efforts to strengthen women's studies programmes in Indian universities and to initiate changes and help develop curriculum material, human resources and research in women's studies. ICT AND WOMEN DEVELOPMENT

Feminist scholarship has pointed out women's unequal relation with technology, including ICT, as gender relations often determine the use and impact of technologies. Wajcman, for example, argues that "though new technologies do represent a force for change ... the outcomes are constrained by the pre-existing organisation of work, of which gender is an integral part". Likewise, Wambui notes that barriers to effective use of ICTs in developing countries are a microcosm of existing gender relations in societies where women are socialised towards non-technical careers and away from technical work such as software development. Despite this gender bias in the characterisation of men's and women's work, women have not been excluded from the ICT sector. In India, women have been an important part of the ICT work force. Equally, research in industrialised countries has noted the feminisation of software production with a higher and increasing representation of women. Nonetheless, the contextual force of existing gender relations continues to exert a strong influence on the relation between women and

38

WOMEN'S ROLE IN MODERN WORLD

technology in ICT -related work. The emergence and progressive reinforcement of a masculine culture in this field has been emphasised. Studies have also found that in the software industry, women work as operators or programmers in the nonmanagerial group, while men are predominant in managerial positions of project leaders or departmental managers. Feminists in Western countries have explained such outcomes partly by focusing on the gendered nature of the concepts of skill and technology due to flexible specialisation, where flexibility is a process of economic restructuring driven by technological change, by increased globalisation and by growing marketisation that involves a drive towards a greater variability of skills, hours and contracts in the labour market and, in some sectors, a downward pressure on rights, wages and conditions. Two forms of flexibility have been identified in relation to employment: functional, which is the ability of firms to transfer labour between tasks and break down job demarcations; and numerical, which is the ability to adjust the number of workers they employ to correspond with the demand for labour and goods. Competitive market pressures have driven forward the growth of these flexibilities resulting, for instance, in the creation of low skilled and insecure jobs for women reflected in growth in the European context of practices such as home working and part-time working (ibid.). Such findings, though, relate almost entirely to industrialised countries. One can see the triad of technology, globalisation and marketisation come together in the Indian context to drive on the growth in call centres and in business process out sourcing: eulogised as the epitome of innovation and flexibility, these business activities are mirrored by the stress, insecurities and vulnerabilities of the employed workers; reflected in concerns about high attrition rates and gender implications. Nevertheless, in general terms, relatively little has been researched or written about the specifics of gender

EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

39

relations in the ICT sector in developing countries. If the private sector and the market produce gender concerns in relation to women, ICTs and development, what of ICT projects driven by government or NGOs? Certainly hopes have been high that ICT projects can play an important role in reducing gender inequalities. Of course, there is a recognition that existing gender relations do have a strong influence--under "normal" conditions women will find themselves facing barriers of unequal access to ICTs, and unequal access to the benefits of ICTs. Hence, the clear guidance on good practice for ICT project interventions from the micro-level of participatory assessment of needs to the macro-level of gendersensitised policies on infrastructure. However, even here there are concerns about the gender-blind nature of some interventions and-as with market-led ICT productionthe problem remains of relatively limited work based on actual experiences in developing countries. Shaped by economic liberalisation and privatisation, the informatisation strategy in India since 1991 has seen moves such as the de-licensing of the electronics industry and liberalisation in foreign investment and trade policies. The software and services component of the ICT sector has emerged as one of the fastest growing industrial segments, increasing from US$170-million worth of output in 1991-92 to US$8.8billion in 2003-04. Operating within a competitive business environment, with successful networking with overseas entrepreneurs and supportive government policies, the software industry benefits from impressive human capital and has gained a sustainable competitive advantage. In response, leading global software companies have set up subsidiaries and joint ventures in India, and many more local entrepreneurs have started software companies. Spurred on by this, many governments in the individual Indian states have initiated micro reforms to attract more investment in the ICT sector to their respective regions. The Government of Kerala state (GOK) in South India is no exception and it has developed

40

WOMEN'S RoLE IN MODERN WORLD

policies that emphasise ICTs as an engine for industrial growth and employment. The state's leT policy in this domain articulates a three-fold strategy: (1) establishment of a vibrant ICT industry; (2)

building up a robust infrastructure; and

(3)

up gradation of the quality of human resources.

All three of these were brought together in the creation of the state's "Techno Park" at Trivandrum as an identified location for leT-based enterprises. It was India's first technology park and remains among the largest in India, hosting over 50 IT and information technology-enabled service companies which employ some 5,000 IT professionals. These firms are active in a range of software-related activities including production of business applications, Internet technologies, embedded systems, animation and Web technologies. The dominant field is software production and maintenance for large foreign and domestic clients covering a range of sectors (finance, retail, health care, telecommunications), innovation (from conversion of old "legacy" systems to design of new e-commerce solutions), and skill levels (from basic programming to complete "turnkey" projects). The firms operating in the Techno Park are private sector; mostly either subsidiaries or joint ventures of foreign companies or larger domestic firms head quartered elsewhere in India. The government's policy actions in enabling .development of the Techno Park are therefore seen as market-oriented-the government plays no direct role in the park such as customer or supplierand also as gender-blinq, since there has been no specific consideration of the role of women. The Government of Kerala's leT policies stretch beyond this, however, and beyond gender-blind, market-oriented initiatives to direct ICT project interventions that tap into the broader range of relations between leTs and enhanced social and economic development. Kudumbashree -which means 'prosperity of the family'-is an initiative of the Kerala State Poverty

EMPOWERING MODERN WORLD

41

Eradication Mission (SPEM) which was launched on lApril 1999 as a women oriented, participatory and integrated approach to fight poverty. Families below the poverty line are identified by a multi-dimensional set of indicators based on non-monetary factors. Neighbourhood Help Groups (NHG) or ayalkootam -a type of cooperative of ten women-are formed as the basis for each Kudumbashree unit and they then operate in a multifunctional mode: partly as an enterprise aiming to increase employment and ensure stable income for the women, but also as micro-finance organisations in the form of thrift societies, and as self-help grGUp~ for discussion and action on issues such as health and nutrition. The enterprise side of the Kudumbashree units can take many different forms (for example working in clothing production or in processing of agricultural produce). However, one of Kudumbashree's most innovative aspects has been its use of ICTs to form the basis for some of its enterprises. This has been innovative in its instigation -very rarely has any attempt been made to enable poor women to make direct use of ICTs-but also in its outcome: as seen below, the ICTbased enterprises have now been operating successfully for five years albeit that the majority of their work is drawn from government or other public sector sources. Before moving on to discuss the two main cases-Techno Park and Kudumbashree -some mention must be made of the more general Kerala context. Kerala rates relatively highly-as least compared with other Indian states-on various social development indicators. The sex ratios are in favour of women in the sense that for every 1000 males there are l036 women in Kerala, women have a greater life expectancy, and there is acceptance of the small family norm. More generally, levds of education and measures of strength of civil society are relatively high. Some therefore talk of Kerala having a very particular model of development based on specific institutions, interventions and historical processes.

42

WOMEN'S ROLE IN MODERII' WORLD

While certainly recognising the specificities of any particular context, we would make two points. First, the nature of the generic Kerala context does not particularly interfere with our attempt to compare the two different types of leT-related intervention since it is the contextual differences between the approaches that are seen as a main determinant of differences in outcome. Second, the Kerala context has not' placed it outside the mainstream in many ways. For example, the economic marginalisation of women in Kerala has drawn considerable attention as a process providing an impediment to improving the status of women. As one instance, while the female work participation rate in India increased from 19.7% to 22.7% between 1981 and 1991, in Kerala the ratio declined from 16.6% to 15.9%. Empowerment through ICT-Based Enterprises In contrast to the Techno Park initiative, Kudumbashree involved significant and direct state intervention that was gender-focused. Data gathering included substantial semi-structured interviews with four state officials involved with the project. In addition, interviews and observations were conducted with ten members of Kudumbashree leT-focused units. Analysis of statistical and qualitative data provided by Kudumbashree leT units was also undertaken. In all, 1,206 Kudumbashree units are now operational in a range of sectors. As noted, all are cooperative enterprises owned, managed and operated by women from poor families and, among these units, there are three types of ICT-based enterprise: 45 are IT training units which provide IT training to schools; 56 are data entry and digitisation units which mainly create local digital content for public (and to a lesser extent private) sector organisations, but which may also do some other IT work; and 5 are hardware assembly/maintenance units. Som<..-particularly the data entry units-are attempting to move up the value chain into basic software and Web

EIIPOWBRIJIG

MODEM WORLD

43

development work. A short case example of one leT based unit is provided as follows: Technoworld Digital Technologies (TOT) is a Kudumbashree leT unit initiated in 1999 by ten women from below-poverty-line families who provided US$300 of their own money, which was matched by a US$3,000 bank loan and a US$2,500 local government subsidy used to purchase a basic computing set up. Their total asset base had risen five-fold by 2004 to a system of 22 computers plus computing peripherals worth US$30,000. The unit mainly undertakes data entry work for state government departments under the government's digitisation programme. It has undertaken work such as eD rewriting and some Web site maintenance, and it also provides IT training to a number of government schools. Work patterns are based on two main shifts (7.30am to Ipm, and Ipm to 6.30pm), and forty additional staff have been employed over and above the original ten women members, including a number of men. As in the Techno Park, there has been a sizeable employment impact, with the ICT units creating jobs so far for 2,000 women. Initially c. US$30 per month was set as the income for each member in the leT units contacted but today c.US$50 is being earned by each member. In addition to this, loans for various purposes have been approved within the groups and surplus funds are being diverted for reinvestment in the business. Therefore women have built these small enterprises into sustainable income livelihoods. There is also a genuine perception of the women themselves that they have been empowered; and have at least partly achieved a break with pre-existing gender relations. This is seen partly in the capacity of women to take on all of the managerial roles required in an ICTbased enterprise, and in their ability to grow the enterprises in both employment and asset terms. It is particularly seen in the capacity of the women to hire and manage men as employees. This empowerment has already had broader impacts, with a number of women

44

WOMEN'S RoLIt IN MODItIUf WOIU.D

from the units having been elected as local government counc111ors. It must be recognised that development of the Kudumbashree IT units has required a significant degree of institutional support from government departments, banks, other financial intermediaries, and other local organisations. This is a reminder of the downsides of interventionist ICT projects-they may rely strongly on the interventions and find it difficult to sustain themselves without ongoing intervention and support. On the other hand, one should also". see this as a two-way process: the institutions have 'helped the women's enterprises develop but, simuli'aneously, those institutions have themselves developed. In particular, they feel they have now -developed a much better understanding of the livelihoods and needs of women in poor communities.

CHAPTER 2

WOMEN AND THE COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Men have in the past had almost exclusive access to skilled manual work. Vocational training, which often has a strong technologist emphasis, has traditionally been highly skewed towards men. Men protect their technological advantage in employment in ways which make it difficult for women to break into male technology strongholds. Traditional demarcations lead to differential experience and thence both in capability with and attitudes _to technology. The result is a highly negative prospect for material benefits accruing to women through technology, and this has been a long-standing concern. "What about all ~he ignorance of women, all the exclusions and failures of knowledge and skill? Explanation of this difference is not straightforward. Is it the result of a cultural response to technology which continues to be positive for men and negative for women? Girls and women tend not to undertake technical subjects in school and higher education, which has direct implications for the nature of their subsequent employment. This might be reinforced by differential access to domestic leisure technologies, in particular the home computer. Male advantage in information and communication technologies (leT) access across a range of leisure technologies is well attested. Feminist approaches to the

46

WOMICIf'a ROLIC Iff MODICRIf WORLD

impact of technological change on the welfare of women have sometimes looked to technology, if in different ways, to alter the gendering of power. For instance, for Plant "cyberfeminism" predicts the creation of an alternative, feminised cyberspace network which speaks of a freeing of space for women, unrestricted by social location. However, such views have been. criticised as having little to tell us about the position of most women or about the real effects of most technologies. Material welfare still depends crucially on activity and on work. Yet there is no inevitable reason why technological change should have a male bias. This depends in part on change in the underlying technologies. In many of the more industrialised societies manual work is in decline, while both white-collar and service jobs are in the ascendant (at least numerically). Some of these are increasingly female dominated and in many such occupations computers are an important tool. As a corollary, the male bias in use of technology and the associated differentials in rewards could be expected to diminish. Indeed, though with a variety of causes, there has been some closing of the male-female wage gap for some years. The gain in the ratio of women's to men's pay has been in white-collar work. Men, and especially young men, have in recent years suffered more than women from declining job tenure. The skill level of women's fulltime work is often not dissimilar to that of men. While considerable job segregation remains, in the now highly expanded white collar sector computer technology is spread evenly across the genders, so that the link between segregation and technology might be weaker now than 20 years or so ago. At least the patterns if not the levels of job segregation will change with new technologies. This conforms with assertions that job segregation does not explain inequality as strongly as it used to. The thesis here is that men do not use technology more than women but simply sooner. They are, in diffusion terms, early

WOMEN AND THE CoMIIUIIJCATJON TEcHNOLOGY

47

adopters, but women always catch up. All domestic leisure technologies reach saturation point in the population, by which time gender is insignificant. In 1995 7% of European internet users were female, 17% in the USA. By 1998 these figures had become 16% and 41 % respectively-even if intensity of usage is stronger amongst men. Other data suggest that female usage of the internet was 55% in 2001 in the UK and 60% in the USA, up from 21% and 40% respectively in 1999. In Germany, 39% of men in a large sample aged 4559 in 2000 used a PC for leisure compared to 25% of similarly aged women. The figures for men and women aged 16-29 were 56% and 45% respectively. Employers select workers for technology access, and so it is difficult to relate employee response to innovations in terms of diffusion. However, the response to innovation can also be measured at the household level, as domestically the selection effect does not arise. Indeed, new domestic and leisure technologies diffuse through the population on the basis of by now quite well-known patterns. Although there has been a tendency for diffusion analysis to be undertaken at the household level, the evidence suggests that men are generally more likely to be technological innovators than are women. However, there are certainly a priori reasons for expecting women to become heavy users of a home PC. As women spend more time at home they have greater opportunity to use one, and increasingly independent control of home finances could encourage internet purchases by women. Every new domestic technology becomes part of a household's "moral economy", which helps shape its usage, location and even meaning. Practices related to these are not static over time. While the male advantage in innovation might be consistent, it need not be fundamental in differentiating behaviour in the long or even medium term. Measuring technological engagement at any point in time appears to give men the advantage, measuring it longitudinally renders the advantage nugatory.

48

WOMU'S RoLE IX MODERII WORLD

Perhaps the sum of the differences ac·ross technological cycles is important in its social effect, but this still means there is no fundamental difference in the technological engagement of men and women. Women's lesser engagement with computer technology is the result not of different technology attitudes but of differential experience with technology in employment .. Experience,. whether derived from horne or work, drives attitudes. As a final caveat, this implied change does not mean that the benefits to women through computerisation over recent years are universal or consistent. Both the expanding service sector and the new information society require a mix of work which is highly skilled and work which is routine and low-skilled. A central issue here is flexibility, but it is important to distinguish here between individual autonomy and flexibility meaning availability to the employer. Webster locates the growth of IT in work specifically in a context of degradation of skills, security and control. It is possible that the wage effects, while real, are rather slight; and that they also mask a polarisation in benefits between some women who do well and others who undertake poorly paid, highly routine computer-based work. Men and women differ in important characterisHcs such as work status and pay, which themselves might explain the differences in ICT behaviour. Many studies indicate that education level is one of the major factors that influence leT access and usage in general. The literature on gender emphasises the importance of this variable and shows a gap between men and women in the education level in general and in technology education in particular. As already suggested, sociologists claim that this gap starts early in the kindergarten, and continues through primary and secondary education. Boys tend to show more interest than girls in technical aspects relating to games. This reflects directly on their future decisions regarding education level and educational subjects, occupation and way of life.

WOMEIf AltD THE CoMJIUIflCATIOIf TEcHIfOLOGY

49

However, education now differs very little between men and women. The literature regarding women's participation in the labour force indicates the gap between men and women in general and in work status, wage, occupations distribution and career choice in particular. Although this trend has changed in recent years and more women are joining the labour force, ~ere still remains a wide gap between the genders that might lead to different attitudes and behaviour in everyday life, including adoption and usage of new technologies. Examining the differences between men and women in work status in the sample, we have found that there is an average gap of 17% in labour force participation. Comparing these numbers with other international statistics reports on the labour force we found much similarity, though in Germany the gap in our sample is higher (24% compared to 17-20%) as also in Norway (15% compared to 9%). Women and men allocate their time during the day differently, mostly for functional reasons but also partly as a result differences in education level, work status and cultural values. However, the most significant activity for women is unpaid' work (shopping, house cleaning, house maintenance, children care), which lasts around 4 hours during the day. For men, the major activity is paid work that also lasts around 4 hours a day while unpaid work lasts 2 hours. In other words, there is a gap between men and women regarding work status. But they both spend the same time on media and leisure activities. A complementary analysis betw~en men and women was carried out on the frequency of leisure activities. GENDER GAP IN ICT ACCESS

The mobile phone is the most popular among the ICTs products. Women and men using the mobile phone more then any other ICTs device. One of the reasons is that it is easy to Qperate and supplies an immediate need for communication with no limit on time and space. The ownership of mobile phones among the genders is higher

50

WOMEN'S ROLE IN MOD£lUf WORLD

compared to computer and Internet use. However, there is still a gap between men and women (of an average of about 13 percentage points). Several studies claim that women need to communicate with family members, friends and others much more then men. In general men spend more time using mobile phones than women, except in Italy. In most countries unemployed women spend more time than unemployed men using the mobile phone while employed men spend more time using mobile phones than employed women, except in Italy. Studies of internet use show that users are again most likely to be men. However recent statistical surveys show that there has been a strong growth in use of the internet among girls, reducing the gender gap in the adolescent's age group. The ITU report shows that the gender gap in the USA and Canada has vanished. Fortunati and ManganeUi shows that Italy has a larger gender Internet usage gap than any other of the European countries. He also mentioned that Italian men are more interested in the Internet while women show more interest in mobile phones. The SIGIS report points out that there has been a strong growth in female access and use of main ICT technologies like home computers, the Internet and mobile phones in recent years. More women are joining the "ICT club", using mobile phones, computers and Internet. Thus, some reports claim that the gender gap regarding ICT has narrowed in recent years. The diffusion is based on respondents' experience with the Internet, which was converted into the year of Internet adoption. Some studies indicate that women's interest and usage of computers and Internet is very different from that of men. For example, women tend to search the Web mostly for health information and ed.ucational purposes, while men are more likely to seek news and entertainment online. There are also gender variations in terms of intensity of usage where women tend to spend less time using computers as well as Internet at home

WOMEII AND THE CoJlJlUJrtCATION 1'BcHlfOLOGY

51

compared to men. Research of diffusion of innovation uses the time and ran~e of usage as a measure for intensity of use of the new technology. The more people are willing to spend time using the new technology, the more it will be considered as a succ~ss for the adoption process. There is a gap between the genders regarding leTs. This gap appears in the length of time C1f using the Internet as well. In general women tend to use the Internet less than men in all the surveyed countries, although the average time is different across the countries. Women in Norw'ay and in Germany spend a third of the time that Israeli women spend on the Internet. Analysing the effect of years of experience in the Internet by gender, we see that in addition to the fact that men spend more time using the Internet than women, the impact of experience is much stronger for men. Women's usage does not increase with experience of the internet. Men and women have different interests in using the Internet. Looking at the differences we see that women tend to use the Internet mainly for searching infonnation on travelling, holidays and education while 'men are usually involved in a wider range of activities ~nd concentrate mainly on travel and holidays, banking, education and shopping activities. It has been argued that people who spend more time in the Internet are willirtg to reduce the time dedicated to other activities. Thus, we see differences in time allocated to different activities between people who are considered as heavy users and compared to those who are considered as light users. However, heavy and light users. might simply be different types of people with different time-use patterns so that the latter are simply reflected in their intensity of internet usage. Either wflY, though, there is no obvious reason to expect the differences amongst men between heavy and light users to vary much from the equivalent differences amongst women. Light users who are men engage far more in such activity than their female

52

WOIlU'S RoLE IN MODEM WORLD

counterparts. From Raban we know that heavy users are younger people, and that a smaller proportion is married with the responsibility of children's care. We can therefore conclude that younger people with less marital responsibilities can "squeeze" more Internet time into their dai1:r routines. The SIGIS report found that women tend to feel that computers and the Internet are not very useful for their daily lives. The "IT for All" survey, divides the responden.ts into five groups that indicate the level of agreement or disagreement to a set of attitudes towards te€hnology. Their findings show that the figures for women are concentrated more in the lowest level of agreement than men. Yet male predominance is much more fragile tl1an appears at first sight when we look at attitudes. Men,have a more positive attitude to computers than do women, but these attitudes are themselves in part a function of experience. Gender differences in leT usage are more strongly reflected in differential resources than in differential responses to technology. 23% of men but 29% of women have 0-2 consumer durables. 18% of men and 27% of women have no car. 29% of men and 42% of women fall into the two lowest categories of household income. Indeed, attitudinal differences to technology between men and women make little difference when this is taken into account. This gap in cons\lmption between men and women is general and subsum~s the gap in technology. A final question, though, is whether the consumption gap is itself caused by differential attitudes. Do women have more negative attitudes to technology; engage with computers less at work than do men, thus acquiring fewer computer skills, and ultimately earning less as a result (which then limits their purchasing power). This would mean that technology is after all a fundamental discriminator o{ the welfare prospects of men and women. So, are technology differences by gender associated with a difference in wages?

WOMEN AND THE CoMMUlfICATlON TEcHNOLOGY

53

Bulgaria is excluded as being somewhat of an outlier; the remaining countries are pooled (with Israel as the reference category). The critical variable is labelled 'computer skills'. This shows up as giving a 5% boost in hourly wages to men and 6% to women. Thus, while confidence with computers shows a gender difference (in Britain), actual skills, clearly only derived through experience, do not. This supports the idea that experience is perhaps a counter-balance to earlier gendered socialisation. What about actual usage? The aim of the next analysis is to see if use of a computer either at home or at work is associated with higher wages, and if so whether this varies by gender. Use of a work PC has a positive effect for both men and women in all countries but the wage impact of use of a computer at work is at least as strong for women as for men in three countries. This powerfully suggests that any male advantage in use of technology at work is circumscribed and is perhaps short-term. It is work experience, not a lack of a positive response to technology, which is important. The differential in PC usage does not result in a lag in rewards to PC usage. Rather, women benefit. This perhaps suggests that. computer usage is helping to reduce the gender pay gap in some countries. Moreover, in some cases women also gain more than men from use of a home computer. In sum, and more so than in the case of age, gender differences in ICT behaviour-where the focus is new ICTs-derive in large measure from differential resources. They have little to do with any underlying attitudinal or perhaps even lifestyle differences. These change with circumstances. When women use computers at work, they benefit fmancially at least as much as men from this, and the type of jobs where they can benefit is growing. This does not mean that the gains are substantial, only that technology is not a barrier. FAMILY RESPONSmlLlTlES OF WOMEN

Resources depend critically on employment, and family

54

WOMEN'S ROLE IN MODERlf WORLD

responsibilities, whether actual or potential, limit women's work far more than men's. Have new technologies served to ease or worsen this burden? The rapid increase in female employment in the second half of the 20th century ameliorated gendered inequality to some extent but produced new forms or extended old forms of inequality in others. This is most easily visible in the difference in pay and prospects between men and women but applies also to the conditions under which women participate in work, for instance through part-time work or through work which retains links to the home. The second of these two conditions of employment is the focus here. It has attracted a much more limited literature than other aspects of female employment. Work at home is of especial interest because it is often held to be not only 'work' at 'home' but a specific form of work. While the rise in female has had major welfare benefits for women and society, the move outside the home into paid employment left a residual type of work at home requiring little skill and generating even less money. However, the professionalisation of muc;:h female paid employment in combination with new leTs has encouraged conceptualisations of a new class of worker such as the 'cybertariat'. Such work can also easily be undertaken in the home, both by men and women. This raises some distinct questions. First, whether the growth of telework is itself gendered; second, in so far as women have participated in this, does it mean we should update our view of !:he character of work at home? Finally, to what extent is female work at home polarised into the more privileged telework and a possibly exploitative form of homework? Hakim argues that home-based work "is undergoing a regeneration and renewal". The reasons are the growth in service work and of ICTs which can support this work at home. It is also tied up with self-employment, second jobs, and part-time or intermittent work, which implies that work at home can to ~ome extent mean any of these things.

WOIID A1fD THE CoMMUNICATION 1'zcHNOJ.OGY

55

In Britain the proportion of the workforce using their home as a base for work increased from 7% in 1981 to 10% in 1994. Of these only one third were women. In eLiving there are clear gender differentials in the case of telework and homework. The female rate is set at zero rather than one, so the male rate is either a surplus or deficit. The answer to the first research questionwhether telework is gendered-is clearly yes. The second question implies that old-style homework is being replaced by telework, so that work at home reflects a process of professionalisation amongst women rather than an outcome of poverty. So, are these differences related to occupational characteristics? In the case of both men and women a higher proportion of teleworkers than of homeworkers are in professional or managerial work, though the latter level of work predominates in both types of working at home. There is also a strong gender differential in the types of jobs done in the different categories of work. Most noticeably, female teleworkers and homeworkers are both more likely to be in clerical or service work than are men. However, we cannot simply contrast a privileged male telework 'elite' to a large group of underprivileged female homeworkers, although that is part of the picture: there is a large core of female clerical or service homeworkers, including teleworkers, who presumably do relatively routine work. Many factors might explain these differences. People work at home for a variety of reasons-to supplement their normal work through extra ~ffort, for family or related reasons, because they are self-employed, or as a prelude to retirement (or indeed post retirement). The first of these reasons implies a male bias towards homework as men work longer hours, and they are also more likely to be self-employed (and the selfemployed are more likely to work at home). Across all four countries the proJi>ortion of the self-employed that is male is higher, though this varies. In the UK 7% of women were selfemployed in 1990 compared to nearly 17% of men. The

56

WOIIE!f'S ROLE IN MODERN WORLD

figures for Germany were around 5% and 10% respectively, in Italy 15% and 26%, and in Norway 4% and 9%. In contrast, women have stronger family reasons to work at home, as they more often take on the chief responsibility for the home and children. Retirement might affect both equally. This means we have no a priori grounds for predicting whether men or women are more likely to work at home. Occupational factors might therefore be a critical factor as men and women's occupations tend to be highly segregated. One thing already apparent is that women tend to be similar to men, for instance in time spent at work, the higher the occupational status of their werk;--Thus, we might get considerable polarisation both between men and women but also within each gender as we move 'down' the occupational hierarchy. It is possible that this is greater amongst women if we assume that in a sense female professionals have managed more successfully to acquire 'male' conditions of work. Comparing two occupational categories where women work in large numbers, the proportions of women's to men's hours in professional and managerial work are 83% in Britain, 71 % in Germany, 80% in Italy and 82% in Norway, while in service or clerical work they are 69%, 66%, 90% and 81% respectively. Thus female clerical workers are often likely to work substantially less long hours than male clerical workers (with Italy as an outlier), but the difference in professional work is smaller. Time spent working is a welfare issue, but we have no way of deciding a priori whether long hours are desirable or undesirable as this depends in part on the preferences of the worker, which might also vary over time. The countries vary in the ratio of female to male pay. In Britain, Germany and Italy, there is a clear class divide, with the pay for manual work favouring men far more than women. In Norway this ratio is much closer to equality. Nearequality in Britain occurs in white-collar work, including

WOIRN AND THE CoMMUNICATION TEcHNOLOGY

57

service work, which has a ratio of 93%. In most occupational groups, in most countries, male pay is significantly higher than female pay, but the differential can be close enough in some cases to suggest that the type of work being done is often similar. What, though, about the hours and pay of the telework and homework categories, compared to 'standard' workers? Unfortunately, numbers in some cells are too small to look at each country individually. The sample has to be pooled. It was shown above that male clerical teleworkers work quite long hours. Here it can be seen that they are also poorly paid relative to professionals. Professional telework, and to a lesser extent homework, are associated with relatively higQ. pay for both men and women when compared to standard working. Whereas male clerical homeworkers get more than male teleworkers and standard workers, female clerical workers gain nothing or little from either telework or homework. We can perhaps sum up all these differences in an assessment of the relationship between the forms of work and perceived quality of working life. Moreover, the differences between teleworkers, homeworkers and standard workers are greater for women than for men. Female teleworkers feel they have a particularly high quality of life whatever their occupation. Female homeworkers tend to feel somewhat better off than standard workers. Nevertheless, in the case of professional and clerical work, female homeworkers are more similar to standard worker:s than to teleworkers. There are therefore some signs of the polarisation mentioned above in the second hypothesis. On the other hand, this is structured more around our categories of work (telework, homework and standard work) than around type of occupation. There are some ways in which it is possible to imagine the family having some effect. People within a family are likely to have similar views and to engage in similar behaviour, in so doing perhaps reinforcing each

58

WOMEN'S RoLE JIf MODERN WORLD

other's behaviour. Change might also occur through mutual access to ICTs provided by or for one person, or by reciprocal influence of each other's tastes or attitudes. One way or another, we might expect high correlations between the behaviour of members of a cou~le. Against this, generational differences in taste are likely to reduce the correlation between parental behaviour and the. behaviour of their children, even if availability of resources for all family members derives in large measure from parental income, and despite a high probability of a shared educational background. Equally, partners' or spouses' tastes or behaviour might conflict, and access to or usage of ICTs might even exacerbate this. One person's need to work at home in isolation from domestic disturbance, but also duties, might be an example of a source of such conflict. The main aim of the following research is to see if it makes sense to view ICT behaviour in terms of household characteristics such as family type or specific family relationships rather than only in ipdividual terms. Families differ in their circumstances. It is not surprising that this should include differences in access to domestic ICTs. There are very substantial national differences in ownership, of course, but at whatever level this occurs the variation by family type i::. the same. Families with children have the highest ownership, people living alone the lowest. Lone parents are very similar to 'other'. Couples are relatively unlikely to have a home computer if they do not have children. One thing is clear here. Whereas it was shown before that in the case of age and gender, differential resources play a key role in the distribution of ICT ownership, here specifically familial factors come into play. Families with children, even lone parents whose income is on average relatively low, are the most likely to have a home PC. The provision for children is apparent from the columns showing the positiun in lone-parent

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families and other families with children. In these cases a far higher proportion of families has a home PC than is reflected in usage by adults. While 53% of lone parents have ensured their children have a PC at home, for whatever purpose, only 36% of lone parents use a home PC. This might be a result of much self-sacrifice by the parent(s) but could also indicate differential tastes where the home PC is used predominantly for games. It is of note here that families with children, whether with one or two parents, are more likely to cite expense as a reason for not getting a home PC, while lack of need was cited by those living alone (mostly older people) and in couples with no children. This also indicates the importance of children in this form of home consumption. The significance of children is shown also in time spent using a home PC per week. This is highest amongst people living alone at 2.3 hours, falling to 1.9 for parents of children. 47% of people living alone use the internet 'most days', a figure which falls to 36% for couples with children, though this is 41% for lone parents. However, neither computer knowledge nor computer phobia varies much by family type, as other factors such as age, gender, and education are more important. Te1ework patte'fns also vary little by family type. 15% of lone parents who are working do some type of te1ework in a week, but this is only 19% for other families and 20% for couples.

All in all, it is the preferences of children which make for family differences in ICT behaviour. They clearly take priority. This is reinforced by the fact that only part of these differences results from differential resources. 64% of people living alone fall into the two lowest income categories, as do 45% of lone parents, 38% of couples, and 27% of families. In other words, despite being relatively poor, lone parents struggle to ensure that their children do not lack the possessions of other children, at !east nominally.

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Again it is of note that lone parents tend to have a relatively high number of these goods. Many of these aspects of consumption, work and family life are interconnected. While multivariate analysis does not necessarily unravel these connections on its own, it does, by fixing some of these at set values, enable us to get a better idea of the real impact of the remaining factors. Thus, analysis was undertaken using logistic regression to see whether home-PC ownership is associated in each country with family type once we control for level of resources (number of goods and car ownership).

Couples Couples are a subset of the above but are of special interest as their joint resources, activities and tastes determine much that happens in any wider family, while couple members are also two individuals whose resources and tastes might reinforce, complement or have little to do with each other. As in the case of age and gender, and to a lesser extent family type, the effect of some of this no doubt again has to do with availability of resources. If we look at the relationship between ownership of consumer durables and PC usage: where no such goods are owned the proportion of couples where both uses a home PC is (unsurprisingly) zero. This rises to 1% where one durable is owned, 3% where th"'re are two, then 12%, 23%, 31% for three, four and five durable respectively, and so on. In 24% of couples both spouses or partners use a home PC, in another 24% one couple member does, while neither does in the remaining 52%. Thus, ·in half of couples where a PC is used at all, one spouse or partner fails to use this, but this varies considerably by country. In all countries the proportion of individuals using a home PC is slightly higher in couples than in the population (for instance 50% of couple members in Israel, compared to 45% of individuals, use a home PC). But . while Britain and Germany have about the same take-up rate (around 50% of all individuals), and the same

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distribution of usage across couples, Israel has a not much lower take-up rate (45%) and yet distribution within couples is totally different. By far the predominant outcome is usage by one couple member. It appe?xs that in Israel where there is a family PC only one spouse or partner is expected to use this. In Britain, Germany and Norway, equal access is more likely than single access. However, this does not mean the inequality is in favour of men. Where only one spouse or partner uses a home PC, significant male predominance occurs in only three countries. Britain and Germany are similar in the probability that two members of a couple use a home PC, but where only one member uses this, in Germany this will probably be the man, in Britain the gender split is more equal. Italy and Israel both have a low proportion of couples where both couple members use a home PC, but where one uses this, in Italy this is very likely to be the man while in Israel it is slightly more likely to be the woman. Cultures vary in the likelihood that couples will share their ICT experiences. How general is this sharing? This question is examined below simply by looking at the correlations between different aspects of ICT behaviourthe time spent television watching, the time spent is use of a home PC, computer knowledge and computer 'phobia'. It is clear that behaviour is much closer in the case of television than of use of a PC. Only in Bulgaria, where PCs are far less COPlmon and therefore their usage more of a specialised actiVitY, is there a substantial correlation in PC usage. If we look at cases where both use a PC the correlations either become weaker or more strongly negative. So, PC usage in couples is not a shared activity in this sense. It is highly individualistic. However, with the exception of Germany and Norway, both knowledge of and attitudes to computers are fairly highly correlated within couples. The similarity of general engagement with new ICTs is distinct from actual domestic usage of these.

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Usage Of PCs irl. practice is not only an individual activity but is .itl;CeIy to be associated with individually distinctive behaviour even within couples. Despite sharing practical needs arid a general level of resources, these correlations are vcity low: Only those aspect's perhaps hinting at shared cultutal values-purchase of videos and CDsresult., inl no~ble correlations. ,

CHAPTER 3

WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LIBERALISATION

Gender is a key determinant of vulnerability to poverty. Whilst the processes which bring about poverty among men and women are similar, there are processes which are gender specific. Women are more vulnerable to fall into, and to remain entrapped within poverty, than men. The vulnerability to poverty of women is strongly linked to their pattern of employment and to their disadvantaged position in the labour market. Women workers in developing countries are concentrated in jobs which bring low earnings, are irregular and insecure and are beyond the effective reach of labour and social protection laws. Three main factors channel women into low-income, low-productivity and often casual employment: Women's reproductive and domestic responsibilities are generally perceived to be their primary function. This perception reinforces structural barriers to Women's access to education, training, land aI'ld productive assets, restricts Women's time and mobility for productive work and limits their choice of income-earning activities. Women are perceived to be merely secondary earners so that often men have prior;ty over women in the allocation of opportunities for remunerated employment. Women face unequal access to productive resources and services although they are largely dependent on self-

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employment for which land, capital, technology and labour are critical. Many women produce for the international market both directly and indirectly. Rural women in Africa, Asia and Latin America are involved in producing agricultural or horticultural 'products for foreign markets, or work for wages in traditional cash crop plantations. In industry, women work in factories, not only in export processing zones (EPZs), but also more broadly in clothing, food-processing and electronics industries, and, generally, in industries with a high propensity to export. Overall, existing evidence seems to suggests that women are likely to benefit from the employment-creation dimension of trade expansion, but that this is largely limited to the industrial sector. The situation is much less clear with respect to agriculture. Trade-related employment is also recruiting women in varying degrees in services such as finance, tourism and information processing and in agribusiness and food processing. However, the relative importance of the services sector and Women's representation within it varies significantly among regions. The current and prospective labour demand for women workers in the modern services sector has been little studied and warrants much more research. The existing research on women and trade consists primarily of several case studies of EPZs and of exportoriented manufacturing firms (mainly in East Asia and Latin America, but also Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), some household-level case studies of women with jobs in such firms and two cross-country studies. The contribution of EPZs has been much studied, as the majority of their employees are women. Studies have focused on employment opportunities, which favour women, and working conditions. Some argue that women fare better in EPZs than in, domestic industries, especially when total remuneration is taken into account; others show that pay is poorer. Working conditions generally appear to be poor, although

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arguably not usually worse than in most jobs open to women. Some evidence also suggests that young single women were the preferred workforce, at least initially, in many EPZs in Asia. Other evidence shows clearly that wage discrimination tends to be more severe among married persons than among young single persons. One important conclusion of this research is that the growth of export-oriented manufacturing has benefited women. It has created many jobs for them (both absolutely and relative to men) often drawing them into paid work for the first time, at wages which, although lower than ·those of men, are often higher than women would have earned in the alternative forms of work open to them. In some countries, the regularity of the wages from these factory jobs, and the location of the work outside the sphere of control of male relatives has empowered women, increasing their influence on household decisions, and permitting them to escape from situations of domestic violence and oppression. However, it is also observed that these gains may be only short term. The agricultural export sector (plantation and small farms) accounts for the bulk of women's trade-related economic activity in Africa but remains relatively under-researched. The limited evidence shows that the effects of increased exports of traditional cash crops in Africa are generally less favourable to women than to men. But the picture is mixed, with differences between traditional export crop production, newer exports such as horticultural products and agro-industry; the gender impact of the latter is particularly under-researched. The impact on women of expanding export production varies according to social and other factors governing the division of labour. Increasing demands on women's labour contribution to export cash crop production (where they generally work as unpaid family labour for male relatives) can lower their nutritional status and of that of their families, where income is appropriated by men and not spent on

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food, or else drain women's energies if they keep up production for own consumption. Women farmersparticularly female heads of households-may find it difficult to become independently involved in the production of newer export crops because of limited access to credit, technology and marketing channels. Many women have found employment in agro-industry but this may not have improved their status as much as in manufacturing, as the work is highly seasonal and dependent on yields. CASE STUDIES

The gender-differential effects of increased openness to trade vary with resource endowments, educational levels, labour market institutions and policies and socio-cultural norms. The use of national case studies may help to illustrate some of the mechanisms operating in relation to trade and women's livelihood opportunities. This approach poses some methodological problems as it is difficult to disentangle the effects of trade expansion from those of other simultaneous changes. Nevertheless, tentative interpretation can be made of the limited fa.cts observed. Comparison between regions with different performances in relation to trade expansion may be of particular value. Asian and African countries have experienced divergent outcomes from increased openness to trade mainly resulting from their different comparative advantage, based on abundant labour in Asia and on abundant natural resources in Africa. Women seem to have been better placed to benefit from trade in Asian than in African countries. Joekes has developed a schematic model of the gains and losses to women from expansion of trade, based on differential property rights. The more positive outcome for women in Asia may be attributed to the fact that women's labour power is less alienable than their rights over land and natural resources, which are tightly constrained and contingent. As well as comparing across regions, comparison between

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countries within regions may shed light on factors which lead to more or less positive outcomes from trade expansion, in terms of gender equality. Here, case study material will be drawn from Bangladesh (archetypal low income, low education, labour surplus case), Pakistan (which has implemented similar economic strategies but where expansion of textiles and clothing has apparently been more male-intensive) and Sri Lanka (with relatively high levels of skills development and particularly of female education). Uganda and Ghana may also provide a useful comparison as they are both reliant on smallholder production of agricultural expOrts, but with a greater and growing reliance on and high levels of female involvement in non-traditional crops in Uganda. These are all lowincome economies of particular interest to DFID in respect of its poverty reduction objective. A gender-aware approach to trade expansion and liberalisation should assess, first, the impact of trade on women's current material status, given existing tasks and responsibilitie$ under the gender division of labour. Secondly, it should establish whether outcomes and policies contribute to more egalitarian gender relations, either by reducing the basis of women's economic disadvantage or by modifying the gender division of labour (in the household or in the labour market) so that it is less prejudicial to women's income-earning capacity or well-being. The analysis of case studies below will try to illustrate, wherever the evidence allows, direct, shortterm employment effects of trade expansion and liberalisation as well as longer-term effects. The former depend on where women are located in the process of production, and also on the extent to which trade liberalisation has an impact on the relocation of production. Longer-term effects concern whether there is any change in gender segregation by sector and occupation or in gender divisions of labour in the household, whether wage discrimination decreases and whether there is any improvement in labour legislation

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with reference to women. Moreover, income, welfare and bargaining power benefits within the household and the impact on different groups of women (by age, education, income group etc.) will be highlighted, wherever possible. Ghana is a low-income economy well endowed with a range of natural resources. The economy has traditionally depended .to a high degree on primary (agricultural as well as mineral) production and exports, particularly cocoa. Human resources are not well developed, with an adult literacy rate of 64 percent in 1995, although much improved from only 31 percent in 1970. Literacy rates are still much lower for women than for men and are particularly poor for women over 35. The literacy rate for women is estimated at 53 percent compared to 66 percent for men. Gender differences in enrolment in formal education have narrowed slightly since independence but persist particularly at higher levels. In 1993, primary enrolment ratios were 83 percent for boys compared to 70 percent for girls. In urban areas, lack of qualifications and a narrow range of skills restrict female access to formal employment while in rural areas they limit farm productivity. Up to three-quarters of female farmers have no education. After a period of severe economic difficulties, in 1983 Ghana implemented a structural adjustment programme (SAP), supported by the World Bank, with trade liberalisation as a major component. Imports have gradually been liberalised (quantitative restrictions were abolished and tariffs reduced) and efforts have been made to promote exports over a period of around seven years. These changes were accompanied by a series of massive devaluations. However, some elements of protection and bias against exports remain in place. Following the implementation of liberalisation policies in Ghana, there has been a general expansion in the level of production in all sectors and significant export growth. However, the composition of total production and of

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exports has not altered much. Primary products are still very important in the export sector, so that the economy remains highly vulnerable to sharp changes in commodity prices. Moreover, there has been continued heavy dependence on a small number of traditional exports. In 1994, cocoa exports continued to provide around 42 percent of total export proceeds (no change over 1983), and mineral exports accounted for around 36 percent of total export value. Although the supply response of some non-traditional exports to the strengthened incentives has been fairly strong, the importance of manufacturing as a foreign exchange earner has remained small at less than six percent of total exports. In terms of employment composition, the reduction of the agricultural share in total GDP and the increase in the agricultural share of the total labour force, may (tentatively speaking) indicate that the agriculture sector became more labour intensive during the reform period. For industry, the converse argument may hold, and also more strongly. This may be partially attributed to the expansion of aluminium production, which is generally skill intensive, and to the contraction of some labour-intensive sectors, such as garments and footwear, in the face of increased competition from imports. This may have had a gender-differential impact, as the garments and footwear sectors employ predominantly women, while male workers are the majority in the aluminium industry. Labour force data disaggregated by gender over a longer time series than currently available w,oo.ld enable a comprehensive assessment of changes in women's employment brought about by trade reforms. Given the lack of this information, only few in:ferences can be drawn, based on scattered evidence on the distribution of female employment across sectors. The female labour force as percentage of the total labour force seems to have been stable over time, represennng around 40 percent both in 1975 and 1994. Women's participation

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rates are generally high throughout Ghana, with some regional diversity. The most striking feature is that about 90 percent of women are self-employed or work as unpaid family labour in agriculture, agro-based enterprises and commerce or small-scale manufacturing in the informal sector, in activities with low productivity and low incomes. The division of labour is highly segregated in both traditional and modern wage sectors. In agriculture, the majority of women are food producers, and a small percentage are independent farmers, while the majority work in joint family farms. Women cultivate smaller plots than men and produce mainly for own-consumption. Only a small number of women are working in the modern sector and very few hold managerial positions. The government accounts for about two thirds of total employment in the modern sector, but women are under-represented here and concentrated in a narrow range of occupations. The labour force is strongly feminised in the trading sector, in which women made up to 86 percent of the persons employed in 1984. Most of women's activity is in petty trading, although a small percentage of women have gained substantial market power. Since liberalisation, the trade sector has become more differentiated. With regard to the distributional impact of the reforms, in agriculture the benefits of adjustment have largely accrued to medium and larger farmers in the cocoa sector, of whom few are women. There is little evidence as yet of women own account producers switching to cocoa production in response to' trade liberalisation. Their limited access to credit, inputs, and other resources may have hindered their ability to do so. This points to the need for enabling policies to be introduced to allow women better to take advantage of price incentives. On a positive note, a recent World Bank study highlights a significant reduction in poverty among households headed by women in the 1980s, reversing earlier trends.

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71

The marked reduction in rural poverty is due mainly to growth in non-farm self-employment which is the main source of income for female-headed households. These activities are mainly service based and probably have been stimulated by the surge in both imports and exports during the period of economic reform. A commonly held view is that women in West Africa generally, and in Ghana particularly, enjoy a greater degree of economic and personal autonomy than women elsewhere in SSA. However, the autonomy of the m~jority of women in Ghana is highly circumscribed by the limited range of their economic opportunities and lack of upward mobility. Moreover, increased participation in market activity alone is unlikely to lessen gender inequalities, since the terms of women's participation are constrained by inequalities at the level of the household. When all nonmarket work is accounted for, women work on average longer hours than men. Men have considerable control over women's work time. Women are responsible for all reproductive labour and rely on female kin when engaged in market work.

.,

Women are also often expected to contribute to husbands' enterprises without remuneration. These constraints, combined with lack of start up capital, limited access to productive inputs and lesser skill endowment$, severely limit the scale of women's operations. Even if adjustment has increased the extent of women's market activity and thus their income-earning capacity, there is nothing in the reforms to enable women to overcome these scale constraints, to improve the productivity of their enterprises or to sustain income rises into the longer term. In another example, Uganda has been successful in overcoming much of the devastation caused by many years of political instability and since 1990, it has been one of the fastest growing African economies. Nevertheless, it remains one of the poorest countries in Africa with a per capita income of $US 220. Human resources ill Uganda are quite poorly developed with

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significant gender differences in education levels. Less than half of the female population (46 percent) are literate compared to almost three quarters of the male population (71 percent). Overall enrolment ratios remain low and only 29 percent of girls compared to 48 percent of boys complete primary school. A programme of economic reforms began in 1987 in Uganda with the implementation of the WB/IMF Economic Recovery Programme (ERP). Trade liberalisation has involved the termination of most imports bans, gradual tariff liberalisation, the introduction of more streamlined export and import procedures and the dissolution of state marketing and processing monopolies. Economic recovery has averaged six percent a year since 1987. Output in agriculture, by far the most important sector of the economy, is beginning to recover. Nevertheless, the economy continues to suffer from serious economic imbalances. The trade balance remains highly vulnerable to fluctuations in world commodity prices, particularly coffee. Other traditional export crops (cotton, tea, sugar and tobacco) have not recovered from their collapse in the 1970s and 1980s. Trade diversification has occurred in agriculture, with a significant rise in non-traditional agricultural exports (NTAEs). Coffee's share of total merchandise exports has declined from about 90 percent in 1985/86 to about 65 percent of the total in 1993/94. Uganda has almost no current capacity in export manufacturing (less than one percent of total exports are manufactures) and the share of manufacturing in GOP (5.4 percent in 1990) is lower than in Ghana. The services sector accounts for around one third of GDP and only one tenth of the labour force, whilst in Ghana services account for the same share of GOP but for a much higher share of the total labour force. The formal services sector is male dominated while informal services, mainly roadside sales of food, tobacco and newspapers, are more female intensive (males are 68 percent of the workforce in services overall). The majority

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of Ugandans (89 percent) live in rural areas and smallholdings provide livelihoods for most people. It is estimated that 90 percent of rural women and 53 percent of rural men are engaged in agricultural production. About two thirds of food production is retained for own use, although this share is declining as more food is marketed on a regular basis. Women account for most of the labour involved in the production of all three categories of agricultural output: food for consumption (80 percent of the total labour force), traditional exports (60 percent) and NTAEs (80 percent). The latter comprise about one quarter of total exports and include cereals and beans, as well as fish and other high value-added products such as vanilla and horticultural products. There are important gender distortions in labour markets. Women's wages are, on average, 40 percent below those of men and as much as half of this gap is estimated to be due to direct discrimination. Gender inequalities are particularly strong in the agricultural labour market where women are concentrated in the category of "unpaid family worker" whereas men are concentrated in the category "self-employed". Data are generally lacking to analyse changes in the gender composition of employment in each sector and subsector resulting from trade reforms. In agriculture, the reforms implemented in 1987 have had an effect on trade performance, but basic food production has been stagnant. Export successes have been limited to NTAEs. It seems that women have been better able to participate in this instance. By 1992, more than 25 percent of women farmers h::ld adopted new food export crops and 48 percent of all women farmers were producing NTAEs. Some of these products (e.g. green beans) are grown both by large and small farmers, sometimes on contract to international food marketing companies and processors. This has the advantage, from an equity perspective, that small farmers can produce and market them as successfully as large.

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Mow..

WORLD

On the other hand, production of flowers for export, despi te its agricultural character, is closer to an industrial process. A contractual wage labour force is used, whose terms and conditions of employment are akin to those of industrial workers, except that the work is clearly seasonal. Where production of these nontraditional, semi-processed agricultural outputs has been developed, evidence suggests that this has relied on the specific use of female labour. This has led to increased incomes for households involved, but the demands on the labour of women and children may have social costs (such as girls substituting for their mothers in household tasks, at the expense of their schooling). Moreover, women do not always sell the crops and control the proceeds. Kiggundu observes that 53 percent of soy growers are women but that often they are not the ones selling the products, and therefore do not have control over the receipts. This confirms the view that generally women producers are less able than men to capture the benefits of increased producer prices and for this reason, the effect of new incentives on agricultural supply response is dampened. Gender inequalities within the household appear to be strong in Uganda. Intra-household expenditure appears to favour men and boys over girls and women. In many areas, there are striking differences in the welfare status of female- and male-headed households and between males and females in the same family. The increased involvement of women in NTAEs may contribute to reducing these gender inequalities but data is to assess this is lacking. Sri Lanka, for another example, is a low-income economy, with some mineral deposits. Sri Lanka's human development indicators are remarkably good for a poor country with a literacy rate higher than 90 percent. Compared with other developing countries, the gender disparity in formal education is, not significant. Educational attainment levels of both men and women have shown a persistent upward trend and the female

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literacy rate, at 87 percent in 1995, is only marginally lower than that of their male counterparts. Among employed females, the share of persons with no schooling had been reduced to around 25 percent by the early 1980s. Sri Lanka adopted liberalisation policies in 1977 and since then has succeeded in attracting both foreign and domestic investment in manufacturing. The policy reform facilitated an acceleration of GDP growth to an average of about 5.6 percent during the early 1980s. The fastest growing sectors since 1977 have been the industrial sector (mainly garments and textiles) and the service sector, 'whereas activity in the agricultural sector has grown more slowly. One of the forces behind the growth in manufactures has been the increasing presence of EPZs, with a largely female workforce. Garments industries have predominated with subsequent promotion of food processing and non-metallic mineral industries. As a result, the composition of exports has changed'in favour of unskilled labour-intensive manufactures, primarily _ garments, and the employment share of this sector has also increased. Agricultural exports remain important, nonnally accounting for between a quarter and a third of total exports. However, in 1986, textiles and clothing overtook tea as the country's leading exports. Despite economic changes and sectoral shifts in composition, the bulk of female workers are still concentrated in farm- and plantation-based activities at the lower end of the occupational/ skills range with limited vertical career mobility. The comparatively low cost of labour and the enthusiasm on the part of foreign investors to establish themselves in a new quota-free location facilitated the emergence of the textile industry as a major employer of female labour. The incremental employment generated for women by the expansion of manufacturing has positive features, but much of it has been concentrated at lower levels of the occupational structure and displays low wage

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characteristics. The female: male ratio in manufacturing increased from 25 percent in 1963 to 80 percent in 1985 amI. employment of women in manufacturing increased by ~O percent from 1977 to 1995. The distributional implications of the reform package implemented in 1977 have been assessed in many studies. Many of them contend that liberalisation increased inequality in Sri Lanka. Some authors, on the other hand, question the reliability of the income data available, and furthermore conclude that Sri Lanka's economic liberalisation policies did not aggravate income inequality. While these studies do not explicitly refer to the gender distributional consequences of trade liberalisation, a few inferences can be drawn out. The fact that benefits accrued mainly to entrepreneurs and to larger-scale operations suggests that less of the benefits will have accrued to women, who are under-represented as entrepreneurs, and who tend to be employed in greater numbers in small-scale operations. Data for the last ten years or so are scattered. A World Bank study on unemployment in Sri Lanka explains the high rates of unemployment among women, and in particular, among young educated women, with reference to the very limited mobility of women across occupations and the high degree of gender segregation, confirming the trends highlighted in the ILO / ARTEP study. It is observed that much of the expansion of employment over the past decade has been in prf!dominantly male occupations-such as the military and the police-while the growth of job opportunities for women has been limited to the garment industries and in domestic t:mployment abroad. This latter activity has become an important phenomenon in Sri Lanka. The small stream of unskilled and semi-skilled workers migrating abroad in the late 1970s had swelled to nearly 500,000 by 1990. These workers, mainly migrating to the Middle East, have often been exploited by unscrupulous agents. Women working as domestic serva,nts abroad make a crucial contribution to the

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nation's foreign exchange earnings and to family resources, but at considerable cost to themselves and with minimal improvement in their position. Pakistan is a semi-arid country with a total population of 128 million people of which two thirds live in rural areas. Illiteracy is widespread (71 percent) and is particularly prevalent among women and girls. Eightythree percent of females are illiterate, with no change in the period 1981-91, while 60 percent of males are illiterate with a decline of five percent in the same period. Enrolment ratios are much lower for girls than boys at all levels: 49 percent of eligible girls were in primary school compared with 80 percent of boys in 1993. Since 1988, Pakistan has implemented a structural adjustment programme (SAP) under the aegis of the World Bank and IMF, with trade liberalisation as a major component. However, the economy has not responded to the reforms as quickly as policy makers had hoped and macroeconomic imbalances remain serious. Although the trade deficit declined in the mid-1990s, this was primarily due to falling imports rather than any growth of exports. Despite a commitment to export diversification, the country remains highly dependent on the export of cotton and cotton products. Growth in agriculture has been relatively slow and recently the manufacturing sector has also been expanding very slowly. The major export, cotton textiles, relies for its competitiveness on the invisible low-paid and unpaid work of women, both' directly in cotton picking and small-scale manufacturing and indirectly in household production for own consumption, which enables textiles mills to pay low wages to men. Pakistan appears locked into a stagnating, lowincome, low-productivity economic regime. The labour mC\rket in Pakistan is highly segmented, particularly in urban areas because of widespread segregation between the sexes. Women are- crowded into low-productivity activities. This segmentation has high equity costs

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WOMEN'S ROLE IN MODERN WORLD

because the poorer the family, the more likely they are to depend on women's earnings. There is serious underestimation of women's work in most official data in both rural and urban economies. The annual labour force surveys (LFS) give an implausibly low female labour force participation rate of 11.9 percent for rural and urban areas combined, while the agricultural census from the 1980s indicates that women's participation rate in agriculture was 73 percent. More reliable and consistent gender-disaggregated labour force data, broken down by sector, are much needed for any comprehensive labour market analysis. Agriculture, including livestock, contributes directly and indirectly to the export sector and is the most important source of livelihood for rural Pakistanis, the majority of whom are landless labourers or sharecroppers. Productivity is generally very low. Cotton is one of the main sources of growth and export earnings while wheat is the main food crop. Women are extensively involved in agricultural production, mainly in homestead-based agricultural activities, while men are responsible for most field-based, outside activities. There is no data readily available on relative shares of labour input in agriculture by gender. Modern industry largely consists of labour-intensive processing of agriculture products as well as textiles and clothing. In 1992-93, textiles and garments accounted for 64 percent of total export revenue. This is a male-intensive sector: men comprise 88.3 percent of urban manufacturing sector workers, while women represent only 11.7 percent, at least according to official statistics. However, there is evidence of widespread subcontracting by garments enterprises which frequently employ poor and lowermiddle class young women. Most of women's work in textile and garments is done either in informal" sector workshops or by home-based workers. The service sector in Pakistan is overwhelmingly male intensive, with female workers being restricted to community and personal services. Women are virtually

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79

excluded from transport activities and account for a very smaIl share of fmanciaI and trade-related services. Two thirds of all urban employment is in the informal sector, with around twenty percent of the employed working outside the home, mainly in small workshops for larger firms, while the majority are home based. In rural labour markets, women constitute the bulk of unpaid non-agricultural work and also are more active than men in wage labour, which is one of the lowest paid rural occupations. In both formal and informal sectors, men's wages are substantially higher than those of women. Moreover, many women obtain work through middlemen, receiving about half the rate of women who are contracted directly. With the currently available information is quite difficult to assess what the changes (if any) are in women's livelihoods, resulting from- trade reform. Moreover, the impact of trade reform to date has itself been limited. Much more detailed, disaggregated data would be required to monitor the gender-differentiated impacts of further reform. The social costs and benefits of growth have been inequitably distributed in Pakistan. Although information on poverty is not disaggregated by gender, gender inequality in income distribution is marked: women receive only ten percent of total earned income, while men receive 90 percent. Comparing Pakistan's performance with other South Asian economies, one interpretation is that the marked gender biases and distortions in labour and other markets may be in part responsible for the sluggishness and lack of supply response in the Pakistan economy. In turn, they have deprived Pakistani women of the benefits from trade expansion that women in comparable countries, notably Bangladesh, have gained. For another example, Bangladesh is a case of femaleled industrialisation, par excellence. The emergence of export capacity in manufacturing in Bangladesh is quite recent. The degree of female intensity in manufacturing is far above the norm for other developing countries,

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although consistent with the very high share of clothing in its export production. In garments enterprises, 70 percent of employees are women. Bangladesh has a poor human development record, with a 62 percent illiteracy rate overall, rising to 78 percent among adult women, in 1995. While female literacy has risen more rapidly than that of men, it remains very low. There has been considerable improvement in the gender gap in enrolment in recent years, particularly at primary level, but overall, primary enrolment is far short of universal. A major IMF-assisted adjustment programme began in Bangladesh in the mid1980s and included trade reforms. Exports increased considerably, as did imports, and employment in exportoriented industries expanded in consequence, especially for women. The female activity rate apparently increased from only ten percent in 1985 to 63 percent in 1989 although problems of under-reporting have affected the earlier surveys, so that the increase probably appears greater than it is. Seventy-one percent of economically active women work in agriculture, while 21 percent work in manufacturing, concentrated in rural industries. Although women's involvement in rural industry has been increasing, their share of the workforce tends to fall as units become larger or more technologically advanced. In large-scale industry, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of women working in garments and textiles and, to a lesser extent, pharmaceuticals and fish processing. Some evidence suggests that most women in the garment factories are very young, mainly unmarried or divorced, and probably have a basic level of education, since entry qualifications often include a literacy requirement. Women are favoured as employees in export-oriented firms but their employment in these industries is less stable than that of men. A very small but growing number of female workers are also engaged in the construction industry as unskilled day labourers. One

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interpretation is that the case of Bangladesh shows that it is not absolutely necessary for a country to have a generally well-educated female population in order to break into world markets in clothing. Up to the present, the rate of labour force participation among (the albeit relatively small number of) more educated women in Bangladesh has been extremely low. More accurate information on the educational level of women in the manufacturing labour force (and conversely on possible changes in labour force participation rates among women according to their educational level) would be valuable in helping to examine whether a competitive, modem sector can be built up employing workers with minimal levels of education, contrary to the assumption in Wood. Information is available on wage rates in the export sector in Bangladesh. The average weekly female wage in manufacturing is Tk 178 compared to Tk 283 for men. However, this conceals the fact that among unskilled workers the gap is minimal, at 3.9 taka per hour for males and 3.8 taka for females (a female: male wage ratio of 0.97). A concrete interpretation of the situation might be that employers, knowing of the prevalence of women workers in the industry in other locations, are prepared to pay equal wages-even in ~ome cases perhaps a wage premium to women-at the early stages of export industrialisation, in order to encourage women workers to come forward. Once the labour supply pattern is established, a wage gap may emerge, as in other countries, through a range of mechanisms; such as differential seniority payments, marital status bonus or discount, differences in employment contract status or differential job grading. In this case, the relatively gender egalitarian situation in export-oriented employment would not persist. This situation needs to be closely monitored. More importantly, it represents an opportunity for public action to prevent a w~ge gap by gender appearing among unskilled workers.

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Jamaica has a substantial export manufacturing sector, and a growing presence in the international market in services. It is a rare example of a country where female-intensive growth in manufacturing has been replicated in the new services sector. Data-entry has been established as a significant export activity, employing women workers almost exclusively, in lowskilled but prestigious and relatively well-paid quasiclerical jobs, many in the Digiport. In addition, Jamaica has seen more rapid growth of the fmancial sector than of any other sector over thb past two decades. While GDP rose by 19 percent over this period, the finance and insurance sector grew by 182 percent and by 1989 it provided 9.1 percent of Jamaican domestic product. In total services, "other private services" which include financial services as well as data processing, have grown rapidly irt recent years, although it is not possible to separate out their respective shares, and a relatively large share of these jobs may have gone to women. The high skill and qualification requirements of the new international services sector must predispose employers to invest and recruit female employees in locations where a pool of educated female labour is already available. It would be of great interest to monitor this situation, as a possible test case of the gender ecquity in employment creation in the new international services sector. No systematic data on the amount of employment generated by these trends, nor of its gender breakdown, are available. But it is significant that Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region in the world where educational enrolments by women exceed those of men. Despite this apparently positive picture, a disturbing finding is that, on average, women's weekly wages in Jamaica are only 57.7 percent of men's earnings. Womep's greater endowments both in education and experience appear to be more than offset by the very strong effect of different valuations of male and female labour in the market place.

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GENDER ON CONTINUED TRADE LIBERALISATION

The Uruguay Round of GATT, which was finally signed in April 1994, marks a major change in the rules of the international trading system towards greater trade liberalisation. Some of its most important outcomes are the 'phasing out of the Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA), the reform of agricultural production and the creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). An assessment of the I ~ender-differentiated impact of the new trade agreements in the Uruguay Round (UR) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) can only be speculative as: 1)

Most existing estimates of the impact of the UR, especially in terms of employment, are based on the assumptions that all the trade agreements will be implemented, and that there will be a smooth adjustment to new incentives;

2)

There is limited evidence to date on the gender composition of the labour force by sector and on the gender division of responsibilities within sectors, and consequently on the way in which female and male workers are able to respond to economic reforms.

The different distribution of male and female workers across sectors and their "substitutability" as factors of production is important not only to assess the impact of reforms such as trade liberalisation but also because it may determine whether the reallocation of resources expected from liberalisation actually takes place.

Effects of the Uruguay Round According to most studies, less than one third of the overall income or welfare gains from the UR will go to the South, with a few upper-income Southeast Asian countries as the main beneficiaries. The greater share of the gains will accrue to the European Union (EU), while SSA will lose income, due to the erosion of preferential treatment through the Lome Convention, shifts in clothing production to Asia and Latin America with the dismantling of the MFA, and the continuation of high

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tariff levels. Under the new trade arrangements, discrimination against developing countries remains. Tariffs are still high on Common Agricuitural Policy (CAP) products, although this only affects a small share of SSA exports. Among the poor countries of SSA, there are fears that the UR will jeopardise their trade prospects in European markets since the agreement will lower tariffs for all cpuntries, thereby reducing the impact of the trade preferences currently available to Africa under the Lome Convention. For textiles and clothing, the liberalisation will be protracted as the MFA will be phased out very slowly. There is considerable speculation about the employment effects of the UR. Trade expansion has benefited women's access to paid employment in many, though not all, developing countries. It is plausible that some women will benefit from the changes in trading opportunities resulting from the implementation of the UR. Women employed in the manufacturing sector stand to benefit the most, together with women employed in services trade and, to a lesser extent, agriculture, where non-traditional export crops may offer better employment prospects for women than traditional ones. In agriculture, women's status as farmers or workers is more circumscribed and their social entitlement to a return on their labour is mediated in a more complex fashion than under wage-labour contracts. There are many dimensions and effects to consider when evaluating the implication of the UR for employment.

Lome Convention The progressive liberalisation of tariffs to developing countries implies the erosion of preferential agreements that groups of countries had secured for access to developed country markets, most notably the series of Lome Convention agreements between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. A recent study by Davenport et al observes that: Clear evidence proving correlation between export growth and the

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margin of preferences available to the ACP is lacking. Although exports enjoying high tariff preferences, such as horticulture, fish and clothing exports, have performed well, it is hard to tell whether their expansion can be attributed to the ACP preferences alone. Overall, it does not appear that the performance of ACP countries in world trade has been greatly improved by the trade arrangements under Lome. Some countries like Kenya and Jamaica, and more recently Uganda have been successful in developing non-traditional agricultural exports especially horticultural products. Horticultural exports (fruit, vegetables and flowers) may offer better employment for women and have better earning prospects than other activities, although gender based distortions in markets and in the transmission of benefits to women remain. While non-ACP countries face very high barriers to entry in developed countries markets for horticultural exports, it is hard to establish that the positive performance of selected countries is directly linked to the effects of Lome. The fact that ACP countries have been exempted from the highest trade barriers on agricultural products in particular, which are now being dismantled, means that they are likely to lose out following the reduction in their preferential margin. However, the likely effect of the erosion of preferences is believed to be small since the majority of ACP exports have duty-free access to the developed countries anyway. The countries most affected by the erosion of preferences on tropical products are Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda will also lose a relatively large proportion of their export earnings because of their high dependence on coffee and cocoa exports to the EU. With reference to horticulture, which has expanded under Lome and appears to have good potential with regard to women's employment, there are divergent views on the link between trade growth and Lome preferential treatment. How the erosion of

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preferences under the UR is likely to affect the prospects of non-traditional export agriculture and, assuming that women benefit froin involvement in this se9tol', whether further liberalisation is likely to have positive employment effects for women is unclear. Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) World trade in clothing has been governed for a long time by a range of quantitative restrictions under the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA). The agreement in the UR to phase out this arrangement over a ten-year period is an important event in global trade liberalisation. According to the new agreement, importing countries are allowed to pursue different policies on the timing and selection of products. In fact, the EU and USA have chosen two distinct integration processes which reflect their different interests, with Europe focusing more specifically on products and market access rather than targeting in general of specific emergent countries, as the USA is doing. The process of dismantling appears to be very slow and it is thought that textiles and clothing will remain one of the most heavily protected sectors for some time to come. Under the MFA in the clothing industry countries were given exact product quotas for export to certain markets (primarily the US and Europe) on an annual basis. When these quotas are filled there is no scope for further production and foreign contractors will look to other locations, with unfulfilled quotas, to expand. It could be argued that the MFA restrictions have encouraged some lessening of the concentration of production capacity among developing countries by encouraging diversification into new locations. However, it also clearly penalised countries which were too successful by imposing a ceiling on their expansion. Various studies try to estimate the impact of liberalising the clothing sector. Despite some differences, all conclude that most countries should gain from the eventual abolition of MFA quotas. The possibilities of

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unequal distribution of the effects of quota removal in developing countries are explored by Page and Davenport who estimate that the countries likely to gain most are China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Eastern Europe. As economies-of-scale considerations become important, most gains are estimated to move in favour of China and India. By contrast, SSA countries are expected to lose their already very small export shares. It is likely that developing countries which are textile and clothing suppliers will face unequal opportunities from the removal of quotas in different import markets. Minor suppliers will leave the market while the suppliers with the lowest labour costs will benefit the most. In the short run, geographic origins and buyer preferences working through individual markets will remain important in sourcing decisions. In the long run, cost factors and product differentiation will acquire greater importance. Another study suggests that: countries which lose most as a result of the preference erosion on industrial products (excluding textiles and clothing) are those that have become more advanced in processing and manufacturing or have been able to take advantage of some of the Lome preferences... Only a few countries including Mauritius, Jamaica, Lesotho and Zimbabwe have benefited from their exemption from MFA. The phasing out of the MFA will affect them because of fiercer competition (mainly from Asian producers) once the exemptions have been removed. Mauritius and Jamaica are expected to lose most in terms of export earnings, 16.5 percent and 7.6 percent of 1992 exports respectively, mainly because they are seen as not having a comparative advantage in producing clothing but instead are exploiting EU (and US) preferences in this sector. Jamaica has seen the establishment of data-entry as an export activity on a significant scale together with an expansion of financial services as well. It is plausible to think that these sectors will expand further as the

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advantage in clothing is eroded. Overall this should not have major implications for women's employment overall, as data entry activities and services seem also to employ predominantly women. It may, however, have a different impact on different groups of women, particularly if the educational or training requirements of these new sectors . are higher. In this case, the erosion of preferences will lead to a relative increase in demand for more educated women and falling demand for less educated women workers. In terms of women's employment opportunities, it is quite difficult to say overall what the implicati.ons of these shifts are. The textile and clothing industry employs a large share of female workers, so that an increase of exports in this sector should be beneficial to them, where this occurs. However, there may also be risks associated with the fact that as the sector expands, new approaches to production, new technologies and product diversification may be adopted leading to shifts in labour composition towards men. LABOUR STANDARDS

In recent years, international debate on mechanisms for reviewing, monitoring and enforcing labour standards in the context of trade expansion has focused on the inclusion of social clauses in trade agreements. The present system of developing, monitoring and enforcing labour standards is increasingly seen as inadequate. Social clauses consisting of "core" ILO international labour standards, would provide a mechanism for linking trade to human and workers' rights. Sanctions would be imposed by a joint WTOjILO Advisory Body, if these clauses were violated. Advocates want to make trade and access to markets conditional on exporting nations meeting previously agreed core minimum labour standards in the production of internationally traded goods. While there has been much debate over which international labour standards should be included, the International Confederation of

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Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) proposal is most widely accepted. The core standards proposed cover rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining (Convention Nos. 87 and 98), the prevention of forced labour (Nos. 29 and 105) and prohibition of discrimination (Nos. 100 and 111). Social clause proposals have also been discussed in various intergovernmental fora and by NGOs, with proposals for additional standards e.g. occupational safety and health (No 155) as well as minimum wage flxing (No 131 and 138). There are signiflcant differences of opinion on whether there is a need for social clauses, how they should be promoted and which should be the core or minimum labour standards. Conceptual diffIculties are also raised. Some trade economists contend that the WTO does not provide the appropriate framework for labour standard setting and that flxing standards between countries is incompatible with market principles, since regulatory diversity is one dimension of comparative advantage. This issue is sometimes polarised as: 1. whether observance of labour standards constitutes a cost of labour or; 2. whether labour standards as workers' rights can be reduced to a human rights issue which may best addressed in other fora. The neo-liberal economic tradition addresses labour standards as a cost issue and as an interference in the market process, impeding effIciency, creating sub-optimal allocation of labour, stifling competition, deterring investments and constraining growth. However, even within this perspective, others see raising labour standards, competitiveness and efficient allocation of resources as mutually reinforcing, although conceding that more empirical and analytical evidence is required to assess the extent to which low labour standards are correlated to lower wages and labour costs. A common argument, for instance, has been that eliminating child labour could contribute to improving

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allocative efficiency since it undermines efficiency in the long-term insofar as child labour hampers children's education possibilities and degrades their health and welfare. Other economic-centred concerns focus on claims that the relatively weak protection of basic workers' rights and inhumane working conditions in developing countries aggravate low-wage import competition and encourage companies to move overseas, thereby depressing employment, wages and living standards in the North. However, empirical evidence to support claims that differences in labour standards have an impact on tra.de flows is lacking. Opponents of social clauses have concluded that linking labour standards to international trade transactions raises complex sets of questions concerning cost implications for both the economic development of countries and for the workers whom sanctions are intended to help. It is seen as unfair and discriminatory to aim labour standards at the trade sector where working conditions are frequently better than in the rest of the economy. Labour standards would thus provide selective protection and would be of no benefit to other sectors, such as the small-scale agrarian sector, for example, where female and child labour is common. This raises the question whether trade sanctions should only be related to labour conditions in the trade sector, or connected to broader human rights. One strand of thought argues that existing human rights instruments and bodies are more appropriate than social clauses for dealing with labour rights since labour standards are protected in other widely ratified and accepted international instruments such as the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Critics of sole reliance on human rights instruments to enforce international labour standards hold that trade may encourage the violation of human rights and because trade institutions and instruments may be more effective than existing, often weak, instruments. Proponents of social clauses suggest that labour standards should be

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discussed within the WTO framework because optimal social protection requires political negotiation and standard setting and should not be left entirely to market forces. Increased mobility of capital and the freedom of locating fIxed investments to almost anywhere in the world puts developing countries under pressure to lower their labour standards which can lead to "social dumping"-a process by which countries make use of unacceptable labour practices in order to lower the costs of production. The inclusion of international labour standards in the form of a social clause in the WTO framework would in theory make it possible to restrict the importation of products originating in countries or industries which make use of unacceptable practices, such as child labour, prison labour, forced labour, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, unfair wages and discriminatory practices. The issue of social clauses was prominent in the closing stages of the Uruguay Round negotiations, which included many more developing countries than previous multilateral trade negotiations. Even though most of the "core" labour conventions (except 155 and 131) are widely ratifIed, implying a degree of universal acceptance, and are derived by governments from rights enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, social clause proposals have not made much headway. WTO has declined to include labour standards in trade agreements maintaining that the ILO is the appropriate forum for the monitoring and enforcement of labour standards. It is argued that existing WTO provisions have not been designed' for promoting core standards and that the adoption of social clause propositions would imply a reinterpretation of some WTO practices and procedures, and a renegotiation and amendment of some WTO articles. The ILO's tripartite governing system (employers, governments and trade unions) is split on the issue. It has yet to reach a political consensus on whether core -/

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minimum standards should be included in a social clause, and if so, which ones. The social clause issue was on the agenda for the ILO governing body conference in November 1997, and it is anticipated that a declaration on social clauses will be agreed in 1998. NAFTA has, however, set a precedent for explicitly linking trade liberalisation with the observance of certain labour rights and allowing for penalties in cases of noncompliance. Labour rights have been enhanced with the expansion of NAFTA, and some cases have come to trial. A successful case was brought by 118 female employees of a US-owned assembly plant based in Mexico after they were ordered by the managers of American United Global, a Californian manufacturer of vehicle parts, to strip and take part in a bikini contest. While they complied for fear of losing their jobs, they filt'd a sexual harassment suit before the Mexican courts. This was unsuccessful and they were fired but they then filed a suit before the Los Angeles Superior court, claiming severance pay owed to them under Mexican law, and American United Global settled out of court. Support for labour standards has been led by the US and the EU, but resisted by most developing country governments, mainly on the grounds that it constitutes a form of disguised protectionism. Other opponents believe that mu1tila~eral agreements on labour standards would not be enforceable in practice. Even though labour standards are intended to protect workers' rights, some trade unions, e.g. in India, have been opposed to labour standards, citing protectionist intentions on the part of advocates, while others like those in Brazil have supported them. Nevertheless, pressure for action is now coming from some workers in developing countries, through civil society organisations. Consumer pressure in the industrialised world is pushing leading retail chains to outlaw employment abuses by their suppliers.

CHAPTER 4

WOMEN AND THE ECONOMIC LIBERALISATION

Gender relations refer to the sum of social norms, conventions and practices which regulate the multifaceted relationships between men and women in a given society at a given time. One pervasive trait of gender relations across different cultures consists of the power asymmetries between men and women. Whiie gender is an ideological and cultural construct, it is also reproduced within the realm of material practices, and in' turn influences the outcomes of such practices. It is widely recognised that gender relations play a dystematic role in the division of labour, work, income, wealth, education, productive inputs, publicly provided goods and the like. In most societies, women work longer hours than men and have lower earnings, education, wealth and access to credit. Patterns of work are systematically influenced by gender relations. Gender is also the basis for the most pervasive and basic division of labour in most societies: the division between "productive" and "reproductive" activities. The former refer to incomegenerating activities which are generally linked to markets, waile the latter relate to the care and development of people and their capacity to work. In most societies, reproductive activities are carried out largely by women under conditions of unpaid

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domestic labour, while men specialise in "productive activities" under conditions of paid work. Thus, much of the work carried out by women remains invisible, as it is unpaid work. At the same time, the economic behaviour of agents is influenced by their gender. For example, across a wide range of cultures it has been observed that men and women differ in their consumption behaviour. Compared to men, women spend a higher proportion of their income on goods such as education and health care which enhance the well-being and capabilities of their children. Women and men may also differ in terms of risk taking, saving and other aspects of economic behaviour, such as the degree of altruism because of gender socialisation and the different opportunities and rewards accorded to men and women in economic life .• I

Gender biases in social life are transmitted through a variety of institutions, such as the family, in which the role of gender is obvious. Markets and the State are other institutions that can also be gender-biased, as reflected, for example, in fiscal policy. Gender relations therefore permeate all aspects of economic life, making economies gendered structures. While most economists recognise the significance of gender at the microeconomic level, such as in the operation of labour markets, they often fmd it difficult to see the relevance of gender at the macroeconomic level. As macroeconomics is about aggregates, a general presumption is that both policy objectives (such as price stability, employment generation or external balance) and the traditional policy instruments of macroeconomics (fiscal, monetary, exchange rate policies) are genderneutral. However, macr~conomic policies are predicated upon a set of distributive relations across different social groups and they entail distributive choices across the various social groups. Gender relations constitute one such set of distributive relations among other social relations, such as class, race and ethnicity. As a result, what may

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appear to be gender inequalities at the microeconomic level can have profound macroeconomic implications because of their influence on macroeconomic performance and outcomes. At the same time, men and women experience the impacts of economic policies differently. Use of gender as a category of analysis makes it possible to observe and study these patterns. Such an analysis is also necessary for the formulation of gender-equitable macroeconomic policies. But a full understanding of the significance of gender in the case of macroeconomic analysis requires a redefinition of the realm of economic analysis. In a gendered analysis, an economic system is conceptualised in terms of the interactions of different activities that make up the following three spheres: production, fmance and reproducti<:>n. As in conventional analysis, production refers to the sphere within which material inputs are transformed into goods or services, and finance refers to those activities that are involved in the circulation of ownership titles for what is produced and accumulated as wealth. By contrast, reproduction, as pointed out above, includes all activities that involve the bearing and raising of children, cooking, cleaning and caring for the sick and those struck by misfortune. In other words, this is the sphere within which the labour force is reproduced and maintained. Many of these activities have neither an immediate economic purpose, nor are they mainly mediated through the market. Indeed, few conventional economists would place any of them squarely within the realm of economic analysis. However, a gender perspective shows that there is in fact more than just a connection between paid activities in production and finance, which are mediated through the market, and unpaid non-market activities in reproduction. This perspective helps in appreciating how the paid market economy can transmit gender inequalities and relations in the household and the reproductive sector, and in understanding how unpaid

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activities interact with market activities. More importantly, a gender lens also puts into perspective the very purpose of all economic activity, which is to provide for human needs. This simple insight suggests that it matters greatly whether market activity, in both finance and production, is responsive to the needs of the reproductive sector. The time horizon of commitments in the reproductive sector generally differs from those of "economic" (market) decisions. Not only are these commitments usually quite long-term, but they are also in many respects irreversible. A decision to start a family and raise children involves, it is to be hoped, a lifelong commitment that is hardly reversible. Decisions in the financial sphere, by contrast, are usually short term and are preferably highly reversible. In fact, with respect to financial commitments, market forces place a premium on the ability to reverse their course at a moment's notice ... The time horizon of economic decisions in the sphere of production can also be fairly long term, or at least substantially longer than in finance, though usually shorter than in reproduction. These incongruities in the time span of average commitments in the three spheres would alone suggest that people ought not to be compelled to organise their lives and reproductive activities around the imperatives 'of market activity, whether in production or finance. By recalling that market economic activity is a means rather than an end, the gender-aware approach to economic analysis provides a unique vantage point from which to assess different economic regimes and arrangements in terms of their responsiveness to the needs of the reproductive sector. In the post-war era, until the inflationary 1970s, the main objective' of macroeconomic policy was the attainment of full employment, with monetary policy aimed at accommodating a fiscal stance that guaranteed this objective, while price stability remained a secondary concern. Moreover, the international economy was

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organised on the principle that the external balance of a country should not interfere with full employment within the domestic economy. As it was conceived at its inception, the IMF's main function was to assist individual countries cope with their external imbalances in a way that would not jeopardise full employment at home. In this period, often referred to as the era of the Keynesian consensus, a male breadwinner bias underscored the very notion of full employment. Many of the labour market institutions, ranging from pension plans to unions, were structured on the basis of this premise. Male workers needed family wages because they were viewed as the sole providers within their household. Yet, during this era, production remained responsive to the needs of the reproductive sector, even though the issue was seldom, if ever, discussed in these terms. Employment and income security, especially, for male workers was a widely accepted priority in policymaking, and regulation kept financial activity and speculation subordinate to production. Keynes' famous adage below set the tone for a whole generation: Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady stream of enterprise. But the position is serious when enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of speculation. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill done. In other words, during this era finance was kept subordinate to production by means of regulation, and production was kept responsive to the needs of reproduction by means of a capital labour accord (or social contract). However, the hierarchy between these three spheres had begun to be reversed in the mid- to late 1970s, with the ascendancy of neo-liberal ideology, fIrst in the developed countries and then in the rest of the world, as market liberalisation and globalisation became the buzz words of the new era. Although there has' been a global trend towards greater economic

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openness over the past 50 years, the process of market liberalisation has accelerated considerably throughout the world since the early 1980s. Barriers to trade and vestiges of restrictions on foreign exchange transactions have come down in one country after another, promoting the free flow of goods and capital. Many developing countries have began to open up to the world economy within the past two decades, in part as a result of a desire to emulate the earlier successes of East Asian countries and in part because the Bretton Woods institutions strongly favoured liberalisation for countries in need of international assistance. During this period, much of development policymaking in both the IMF and the World Bank has been dominated by the so-called Washington Consensus, according to which almost all the economic troubles of developittg countries could invariably be traced to excessive government meddling in the economy. It prescribed a set of structural adjustment and macroeconomic stabilisation policies, consisting of shortterm austerity measures coupled with longer-term policies of trade liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation. The underlying rationale behind this policy stance' was exceedingly simple. If a developing country was constantly in need of international assistance because it was chronically in the throes of a balance of payment crisis, this was thought to be-barring extraordinary circumstances-prima facie evidence of the fact that it was not producing enough tradable goods. This in tum was generally seen as a result of excessive government spending, which distorted market signals and made the production of non-tradable goods artificially more profitable. The only real solution would then involve a permanent increase in exports, which required production to be shifted towards tradable goods. It was argued that markets would automatically bring about this result had it not been for government meddling impairing

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their ability to adjust. The point of structural adjustment programmes was therefore to unshackle markets from excessive government interference so that they could react flexibly to changing economic conditions and outside shocks. Privatisation and market deregulation were again simply the means of eliminating institutional rigidities which inhibited market adjustment. In the short run, the immediate problem was almost always controlling inflation, which was seen once again to result from profligate public spending and ever rising budget deficits. Thus, the policy prescription called for immediate fiscal restraint in the form of drastic spending cuts, higher taxes and the elimination of price subsidies, to be followed by measures to lift barriers against international trade and privatise public enterprises. The longer-term component of these policies, involving financial and labour market deregulation as the main objective, was again to restore the vibrancy of markets. On the basis of little other than this very belief, many developing countries were encouraged by both the IMF and the World Bank to liberalise their capital account and free capital flows. It was thought that economic policy-making in these countries would accordingly be subject to market discipline and that capital inflows would automatically reward those countries that lived up to the challenge by bolstering their external payments position and insulating them from interest rate shocks. In much of the developing world, the result has instead been increased market volatility and a deflationary bias. Output and employment have had to be kept below their potential levels, as the imperatives of attracting foreign capital, price stability and fiscal restraint have come to define what is sound and prudent in macroeconomic policy. International investors are as a rule attracted to countries that have higher interest rates with stable exchange rates and low inflation. While high interest rates are desirable because they indicate the rate of return on financial investment, low inflation is believed to be the single best predictor of a stable exchange rate,

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which in turn ensures that the real value of earnings on financial assets will not erode over time. Moreover, because fiscal deficits and public debt are believed to be inflationary, investors tend to shun countries that fail to exercise fiscal restraint, in the sense of contractionary fiscal policies. Most of the variation in credit ratings over time and across countries, as shown by most studies of sovereign risk, is related to the levels of reserves, debt and inflation. In the cause of establishing credibility with financial markets, governments therefore had to keep interest rates high and exercise fiscal restraint. Moreover, as became painfully evident around the globe, liberalised financial markets were often characterised by irrational herd behaviour on the part of investors. The financial crisis in East Asia, and currency crises elsewhere, have vindicated Keynes' insight that financial markets are mainly driven by "what average opinion expects average opinion to be". As Keynes remarked, this has the potential to give rise to abrupt shifts in the sentiments of investors, who make decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Because investors do not trust their own judgement, they tend to fall back on the judgement of others, whom they suspect might be better informed. This means that financial markets place an enormous premium: [ ••• J on any information or signals that might provide a guide to the swings in average opinion and to how average opinion will react to changing events. These signals must be clearcut. Sophisticated interpretations of the economic data would not provide a clear lead. Hence the money markets and foreign exchange markets become dominated by simple sloganslarger fiscal deficits lead to higher interest rates, an increased money supply results in higher inflation, and so on. Since the early 1980s, tbe developing countries had to heed this market-oriented advice before they could access

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international credit markets and receive financial assistance. Unlike the approach of the earlier Keynesian consensus, which emphasised policies custom designed for each country, the Washington Consensus put forth basically the same set of policies that were thought to be applicable to every country regardless of its specific social and political conditions. For instance, the World Bank's well-known threepronged approach to poverty reduction was yet another variation on the familiar theme of market liberalisation. These were a liberalised trade regime, specialisation in labour-intensive goods in accordance with the theory of comparative advantage, and public investment in physical infrastructure, health, education and a safety net. With respect to the latter, the targeting of poverty programmes and user fees were advocated to ensure that the resources devoted to social programmes would actually reach poor people and be used efficiently. However, little thought was given to how gender or other types of inequalities could complicate efforts to reduce poverty, given the fact that women are poorer than men and experience poverty differently. In general, social policy concerns were addressed, if ever, as an afterthought, through anaemic and piecemeal sectoral social policies. Overall, although the structural adjustment programmes were widely successful in instilling fiscal discipline, the promise of restoring growth throughout the developing world never materialised. Needless to say, the effects on poverty reduction have also been disappointing. The East-Asian crisis brought home the point that even countries with sustained high growth rates could experience acute economic crises and fail to escape economic insecurity. After the East-Asian crisis, there was some recognition of the failures of neo-liberal policies in the Bretton Woods institutions, and for a time it looked as though a new development policy orientation was about to take hold. However, the likelihood of that prospect appears to have dimmed considerably in the last few

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years. Nonetheless, the World Bank now accepts that a set of social policies that target poverty reduction, environmental regeneration and gender equality, among others, must as a rule accompany macroeconomic stabilisation and structural adjustment policies. In what they call the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), World Bank economists envisage a balance sheet approach to combining an analytical framework that addresses the social and human aspects of development with traditional economic analysis. The idea is to analyse the interaction of the two types of policies, economic and social, as it is now recognised that economic policies can have adverse social effects and that progress on social issues is a condition of sustainable growth. However, these two types of policies are still envisioned in total separation from one another. The change that globalisation has brought about in the policy environment is ignored, and economic analysis is still based on the same old neo-liberal assumptions, while social policy is simply an add-on in relation to the old set of policy prescriptions. In other words, neo-liberal economic policy prescriptions are still the essential backdrop to CDF, which considers the social impact of these policies, without however discussing their content. While an improvement over the Washington Consensus, CDF therefore suffers from two important shortcomings. It leaves unexamined the neo-liberal assumptions behind its economic policy prescriptions and ignores the manner in which globalisation reduces the parameters within which macroeconomic policy is applied at the individual country level, especially in the developing world. NEO-LIBERAL GLOBALISATION

World economic performance has fallen short of the promise of the Washington Consensus. Compared to the previous two decades, interest rates in the 1990s were at

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an historic high around the world, while the share of investment in GDP and growth rates of per capita GDP have been falling over the past two decades in almost all the regions of the world. In Latin America, per capita GDP grew by 75 per cent between 1960 and 1980, but rose by only 6 per cent between 1980 and 1998. In subSaharan Africa, per capita GDP grew by 36 per cent between 1960 and 1980, while it actually fell by 5 per cent between 1980 and 1998. Similarly, South Asia had a better record in the earlier period. The only exception was East Asia, where growth rates were higher in the 1980s and 1990s than in the earlier period. However, the EastAsian crisis showed that even these "miracle economies" were not exempt from stagnation and recession. Throughout the developing world, price stability was achieved at the cost of lower consumption and output, with adverse consequences for poverty and long-term human development and social stability. Rather than increased efficiency and growth, higher capital mobility has led to increased volatility, which has meant greater i:pcome and employment insecurity for working people, especially throughout the developing world. In many parts of the South, increased volatility and repeated economic crises have led to greater vulnerability and deepened poverty, although the impact of globalisation on poverty still remains controversial. According to the World Bank, the total proportion of people in. developing countries living on less than US$1 per day fell from 32 to 25 per cent between 1990 and 1999, while the number of people below the international poverty line declined from US$1.3 billion to 1.1 billion over the same period. However, the estimates for the total population throughout the developing world disguise the fact that the proportion of people living under one dollar a day has largely remained unchanged in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa, while the number of income-poor people in these three regions combined increased by about 7 million each year between 1990 and 1999.

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In two highly controversial papers, World Bank economists David Dollar and Art Kraay claim to have demonstrated that "Growth is good for the poor" and that the "good rule of law, fiscal discipline, and openness to international trade" make up the right policy mix that ensures growth. However, their work has been criticised by a number of economists, including White and Anderson, Vandemoortele, Weisbrot, Naiman and Kim, Weisbrot, Baker, Naiman and Neta, Rodrik and Nye, Reddy and Watkins. Their critics have pointed out that the growth record of most countries in the last two decades has been worse than their record in the 1960s and 1970s. They have also pointed out that not all countries that have had high growth rates have managed to reduce income poverty. Recent analysis has also considered the scorecard of the world economy in terms of human poverty. In a paper that compares the record of the major economic and social indicators for all countries for which data are available for two periods, 1960-1980 and 1980-2000. Weisbrot, Baker, Kraev and Chen find that progress in most indicators, such as life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy and education, showed a decline over the last two decades. A new focus on pro-poor growth, defined ex post as the type of growth that disproportionately benefits the poor, has emerged recently in policy circles, in part because of the criticism that growth does not always lead to poverty reduction. However, the types of policies that produce pro-poor growth are not always clear. The relationship between growth patterns, inequalities and poverty reduction is now being studied more intensively than ever and some recent research findings are especially noteworthy. First, income inequality, and especially inequality in asset ownership, such as land holdings, is shown to have a dampening effect on growth rates. Second, the higher the initial income inequality in an economy, the lower the impact of a given growth rate on poverty reduction appears to be. These findings imply

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that policies of asset and income redistribution can be beneficial for both growth and poverty reduction. In addition to their direct effect, these types of policies might also have indirect secondary effects on poverty reduction which work through their potential to enhance growth. In the era of globalisation, the empirical evidence on inequality is not encouraging in most countries. Much recent evidence points in the direction of increased inequality, although some controversy still exists on issues of definition, measurement and data sources. Although income inequality across countries, as measured by differences in per capita income, has worsened, when these measures are weighted by the size of the population in each country, it does not appear to have worsened, a result that basically indicates the large influence of China. In fact, detailed estimates of the size distribution of world income (which takes into account inequalities within individual countries) show that income distribution in the world economy has indeed worsened. Other measures of inequality, such as the skill wage gap between workers (highly skilled versus unskilled workers), have widened in many parts of the world, especially in Latin America, which is quite contrary to what would be expected on the basis of standard trade theory. Since at least the mid-1980s, the effects of liberalisation and globalisation processes on income distribution and poverty within and across different social groups and countries have been the subject of intense debate and critique. Just as they did across countries, the effects of globalisation have also differed across groups within countries differentiated by gender. This is because, as pointed out above, a discrepancy exists in almost all economies between women and men's access to resources, knowledge, ownership and control over assets, patterns of paid and unpaid work, wages, the ability to generate income, educational patterns and political and economic power. Feminist researchers and activists have rp.peatedly pointed to a variety of gender biases of structural

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adjustment and macroeconomic stabilisation policies since the mid-1980s. In fact, these critiques have to some degree found their place in policy-making and international mandates, such as the Beijing Platform for Action. Macroeconomic policies, in general, and fiscal policies, in particular, contain many gender biases. These biases are not, however, necessarily peculiar to the Washington Consensus. The male breadwinner bias was an important characteristic of policymaking under the Keynesian consensus. This bias can be said to still exist, which in part explains why women continue to feel the effects of increased volatility and economic crises more acutely than men. Informal and part-time employment, which are disproportionately more important for women, are quite often left out of social insurance schemes, and unpaid labour is completely ignored. Thus, women still do not usually enjoy the same kind of benefits as men, even though they might on average be in greater need of assistance given that the type of employment that they have is often more insecure and involves inferior conditions. However, Elson and <;aoatay argue that what they call the "commodification bias" has perhaps become more pervasive under the Washington Consensus. This bias refers to the excessive commodification of knowledge, life forms and goods that were previously publicly provided or common property resources. This works mainly to the detriment of the poor, and especially of women and girls. For all the reasons discussed above, market liberalisation appears to have magnified the adverse effects of the commodification bias. Since the mid-1980s, a variety of "gender-budget initiatives", undertaken with the express purpose of rendering public budgets gender-equitable, have uncovered many gender biases in public spending and methods of raising revenue. Although differences exist

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from one country to another, many of these biases appear to be commonly exacerbated by market liberalisation policies. Reductions in social programmes that bear directly on human capabilities have been disproportionately harmful for women and girls, in part because of the gender biases within the household. Public provisioning of social programmes can potentially ameliorate some of these biases, which have led in some extreme cases to excess female mortality rates. For instance, the excess of the female over the male mortality rate in South Asia, the Middle East and parts of East Asia, which has given rise to the estimate of 100 million "missing women" worldwide, has been directly linked to gender biases within the household in terms of access to health care and nutrition. The lack of access to clean water can be considered another example of how gender biases in the household can have gender asymmetric effects on well-being. Although the threat of ill health and water-borne diseases affects everyone equally, women and girls are more adversely affected by a lack of access to clean water, as ill most countries it is their responsibility to fetch water from far away sources, care for the sick and maintain the household. These types of gender asymmetric burdens are often invisible, as they involve unpaid labour that remains outside the realm of the monetised economy. It is therefore hardly surprising that the exclusive concern with the monetised economy, which characterises traditional macroeconomic analysis, overlooks these gender biases. Independently of what happens to social expenditures, a reduction in the mere size of the public sector itself can also have gender non-neutral effects. Given the reality of gender se~egation in labour markets, it is often the public sector that opens the doors of employment for women in those sectors of the economy from which they had hitherto been excluded, or into types of employment with secure work conditions. Thus, it is plausible that

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privatisation can set women back in making inroads into new spheres of economic activity, and in general dampen their employment prospects more than those of men. Privatisation, which has led to large employment losses, as well as informalisation, for example in Mrica and Latin America, has been more detrimental to women's employment prospects. The greater work burden of women compared to that of men constitutes yet another reason why they are more adversely affected by fiscal retrenchment. In most developing countries, when all other forms of social protection fail, as they often do, the household and women become the providers of last resort. In the face of reduced private incomes and public services, they buffer their families from the ill effects of economic crisis by working harder, both within and outside the household. Crowding into female-type informal work as they scramble for paid employment, and at home substituting home-produced good~ for market goods and spending more time shopping, trying to stretch their family budgets further, women respond to crises in a different way to men. They also tend to engage in volunteer labour in greater numbers in activities such as setting up "communal kitchens". Moreover, the psychological ill effects of economic crises affect women doubly. In addition to their own stress and anxiety stemming from economic distress, they also often find themselves the targets of abuse by men who take out their own frust· .ltions on women and children. Another gender bias may come about when girls, rather than boys, are pulled from schooling during periods of economic distress to care for younger siblings or other family members while their mothers seek paid work. Even if family incomes are restored once the economy recovers, the educational losses incurred are not easily remedied and translate into permanent gender inequalities and losses in human development and capabilities. Even though the policies associated with the Washington Consensus are not the original source of

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gender biases in economic life, they nonetheless tend to amplify gender biases through their ideological push to minimise the role of the State and to promote mar I.{ets.

Working Patterns Changes in the gendered patterns of work in the context of the international economy have been an area of research for feminist economists since the late 1970s. They have explored the relationship between patterns of integration in the world economy through international trade and international investment, and changes in patterns of paid and unpaid work in the general context of market liberalisation policies. Also showing interest in this topic, neoclassical economists have recently argued that trade liberalisation, as well as labour market deregulation, have been beneficial to women, especially in the global South. In their view, women have benefited either through employment gains or reductions in gender-based wage gaps. However, feminist economists either offer rr..ore complex empirical findings than those of neo-classical economists, or differ from neo-classical economists in the interpretation of the same findings. On the basis of mainstream economic theory, it is often argued that women stand to gain more than men from both trade liberalisation and labour market deregulation. This claim is derived from a simple supply and demand analysis, in which trade unions are assumed to keep wages above the market clearing level. Because trade unions are also portrayed as bastions of male privilege and labour aristocracy, women presumably improvl! their chances of employment when labour markets are freed of distortions created by unions. The strategy of labour market deregulation is therefore expected to be beneficial to women. There are a number of problems with these arguments, as pointed out by institutionalist and feminist et:onomists. Mainstream trade theory would also lead to the expectation that women stand to gain more than men

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from trade liberalisation. This can be deduced from the distributive theorems of the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (H-O-S) theory of international trade which, despite its unrealistic assumptions and problems with empirical verification, is still the basis of much policy-making on issues of trade. These theorems analyse the distributive impact within each nation of moving from a state of autarky to "free trade" for the owners of different "factors of production", such as labour and capital, or more recently skilled versus unskilled labour. If the two factors of production are unskilled and skilled labour and the comparative advantage of the developing countries lies in goods that make intensive use of unskilled labour, the wage differentials between the two types of labour should close with trade liberalisation. In developing countries, because women workers generally comprise a disproportionately larger segment of the "less skilled" workers, opening up to trade would also have the effect of closing gender-based wage gaps. The opposite would be expected to happen in industrialised countries, where the wage differences between skilled and unskilled workers would increase. Again, to the extent that women comprise a disproportionately larger part of unskilled workers in developed countries as well, this would in this instance have the effect of widening the gender-based wage gap. Yet another argument has been made on the basis of the mainstream theory to support the claim that trade liberalisation would have the effect of closing genderbased wage gaps. According to this view, most commonly associated with Gary Becker's theory of discrimination, gender gaps in relation to wages, just like any other wage gap that might be caused by any other form of discrimination, can only persist if there is too little competition. Becker's theory of discrimination posits that employers have a "taste for discrimination" and that flrms in less competitive iNdustries are able to pay for their discriminatory behaviour. As trade would result in increased competition, it would also erode the ability of

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firms to pay for discrimination and thus lead to a reduction in gender-based wage gaps. According to this argument, which appears to have become popular recen tly, the distinctions between developing/ developed countries and between skilled/unskilled workers do not matter. Whatever the context, it is argued that increased exposure to trade would have the effect of decreasing gender-based wage gaps. Feminist economists start from different methodological premises and ask a broader range of questions. They explore the role that gender inequalities play in international competitiveness, as well as the manner in which international competition reshapes and reconstitutes gender inequalities. For example, they have argued that there is a two-way relationship between gender inequalities and trade performance. Feminist economists place emphasis on the complex, sometimes complementary and sometimes contradictory relationship between different types of inequalities (based on gender and class, as well as inequalities across countries). This is because they are concerned, not only with gender relations and inequalities, but also with the role of other types of social relations (which are also power relations) in the determination of economic outcomes and patterns of accumulation, and vice versa. Feminist economists have emphasised the fact that labour markets are highly segmented, although these patterns may change over time. They have argued that outcomes of trade policies are mediated by labour market institutions, which include labour laws, social norms and trade unions, as well as the behaviour of employers, but in ways that are different from the neo-classical arguments. They redefine the sphere of economic analysis to include unpaid domestic and community labour so as to understand the relationship between production and reproduction, and the role that trade and investment plays in that interaction. All these different methodological starting points have led not only to different questions, but also to complex

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findings with regard to gendered patterns of work in the context of globalisation. In particular, from a feminist point of view, while the effects of international trade and investment policies have been different on women and men, they have also been differentiated across different classes of women, as well as women in different types of economies. Within the last two decades, women's participation in paid employment in developing countries has risen significantly around the globe. While other causes were also at play, the importance of integration into the world economy through trade appears to have been paramount, with quite similar gender effects being observed across diverse regions and groups of countries, especially in the developing world. Starting with Elson and Pearson, an increasing number of authors have emphasised that female workers have become the preferred labour supply in the exportoriented production of cheap manufactured goods in such sectors as textiles, apparel, electronics, leather products and food processing in one developing country after another. By now, the association between export-oriented manufacturing and women's increased share in paid employment is well established, supporting the view that the feminisation of paid employment in the developing world is mainly caused by the shift to export orientation. Similarly, within the last two decades there has been an increased informalisation of labour use, especially in Latin America and Africa, and a trend towards the more flexible use of labour, with profound implications for gendered patterns of paid work. Working Conditions

Three different modalities are hypothesised in explaining how the gender composition of labour might cl!ange over time in a given country: ' (a) the buffer hypothesis; (b) the segmentation hypothesis; and

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the substitution hypothesis.

The buffer hypothesis holds that female labour is drawn into the economy by labour shortages during times of economic expansion, and released during recessions by rising unemployment. This implies that female labour acts as a reserve army of labour and fluctuates with the business cycle. According to the segmentation hypothesis, the relative stability of gender segregation in labour markets implies that changes in the composition of aggregate output are the main reason why the gender composition of labour varies over time. In other words, the overall female participation in paid employment is thought to rise when the output in sectors in which women are over-represented increases faster than the rate at which output is expanding in the rest of the economy. Finally, the substitution hypothesis holds that women replace men over time in what were until then "male jobs". In many developing countries, the second and third modalities have been more commonly observed in the context of trade liberalisation. While Wood, Joekes and Elson have emphasised the expansion of female-intensive sectors in the era of intensified global competition, others such as Standing have argued that employers have tried to substitute women workers for men to ensure a more "flexible" labour supply. Empirically, however, it might not always be easy to identify these two modalities. For instance, while Humphrey finds that the substitution thesis holds for Brazil, Caoatay argues that the increased share of female employment in Turkey has been tied to a diverse set of supply- and demand-side factors. Women have been "pushed" into paid employment by increased income insecurity and unemployment among men, caused by structural adjustment policies, just as they have also been "pulled" into employment by their greater willingness to accept lower pay and inferior work conditions, as well as by the reorientation towards exports that has led to output expansion in sectors in which they were heavily concentrated. This implies that

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the segmentation thesis has probably been the most relevant modality, although substitution has also been far from insignificant. According to Standing, two different types of feminisation processes have been taking place. One relates to the increased share of women in paid employment, while the other concerns the degradation of male jobs whereby the conditions associated with them deteriorate to a level characteristically associated with female jobs. In other words, the feminisation of labour in the second sense has been closely linked with the socalled flexibilisation of labour. The conceptual distinction that Standing draws between these two kinds of feminisation highlights the importance of the neo-liberal policy context within which the rights of male workers and the power of trade unions have been waning. Increased mobility of capital and technological innovations which have made it possible to organise production in more flexible ways have also been instrumental in undermining the effectiveness of traditional forms of union organising, thereby weakening the bargaining power of male workers. Indeed, there has been a significant switch to the informalisation of work in the world economy over the past two deaades. While women have been gaining employment opportunities throughout this process, it is not so clear that their ability to negotiate better wages and working conditions has also improved. Indeed, there are reasons to think that their bargaining power has actually deteriorated. Trade unions, which are blamed by mainstream economists for causing distortions in labour markets, also help to reduce gender-based wage gaps. Moreover, in economies with more centralised wage bargaining systems, gender gaps in wages are lower compared to countries with more decentralised bargaining systems. However, this is also a period of loss of bargaining power for traditional unions. Thus in the context of informalisation, with women's increased reliance on informal work and the reduction of the

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bargaining power of trade unions, the feminisation of the labour force has often been accompanied by the persistence of inferior conditions of work for women in terms of pay, health, safety, security and the ability to organise and negotiate conditions of work. Proponents of trade liberalisation have' argued that women's increased participation in the labour force has helped reduce gender-based wage gaps and therefore has the potential to enhance their autonomy and negotiating power. However, a controversy exists concerning the empirical trends With respect to wage gaps by gender and what they mean. Some authors, who on theoretical grounds expect such gaps to close as a result of increased openness and trade-related competition, empirically find that they have indeed been closing. But others also show that, even in Asian countries, where export-led industrialisation has been strongly associated with an increased share of female employment, the gender wage gap has not diminished, and in some cases has even widened. ; The gender wage gap has also been shown to have widened in Latin America, partly because wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers has increased, while women have remained as concentrated as ever in unskilled jobs. A World Bank report remarks that: "in Latin American adjustment episodes the hourly earnings of women declined even more dramatically than those of men, partly because women were concentrated in hardhit low-paying sectors such as apparel". A closer scrutiny of the empirical patterns reveal that, in those cases in which the gender wage gap has diminished, this has come about as a result of the downward harmonisation of men's wages, which is an undesirable mechanism. In other cases, the claim that increased trade-related competition would lower the gender wage gap does not seem to hold generally, or may have led to an increase in wage gaps, or the reduction of wage gaps may be a manifestation of the disproportionate shedding of unskilled low-wage women workers. The

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negative impact of mobility of capital on the relative bargaining power of women workers can explain in part why wage gaps have been relatively rigid. However, different authors continue to produce evidence that seems contradictory on this pOint. What is contested is whether any reduction in gender wage gaps is taking place and, if so, what seems to be the cause. Gender-based wage gaps in earnings can have many underlying causes: gender segregation by occupation and industry; gender differences in education and skill acquisition; and gender differences in the ability to organise as workers. Some of these gender differences are diminishing over time, such as the gap with regard to educational attainment, which in some countries is being reversed, meaning that women's educational attainment is higher than that of men. There also appears to be a reduction in horizontal occupational segregation. These patterns should help reduce gender gaps in wages and earnings. However, what is happening to gender differences in skill acquisition or the ability of workers to organise is unclear. On the one hand, there are examples of women workers becoming organised in non-traditional ways. The celebrated examples of SEWA and HomeNet are often cited. Traditional trade unions have also become more aware of women workers' needs as a result of the increased use of flexible labour, informalisation and the changing gender composition of the labour force in the world economy. There are also cases in which workers, civil society organisations (CSOs) and consumer groups in the North are working in solidarity, especially with women workers in the South, to support their organising efforts. The decreasing power of ::raditional unions is also helping to close the gender gap with regard to the ability to organise. However, this is not a desirable pattern because, at least in the formal sector, trade unions do help close the gender gap in wages. In any case, the downward harmonisation of the bargaining power of male

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workers is not a desirable outcome. On the other hand, despite the recognition of some workers' rights as fundamental human rights that apply regardless of the level of development, in accordance with the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of 1998, there have been examples of the disempowerment of women workers as a result of policies that 'are designed to attract foreign direct investment (FOIl and promote exports, For example, in EPZs governments have often "relaxed" the application of their own labour laws with regard to minimum wages, or have curtailed the ability of workers to bargain collectively over conditions of work. EPZs employ a disproportionately high number of women, even though most women workers are employed outside such zones. In many countries, the enforcement of labour laws is very inadequate. Labour ministries and other ministries addressing issues of social equity and social policy have become marginalised, while at the same time finance ministries have become prominent. Labour ministries often lack the resources to carry out the inspection of worksites and to enforce local labour laws. "Sound macroeconomic policies" have come at the expense of "sound social policies" and "human development". Many governments in the global South, which argue and claim that they cannot "afford" better labour standards, are also usually the ones that fail to address even the most atrocious cases of child labour or forced labour. This relaxed attitude towards -.:he enforcement of labour regulations has been reinforced by market liberalisation policies and a tendency to view trade unions as labour market distortions. Until recently, the attitude of the World Bank towards unions was characterised at best by benign neglect. While these trends have contributed to the disempowerment of all workers, they are especially significant in disempowering women workers at a time when they are participating in the labour force in increasing numbers. Competitive pressures to achieve

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high growth rates in the context of globalisation have played a role in reinforcing this policy stance in at least some countries. On the other hand, the neglect of workers' rights and the application of market liberalisation policies in the countries of the South are not the only culprits of this situation. Macroeconomic policies, which have led to a deflationary bias in the world economy, as noted above, have resulted in a lower rate of economic growth and employment creation over the past two decades compared to the 1960s and 1970s. Even though women workers have made gains in labour markets, as manifested by the process of the feminisation of the labour force, this has occurred during a period of a slowdown in the world economy and a general decrease in workers' bargaining power vis-a.-vis capital. At the same time, the markets of Northern countries have remained closed to many Southern exports as a result of agricultural subsidies and similar measures, despite the rhetoric of liberalisation, which has been applied in an asymmetric manner to countries in the South, but not to those in the North. These two phenomena have made labour market tightening in the South more difficult and have made it harder for workers, and particularly women workers, to claim their rights. Gender Inequalities on Globalisation Class inequalities with respect to income and asset ownership have an impact on growth. It has also been recognised that gender differences and inequalities in economic life can have a bearing on macroeconomic outcomes, such as growth and trade performance. Macroeconomic policies that are designed to promote growth may fail on -account of being gender-blind. For instance, the role of gender inequalities in the ownership of assets, such as land, in hindering the supply responsiveness of agricultural output in some African countries is well known.

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Gender inequalities have been linked to growth and trade performance in a number of other studies. For example, gender inequalities in education have been found to dampen growth. Another finding with farreaching policy implications involves the asymmetric consumption behaviour between women and men, as pointed out above. Women tend to spend a higher portion of the income that they control on health care, food and the education of family members, especially children, while men tend to give priority to items of personal consumption. This implies that asset and income redistribution in favour of women, in addition to its immediate impact in mitigating gender inequality, can also have the effect of reducing income and human poverty. Greater spending on human development and human capabilities may also increase the long-term growth rate of the economy, which implies a possible secondary indirect effect on poverty reduction. Moreover, the empowerment of women that would result from such redistribution would itself be another desirable outcome. The relationship between gender inequalities, on the one hand, and growth rates and poverty reduction, on the other, can be more complex. For instance, gender gaps in wages have empirically been found to be linked to higher economic growth. According to Seguino, in many outward-oriented semi-industrialised countries, such as those in East Asia, gender gaps in manufacturing wages have stimulated higher investment and led to higher growth rates. These findings may have less significance for poor agricultural economies. The positive correlation between gender inequality and growth that is observed for a certain group of countries is best understood in the context of international competition. Export-oriented manufacturing sectors, such as textiles and apparel, are often dominated by female workers and women in different countries are concentrated in a relatively narrow range of occupations. In the context of trade and market liberalisation policies,

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individual countries find it expedient to repress women's wages to stay competitive and attract foreign investment. In practice, such a repression may take the form of a "relaxation" of national labour laws in EPZs. There may also be a fallacy of data composition. Using data for the same set of countries considered by Seguino, it has been found by Osterreich that genderbased gaps in wages are linked to the manufacturemanufacture terms of trade of Southern semiindustrialised countries vis-a.-vis the Nort:h, revealing a gendered pattern of unequal exchange' and uneven development. More specifically, she has found that the higher the gender-based gaps in the manufacturing sector in the semi-industrialised country, the lower the manufacture-manufacture terms of trade of that country vis-a.-vis its industrialised trading partners. These findings imply that, although gender-based wage differences can create a competitive advantage for individual semi-industrialised countries, they might at the same time be responsible for a slow but steady deterioration in terms of trade for this group of countries as a whole vis-a.-vis industrialised countries. The idea that North-South trade can lead to declining terms of trade for the South, known as the PrebischSinger hypothesis, was advanced half a century ago to explain uneven development. The original thesis was based on the difference between the primary commodities exported by the South and the manufactured goods exported by the North. Since then, there has been much diversification in semi-industrialised countries' exports of manufactured goods. However, this has not curtailed the decline in their terms of trade. This is becau3e the manufactured goods exported by the South are standardised commodities produced by less skilled labour, and are subject to price competition, whereas the manufactured exports from the North are products with high-technology and skilled labour content. With the latter types of goods, non-price forms of competition are more important.

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Manufactured exports from the North and the South also differ in terms of the gender composition of employment, with developing country manufactured exports being more female-intensive than the industrialised country exports. As pointed out by Joekes, gender-based wage differentials are likely to have played a role in the determination of the terms of trade in that "the low wages paid to women workers have allowed the final product prices to be lower than what they would otherwise have been". The findings in the literature on the impacts of gender- based wage gaps on growth and trade performance indicate that there are incentives for governments not to empower their women workers at the level of the nation State, as gender gaps in wages are associated with higher growth rates in semi-industrialised countries. However, these gaps may also have the effect of dampening the terms of trade of Southern semiindustrialised countries vis-a.-vis the North. This means that there is a need for the collective empowerment of women workers in the world economy through structures of solidarity and concerted public policy at the international level with regard to workers rights' in general, and women workers' rights in particular. According to a recent study, although higher labour standards are associated with higher wages, higher standards do not have an overall negative impact on foreign direct investment. The fear that higher standards discourage FDI through their positive impact on wages is therefore misplaced, as higher standards also promote social stability, which contributes positively to foreign investment flows. While labour standards are important in securing the rights of all workers, they are especially significant for women workers, who face gender-based discrimination in labour markets and are much less organised than men. The low wages paid to women are a principal cause of poverty. Securing women workers' rights, and workers' rights in general, is therefore crucial not only for achieving equity, but also for poverty reduction.

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GENDER EQUITABLE ECONOMIC POLICIES

The current patterns of globalisation are being subjected to increa$ed scrutiny, and economic liberalisation policies and governance structures are being challenged by civil society organisations in unprecedented ways. By now, many, including well-known and widely respected economists, recognise that globalisation patterns are shaped by unequal power relations across different social groups and nation States. Which countries and which social groups have a political voice in the determination and adoption of economic policies in individual countries, combined with rules with regard to the governance of the world economy, are central aspects of the controversies about globalisation. Such unequal power relations and the role that they play in policy formulation are seen as an underlying cause of the unequal distribution of the benefits and costs of globalisation across countries and social groups. These challenges have led to a variety of initiatives to transform globalisation processes from being "corporateled" and "profit-centred" to being "inclusive" and "peoplecentred". This section provides examples of the efforts of a wide variety of actors, such as civil society organisations, governments and international and regional institutions to transform economic policies towards the achievement of equity, especially gender equity, and poverty reduction. The examples include: initiatives to challenge the current macroeconomic 'frameworks and to democratise macroeconomic policy-making, such as gender-sensitive and pro-poor budget initiatives undertaken by civil society organisations (CSOs), as well as by governments, in many cases with the support of international institu tions; initiatives to promote social dialogue about economic policies, particularly macroeconomic policies, which have been portrayed as technical matters beyond the understanding of ordinary citizens;

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initiatives to review and monitor trade agreements from a gender, or more generally a human development perspective; initiatives to incorporate a gender perspective into regional and multilateral trade agreements; civil society initiatives to strengthen workers', and especially women workers' rights; the efforts and initiatives of women workers', especially those engaging in informal work, to empower themselves; international campaigns to strengthen fundamental rights at work; initiatives to link labour standards and trade; initiatives to promote equitable economic policies supported by international organisations and some initiatives to promote better access South to markets in the North protectionism in the North;

international CSOs, some governments; by the global by reducing

initiatives by CSOs to democratise institutions of global governance to increase transparency, accountability and the participation of CSOs, and especially women's groups; initiatives to undertake "gender main streaming" in institutions of global governance; international initiatives to produce knowledge, increase knowledge sharing and capacity building for gender equitable trade and macroeconomic policies. In terms of actors, these initiatives involve international and bilateral organisations, CSOs and governments. In terms of the substance of the initiatives, they fall roughly under four headings: macroeconomic policies, and particularly fiscal policy; trade and investment policies; labour policies; and policies with regard to the international dimensions of governance and redistribution. Even though the dividing lines are not so

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neElt in practice and many initiatives involve more than one then.e, and even though many stakeholders are active in multiple initiatives, they are examined below under these four headings. WOMEN'S MISREPRESENTATION IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

A detailed unpicking of the various strands of the arguments used to support or reject efforts to link labour standards to trade agreements by constituencies which are themselves internally diverse is beyond the scope of this chapter. Instead, we will confine to questioning the view that globally enforced labour standards are in the interests of workers everywhere, particularly those who are unable to fight for such standards themselves. While such views may be genuinely held, they are based on a ahistorical and uncontextualised understanding of what is at stake. An important factor influencing this misunderstanding is the politics of representation that has been deployed in making the case for global labour standards by some of its more activist supporters. They have constructed their own version of 'win-win' advocacy, maintaining that workers in the north would benefit from standards which increased the price of exports from lateindustrialising countries and reduced their attractiveness as low-cost production sites for northern investors while workers in the south would benefit from higher wages and better working conditions which would in turn lead to increases in aggregate demand and employment. One version of thls argument was made by Cavanagh in his contribution at a conference organised in 1996 by the New York University American Studies Program and UNITE, the garment workers' union, as part of the Campaign against Sweatshops initiated by the latter in 1996. He refers to 'the growing recognition among U.S. workers that their own interests now lie in helping workers elsewhere. As long as sweatshops exist in El Salvador or Indonesia, US firms will use their ability to

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source production there to bargain oown US wages and working conditions to sweatshop levels here'. However, the success of such advocacy with the wider public of student activists and concerned consumer groups rests crucially on its portrayal of working conditions in Third World export industries in such grim terms that a climate is created tha.t women's work in Third World export-manufacturing has become inextricably intertwined in the public consciousness as 'sweat-shop' labour. This politics of representation can, of course, very easily slip into a politics of misrepresentation. A classic example of this in relation to Bangladeshi women workers can be found in a contribution by Elinor Spielberg, a member of UNITE, to the conference on the anti-sweatshop- -campaign referred to above. Based on what appears to have been an exceedingly brief visit to Bangladesh, Spielberg begins her account with the extraordinary claim that 'there's a saying among the girls in the slums of Bangladesh: if you are lucky, you'll be a prostitute-if you're unlucky, you'll be a garment worker'. A recent study of urban slum households found that most parents preferred their daughters to be in garment factories precisely because they were less likely to be sexually harassed than in other occupations open to girls. However, even more extraordinary than this claim is Spielberg'S detailed description of the condition of the feet of a young garment girl she encountered: Whatever early malnutrition had started doing to her chances of marriage,. the garment trade had finished off. The mind cannot register. in the first few seconds, that these appendages are attached to a creature that walks. upright on the ground. They have flattened and spread out to such a degree they seem more suited to one that propels itself in the water. Like fins. Like flounders, but curved in toward each other: bottom fish that got trapped, and grew, inside a

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kidney-shaped pan. The mind tries to grasp hold of something more noble, something scientific perhaps, to explain why a child, a child who is now admiring her new plastic bangles and smoothing the hem of her best dress, has been cursed with feet like that on which to toil. Compensation: now that's a scientific word. The bones of her feet were too weak to support the weight of the body, so they accommodated the floor. The relevance of this horrified description to working conditions in the garment industry is extremely tenuous: the kind of malnutrition she describes is widespread among poorer children, particularly girls, in Bangladesh, but reflects deprivation and discrimination from birth in an underdeveloped and patriarchal society rather a few years in the garment industry. However, its inclusion in her account has the effect of establishing her own credentials as a caring moral being, while at the same time reducing the young girl to the status of 'the other', deserving of sympathy perhaps, but also a living testimony to the dehumanising conditions that concerned students and consumers in the wealthier countries are being asked to combat. This interweaving of fact and fiction is characteristic of a great deal of the populist discourse around labour standards. It is exemplified in Krupat's account of the work of the National Labour Committee: 'Though the accuracy of NLC's research has been questioned, Kernaghan takes pride ir. the fact that he is not a professional - not a trained organiser, economist or academic'. Instead, 'the NLC operates on popUlist faith', translating its research into human stories and anecdotal examples couched in language that is likely to win it consumer support. Young workers from Third World factories are considered by the NLC to be its best asset and are frequently flown over to testify in their campaigns: "We wanted the most authentic, direct, virtually naive workers

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we could find. We had faith that these young kids would simply tell the truth and that would be more damaging than anything an academic could say". Yet, as the essay goes on to reveal, the NLC does not deal in simple, spontaneous and un mediated truths but rather on what its executive director describes as 'intensive educational techniques' to ensure that their 'authentic, direct, virtually naive' workers make 'eloquent witnesses': They stay in our apartment. We're together constantly, talking and learning from one another. In my opinion, it's filthy and rude to bring a young worker up from Central American and just say, 'Here's a speech. Go ahead'. She'd say, 'We're oppressed'. What does that mean? No one ever asked her to define it. Why? How? Name it. We do that. We really press them to be specific. They yell at us'. 'What do they say'. 'How?'. They call us chicken heads, we're born of whores'. 'They hit us'. 'Well how do they hit you?' They hit us on the head'. 'How?'. 'With their knuckles'. We make them write it down and practice their delivery till its polished. They're so elevated by the fact that someone has given them their own voice and the chance to speak for all their co-workers, they dig inside themselves and they're unstoppable. One could view these 'intensive educational techniques' as yielding 'the truth' as NLC clearly believes they do. Alternatively, of course, they can be viewed as tactics to ensure that the workers in question produce the 'correct' story in their testimonies. The characterisation of export-production in the Third World as 'sweatshops' has paid considerable dividends, particularly on the campuses of the United States where the United Students Against Sweatshops campaign has been described as 'the strongest surge of student activism since the anti-apartheid campaign of the 1980s'. Although the United Students Against Sweatshops emphasise that its goal is to improve workers' pay and working conditions in offshore factories

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rather than protect American jobs, there is a real danger that a form of advocacy which relies on the terminology of 'sweatshops' to tar all garment factories in poorer countries with the same brush will lead in time to a more widespread version of the outcome recently reported in Occidental College. Here activists have pressed the college administrators to commission UNITE members in Pennsylvania to produce the Occidental T-shirt on the grounds that the American union label provides the best available insurance that apparel is "sweat-free". The success of the anti-sweatshop campaign rests, as its supporters are open in acknowledging, on the ability to portray Third Wqrld factories as 'showcases of horrors for the labor abuses sanctioned by the global free trade economy, where child labor, wage slavery, and employer cruelty are legion'. It also rests on the ease with which its claims to represent the interests of poor women workers in the Third World meshes with widespread preconceptions about poor Third World women as 'undifferentiated, homogenous, faceless and voiceless' incapable of exercising any agency on their own behalf. There is little mileage in presenting nuanced, balanced and differentiated accounts of ground-level realities in low-income countries, distinguishing between situations where the problems are largely poverty, underdevelopment and limited choice and those which entail the flagrant violation of basic human rights and the denial of any choice at all. Yet such distinctions are imperative if poor workers in the south are not to be penalised for their poverty or for the poverty of their country. As Fiona Wilson observes in the context of her study of women garment workers in Mexico, there is a vast mass of case study material testifying to the 'exploitation and vulnerability of labour in situations of rampant capitalist growth where little or no protection is forthcoming from the State, or any other body'. However, she goes on to caution: ... when discussing particular instances in the Third World, a more complex view of the

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significance of informalisation processes is required in terms of the implications for relations of class and gender. The separate experiences of workers and capitalists and of women and men need to be reviewed in the light of the specific historical conditions (what was life like before?), the precise nature of the surplus appropriation and labour's relations with capital. The present general tendencies towards informalisation and disenfranchisement unleash feelings of concern, at least for those broadly on the 'left'. Workers rights are being trampled upon; former victories won by the working class through class struggles have not been permanent. These defeats must be opposed. But when one moves to the local level and has a view from below, then the same feelings are not necessarily engendered. It is true one can depict the gross exploitation of labour. Nevertheless, new working classes are emerging composed of people who had never been given a chance of joining the old 'male' proletariat which had earlier led the confrontation with capital. The new working classes have not been passive but have engaged in struggles of their own. To have a detailed understanding of the problems in women's work, let us consider the case of Bangladeshi garment workers. Bangladesh is one of the 49 countries classified as 'least developed' by the United Nations. It is also among the world's more patriarchal societies. It belongs to a wider region~ belt which stretches across northern Africa, the middle East, Pakistan and the northern plains of India which is characterised by the practice of patrilineal principles of descent, patriarchal structures of family organisation, the practice of female seclusion and marked son preference. Women are not merely di~criminated against in access to education and employment, a pattern that is

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not unique to this region, but also in access to basic lifepreserving resources such as health and food to the extent that this region is characterised by excess levels of female mortality in almost all age-groups, and fewer women than men in the overall population, in contrast to most other regions of the developed and developing world, where there are generally more women than men. The adversity of the sex ratio which prevails in this belt of extreme patriarchy gave rise to Amartya Sen's observation that there were 100 million 'missing women' in the world. However, there have been some important improvements in the country's situation over the past decade or so. It has moved from military rule which characterised it for much of its history since independence in 1971 to a fragile democracy since 1991. Poverty has also gone down, particularly in recent decades. Nevertheless, around half of its population still continues to live below the poverty line. While the decades of impoverishment and landlessness led many women from poorer families to seek to earn their living in the market place, the persistence of cultural restrictions on their mobility combined with the disCI:rimination they faced in the market place confined them to the most poorly paid and exploitative margins of the informal sector where they worked as domestic servants, prostitutes and casual wage labourers. Given this history of invisibility in the public domain, what was remarkable about the rise of export-oriented garment manufacturing in Bangladesh from the early 1980s was the overnight emergence of a first generation female indus~ria1 workforce. Irl a country where religious and cultural norms had combined to deny women any form of economic opportunity in the public domain, secluding them within the home and defining them as dependent on male breadwinners and guardians, the sudden appearance of thousands of young women on the streets of the cities of 1Sangladesh was an unexpected

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phenomenon. Estimates by the end of the 1990s suggested that the industry employed around 1.8 million women and gave additional direct and indirect employment of around 10 million workers. The vast majority of garment workers were migrants from rural areas, mainly districts with high levels of landlessness; indeed, four out of every five female garment worker came from a family that was classified as 'functionally landless'. However, they were not necessarily the poorest of the poor. Many had completed at least primary education and some had completed secondary. They had migrated to towns in search of work for a variety of reasons: because their families could not afford to continue to support them; because they needed to save money in order to get married; because they had to work in order to send their children or younger siblings to school. Interviews carried out with women workers make it clear that there are many aspects of their employment that they find deeply problematic. Some of these represent violations of their rights as workers, others their rights as women, and still others their rights as human beings. ,However, many of these violations are not captured by the demands for social clauses and global labour standards. For instance, wages crop up frequently in women workers' accounts, but not necessarily in relation to a demand for minimum wages. Indeed, it is the higher levels of wages prevailing in the garment sector, relative to most other jobs available to women, which explained their entry into the industry. Instead it was the irregularity of payments that constituted the major source of grievance. While employers are not legally obliged to pay monthly wages on the same day each month, there is a legal limit to delays in payment which many employers appeared to violate regularly. Wages were sometimes delayed by months-often because employers themselves faced delays in payments by buyers-and often cut if a worker arrived late to work.

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Overtime was also a source of dissatisfaction, but not always for the same reasons. For married women, it was its compulsory nature. Given a choice, many would have preferred to go home to attend to their children or to their domestic responsibilities. For unmarried women, on the other hand, working overtime was seen as a means of supplementing their wages but they objected to the fact that overtime was seldom shown on their time cards, and hence there was a lack of clarity regarding the rate of remuneration. On issues of health and safety, while the fire hazards of the industry have generated considerable attention in national and international media, this was not a frequently articulated concern on the part of workers. This may reflect the fact that fires are not an everyday occurrence in the factories, despite publicity to the effect that they might be, or it may reflect the fact that such fires are simply one more hazard in an environment where hazards are endemic. Moreover, while a great deal of attention has been given to the issue of toilets by outside observers, for the workers themselves, the number of toilets in a factory takes second place to the restrictions on their ability to use them. Many women reported that their factories permitted workers only two toilet breaks a day; the key was kept with the supervisor to ensure enforcement. In some factories, women's access to drinking water was monitored to ensure they did not need to use the toilet too frequently. As Dannecker points out, 'An increase in numbers of toilets per factory would not solve the problem described by the workers, since .... the actual number is not the problem but the access'. A far more frequently express~d set of concerns related to the longer term effects on workers' health of long hours of work in closed conditions. While sexual harassment did occur in the factories, it was mentioned far more often in relation to the behaviour on the streets than within the factory. Dannecker's study does note incidents of sexual harassment on the factory

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floor, but she also cautions against the tendency within both local and international discourse to interpret Bangladeshi women in a passive role with regard to sexuality. Some women engaged in romantic liasons on the factory floor, others found husbands and still others used their sexuality to promote their own interests within the work place. While such forms of behaviour gave rise to a public perception of garment workers as 'loose', they are hardly unique to Bangladesh or to export-factory work. Child care issues also emerged as a central concern for women workers. The 'marriage ban' which appeared to have operated in South Korea, for instance, with the state condoning the widespread employer practice of requiring women to quit work upon marriage, does not operate in Bangladesh. Around half of the women in the garment industry were, or had been married, and between 40-50 per cent had children. Some women left their children back in their villages with their parents; others left them at home alon~ or to the care of older siblings or neighbours, still others brought them into the factories with them to work as 'helpers'. According to one survey, around 80 per cent of children working in the factories were found to have relatives within the same factory. Employers claimed they only hired children at the insistence of their more skilled workers. One of the side effects of the sacking of children from garments factories in the wake of threatened US legislation against imports which used child labour was that many women workers, who had no alternative child support, also lost their jobs. Other disadvantages highlighted by women workers were more culturally specific in nature. They included anxieties about their reputation in the wider community; discomfort at having to work alongside men; the lack of provision of a place to pray and so on. However, one factor which has emerged with frequent regularity in many of the studies, is the lack of respect meted out to the women by their supervisors. As Dannecker notes, 'all

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the interviewed women articulated their helplessness with regard to the way the supervisors addressed them, talked with them and treated them'. Such disrespect is likely to have a gendered dimension; managers and supervisors are far more cautious towards male workers who have a great deal more disruptive capacity at their disposal. It is significant, for instance, that management behaviour featured as a reason for job satisfaction or dissatisfaction for women workers in the industry far more frequently than for men. Zohir and Paul-Majumder found that while 60% of workers, male as well as female, expressed satisfaction with their jobs, men were more likely to prioritise tfte level of wages as their reason for jobsatisfaction while women prioritised the behaviour of management. Indeed, women were twice as likely as men to mention management behaviour as their main reason for job satisfaction. The struggle for respect at work may carry greater weight with women workers than the struggle for higher wages. LABOUR STANDARDS AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS

The question that needs to be addressed therefore is what the demand for global labour standards to be linked to trade agreements has to offer these young women who are seeking to escape the highly personalised tyranny of the patriarchal contract at home into the somewhat more impersonal tyranny of the patriarchal contract in the workplace. From the perspective of those in the wealthier countries of the world, one rationale for the demand is to prevent what is widely referred to as 'the race to the welfare bottom'. But what is the rationale from the perspective of those who are already at the welfare bottom? One possible answer is that such labour standards provide a vision, an end' goal to which all workers can aspire. A second is that it helps to overcome inequities in the labour market. As feminist economists have argued, the existence of a statutory minimum wage is particularly important for

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women who have less information about the market than men and are much more likely to underestimate their own worth. In addition, maternity benefits and child care facilities help to offset pre-existing distortions in market forces which do not factor in the cost of women's unpaid work in caring for their children and family. These are sound arguments, but they surely apply to all women workers, not just to those in the traded sectors which are the primary, and indeed sole, focus of those campaigning for the social clause. Most countries, including Bangladesh, already have various commitments to labour standards in place within their national legislation. The Industrial Relations Ordinance of 1969 provides legal protection for the right to form trade unions, and Bangladesh has ratified the Conventions 87 and 98, which give workers the basic rights of freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively. The country also has legislation on minimum wage, child care facilities and so on. Most of these are not observed in practice, but they are certainly far-reaching enough to constitute a starting point for workers' struggles to improve their conditions at work. By contrast, labour standards which are imposed from outside, which take no account of what is feasible, possible or desirable from the point of view of the workers they are meant to benefit, and which are enforced by the more powerful nations of the world, should not be confused with the promotion of workers rights. Rights entail selfdetermination; they express selfdetermination and they contribute to its expression. Self-determination means that workers must be allowed to assess the tradeoffs to different courses of action-on an informed basis-and make their decisions accordingly, since they are the ones who will have live with its· consequences. In his history of the English working class, E.P. Thompson observed that the working class did not simply 'rise like the sun at an appointed time. It was present at its own making'.

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It took workers in Britain and other industrialised countries several decades of struggle before they won the right to engage in collective action to improve their "working conditions. And, what is critical to note, is 'that these strugglesI took place at a time when the global mobility of capital did not constrain the ability of the working class to press for their demands or that of their governments to respond. If women workers in the poorer countries of the world are to engage in similar struggles to transform themselves from an isolated fraction of the la~ur force in their countries into an organised section of the labour movement, they are unlikely to achieve it without the support and solidarity of a global labour movement but they too must be present 'at their own making'.

CHAPTER 5

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN MODERN WORLD

DIMENSIONS OF INFORMAL WORK

Three dimensions of work arrangements are useful in determining the nature, costs and benefits of informal work: place of work, employment relations and production system. Working Place The conventional view of the workplace is of a factory, shop or office, as well as formal service outlets such as clinics and schools. But this has always excluded the workplaces of millions of people, more so in developing than developed countries, namely, those in informal employment. Today, as informal employment is rising everywhere, a more inclusive classification of the workplace is critical. Some informal economic activities are located in conventional workplaces such as registered shops or offices. But, typically, informal activities are located in non-conventional places, including private homes, open' spaces and unregistered shops and workshops. Each place of work is associated with specific risks, and thus different degrees of security or insecurity, for those who work in them. The relevant factors include: ownership and security of tenure of the site;

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relationships of control at the work site: with fellow workers, with an employer, with other interest groups, with public authorities and/or with family members; costs of securing the site (and especially entry costs for poorer women); the access to infrastructure needed for work, such as electricity (for light and power), water, toilets, garbage removal, storage of goods; access to customers and suppliers; potential for upgrading the conditions at the worksite; ability of informal workers to organise at the site or away from it in order to secure representation of their interests; risks and hazards associated with the site. Private homes Significant numbers of people work from their own homes, including own account operators, unpaid contributing family members and industrial outworkers. Among the benefits of working at home, often mentioned by women, is the ability to carry out both paid work and housework plus child or elder care. This multitasking, which may be seen as a 'benefit' in terms of enabling women to fulfil multiple expectations, also imposes concrete costs. When a home-based worker stops work in order to care for a child or cook a meal, her productivity drops-and so does her income. In some circumstances, working from home may be more physically safe for women. In others, it can increase their vulnerability-as they are less visible and less likely >'to be legally recognised as workers-and limit their access to social protection measures, chances to upgrade their skills or opportunities to organise collectively. Also, those who work at home are less likely than those who wnrk in a workplace outside the home to develop social

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ties outside the family. Those who work at home may also be limited in the kind of work they can do and how productive they are by such things as the amount of space available for work and storage, or whether there is electricity and water supply. In Ahmedabad City, India, poor women who live in dilapidated shelters on the streets report that no one is willing to give them piece-rated garment work because of the poor conditions of their homes and lack of clean storage space. In spite of having the necessary sewing skills, they have resorted to work as casual labourers or waste pickers. Finally, home-based workers may work with toxic substances, putting children especially at risk. They may be unable to read warnings about safe handling and storage, or their homes may not be equipped for proper storage or ventilation. In the case of industrial subcontracting, this is one very concrete way in which some firms shift risk to workers and their families. Public places

Streets, sidewalks and traffic intersections are the place of work for many traders, along with parks, fairgrounds and municipal markets. The same public spot may be used for different purposes at different times of day: in the mornings and afternoons it might be used to trade consumer goods such as cosmetics, while in the evenings it converts to a sidewalk cafe run as a small family enterprise. Despite exposure to pollution, noise a:nd' weather, the benefit of working in public spaces is evidenced by the demand for them. In the competitive jostle for sites close to transport and commuter nodes, city authorities respond in different ways, ranging from outright prohibition of street trade to regulated and negotiated use. Harassment, confiscation of goods, imposition of fines, physical assault and time spent in court-all of these affect the bottom line for traders. Given these costs of operating informally, some traders may wish to pay site licens~s and other levies,

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but often the costs of regulation in both time and money are too high in relation to the tiny size of their enterprises and incomes. Other open spaces

Other common places of work are agricultural land, including pastures and forests, and fishing areas, including ponds, rivers and oceans. Construction sites are not only places of work for constructi()n workers but also for suppliers and transporters of materials, and these sites may attract other informal providers of goods and services-such as street food vendors while building is taking place. In many countries, there is a marked gender pattern to the place of work. A recent random-sample survey of both formal and informal workers in Ahmedabad City, India found that less than 25 per cent of the female workforce worked in factories, offices or shops compared to nearly 60 per cent of the male workforce, while nearly 70 per cent of the female workforce worked in their own or other homes, compared to less than 10 per cent of the male workforce. Employment relationship

The employment relationship is the central legal concept around which labour laws and collective bargaining agreements recognise and protect the rights of workers. The conventional notion of this relationship, thought to be universal, is that between a person, called the employee (frequently referred to as 'the worker1, with another person, called the employer, to whom she or he provides labour or services under certain conditions is return for remuneration. This excludes those workers who are self-employed along with many kinds of wage employment in which the employer-employee relationship is disguised, ambiguous or not clearly defined. In some cases, employers disguise the employment relationship by giving it the appearance of a commercial relationship: e.g., when employers 'sell' raw materials to

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sub-contracted worke.-s who 'sell' finished goods back to them. In other cases, the relationship may be genuinely ambiguous. For example, some wage workers work at a physical distance from the enterprise that employs them while using equipment and/ or raw materials provided by the enterprise, following its instructions and being subject to its control (over quality of goods produced and method of payment) but having full autonomy as to how to organise the work. And some ostensibly self-employed workers may be dependent on one or more contractors, including taxidrivers, newspaper distribution workers and skilled home-workers using information communication technology. In cases where the employees of one enterprise provide services or labour to another enterprise, it is unclear who the employer is, what rights the worker has and who is responsible for securing these rights. The classic example in developed countries is the temporary worker who gets work through a temp agency. The main categories of informal employment relations are as follows: employers: owner operators of informal enterprises who hire others;

own account workers: owner operators of singleperson units or family businesses or farms who do not hire others; unpaid contributing family worke~: family workers who work in family businesses or farms without pay; employees: unprotected employees with a known employer: either an informal enterprise, a formal enterprise, a contracting agency or a household; casual labourers: wage workers with no fixed employer who sell their labour on a daily or seasonal basis; industrial outworkers: sub-contracted workers who produce from their homes or a small workshop. Workers within each of these ("";ltegories can be more or less dependent or independent, depending on the specific

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contractual arrangement under which they work. Selfemployment ranges from fully-dependent arrangements in which the owner operator controls the process and outcomes of work and absorbs the risks, to semidependent arrangements in which the operator does not control the entire process or outcome of her work but may still absorb all of the risks involved. Some selfemployed persons are dependent on one or two clients or on a dominant counterpart. Also, wage employment ranges from fully-dependent employees to fairly independent casual labourers. Industrial outworkers who work from their homes are neither self-employed nor wage-employed. They work under sub-contracts for a piece rate without secure contracts or any real bargaining power. The small amount and insecurity of their income is exacerbated by the fact that they have to pay for the non-wage costs of production, such as workplace, equipment and utilities. Th~y have little control over the volume or timing of work orders, the quality of raw material supplied to them or when they are paid. Some industrial outworkers produce goods for major firms abroad. In today's global economy, there may be no greater distance physical and psychological-or greater imbalance in terms of power, profit and life-style than that between the woman who stitches garments or soccer balls from her hoee in Pakistan for a brandname retailer in Europe or North America and the chief executive officer (CEO) of that brand-name corporation. In sum, most informal workers do not fit neatly under the employer-employee rehitionship as conventionally understood arid, therefore, tend to be excluded from legal and social protection as well as from collective bargaining agreements. In devising responses, the problem needs to be correctly diagnosed: is the scope of the legislation too narrow to cover all workers, or is legislation applicable to them not being enforced. But to fully understand the nature of informal work today, it is also important to look beyond employment relationships to the underlying system of production and exchange.

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Mode of Production In most developing economies today, a complex mix of traditional, industrial and global modes of production and exchange co-exist as parallel or linked systems. In many developing countries, artisanal and agricultural modes of production have not changed significantly over the past century, and industrialisation has not expanded as rapidly or as fully as in developed countries. Selfemployment remains a large share of total employment and industrial production takes place in micro and small units, in family businesses or in single person units. Smaller units tend to hire workers on a casual or semipermanent basis with limited job security or workers benefits, no job ladders, and few (if any) labourmanagement negotiations. Even in larger units, employment relationships may be unstable and unprotected by labour legislation or collective bargaining agreements. And, in labour-intensive manufacturing sectors from garments and footwear to electronic and automobile parts, production is often subcontracted to micro-enterprises or to industrial outworkers. The global system of production-facilitated by digital technologies-involves dispersed production coordinated through networks or chains of firms. Authority and power tend to get concenttated in the top links Of value chains or diffused across firms in complex networks, making it difficult for micro-entrepreneurs to gain access, compete and bargain and for wage workers to bargain for better wages and working conditions. Highly competitive conditions among small-scale suppliers and the significant market power of transnati-lnal corporations mean that the lion's share of the value produced across these value chains is captured by the most powerful players. Some small and microentrepreneurs become suppliers in these chains or netwofks, others become subcontractors or subcontracted workers, while yet others lose out all together. In developing countries, globalisation has been associated with tW(i) modes of production trat provide little if any job

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security or legal protection to workers: centralised production in large factories or workshops in exportprocessing zones; and dispersed production across a long chain of suppliers, contractors and industrial outworkers in global value chains. Export processing zones (EPZs) are industrial enclaves of export-oriented factories set up by many developing countries to attract foreign investors and increase exports. In other countries, ~uch as Mauritius, EPZ incentives and protections have simply been extended to designated export-oriented firms irrespective of their physical location. In a few countries, the EPZ package of incentives and protections still includes exemption from national labour legislation. In global value chains, lead foreign firms nesotiate directly with the first-tier of their suppliers, while retaining power and control within the chain and excluding those down the chain from direct negotiations and associated benefits. The first-tier of their suppliers may, in turn, be exempt from or choose to ignore national legislation. Of course, EPZs and global value chains are not mutually exclusive ways to organise global production. EPZ factories are part of global commodity chains, though they are governed not only by the lead or parent companies to which they supply goods but also by the government regulations coveripg the EPZ where they are located. In both cases, there is a marked shift from intra-finp. (employer-employee) relationships that predominate in industrial production. In the case of EPZs the shift is to firm-government relationships, and in the case of value chains it ~s to inter-firm relationships. As a consequence, many wage workers have little control or bargaining power over their terms of involvement (ibid). A widespread feature of global production is the volatility and seasonality of demand. To adjust to the peaks and sloughs in their business cycle, many employers prefer to hire a small core workforce and

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maintain a 'reserve army' of seasonally employed workers. In addition, wage workers in EPZs are often not allowed to join unions, and many sub-contracted workers in global value chains work from their homes, thereby undermining the socialisation and solidarity functions of work. What this complex reality suggests is that the costs and benefits of informal work are a function not just of working conditions but, more fundamentally, of work arrangements. As used here, 'working conditions' is a. term associated with whether the workplace is safe or humanely-run and whether the workers enjoy benefits and legal protection; and 'work arrangements' is a broader term that encompasses place of work, employment status and production system-each o( which serves to determine the conditions and outcomes of work. Making the link between informal employment, poverty and gender inequality means assessing the costs and benefits associated with different informal work arrangements against the location of women and men within them. BENEFITS OF INFORMAL WORK

The most widely cited benefits of informal work include tax avoidance, illegal occupation of premises and illegal tapping of electricity, all of which are seen to lower the costs of informal enterprises and to give them a competitive advantage over formal firms that pay taxes, rent and utility bills. A second set of benefits, thought to favour women in particular, are the flexibility of work hours and the convenience of working from home or another convenient location. A further derived benefit is the opportunity that might not otherwise be available for generating wealth (if a person is entrepreneurial) or for making ends meet (if a person is poor). And for those who might not be able to seek a formal job, such as women whose physical mobility is constrained by social norms, informal work is seen to offer a chance to earn an independent income.

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Tax Avoidance Informal entrepreneurs are thought to avoid the various taxes paid by formal enterprises, including registration fees, corporate income tax and payroll taxes. However, the reality is not so straightforward. Although informal enterprises are not formally registered at the national level, they may be registered at a local municipal level and pay registration fees as well as operating fees for the use of urban space. Moreover, they often pay indirect taxes or fees in the form of bribes, fees to recover confiscated goods and relocation costs in cases of eviction. Street vendors are particularly liable to indirect taxes. Some also pay nearby storekeepers for the use of toilets or space to store goods. With regard to corporate income taxes, many microenterprises and own account operators are not subject to these since they are not incorporated or do not generate enough profit to fall into existing corporate tax brackets. However, they may still pay taxes because of reporting business profits as personal income due to the difficulty of separating household and business accounts. On the other hand, micro-enterprises and own account units do not benefit when governments lower corporate iqcome tax rates as part of export-promotion incentive packages. There is no parallel tax incentive for micro-enterprises or own account operators that are not incorporated. With regard to payroll taxes, micro-enterprises that hire others are legally liable to submit these but, by not registering, often avoid them. However, own account operators, who represent a large share of informal enterprises in many developing countries, are not subject to payroll taxes as they do not (by definition) hire workers. In India, own account operations represent over 85 per cent of all informal enterprises in manufacturing. Finally, with regard to value-added taxes, informal producers and traders often find it difficult to 'pass' these on to their customers because they operate in such highly competitive and price-sensitive markets. And they

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cannot claim back the VAT that they pay on inputs because they are not legally registered. Further, a flat rate value-added tax -especially on foodstuffs--can prove regressive for informal workers as consumers. In 2004, the World Bank extended its Investment Climate Surveys in 11 countries to cover micro and informal firms. These extended surveys found that, compared to all sizes of formal firms (small, medium and large), informal firms: pay relatively high bribes (using bribe payments as a share of sales as the measure); have less access to formal finance; experience more frequent electricity outages; find government services less efficient. The surveys also found that non-compliance with taxes and regulations leaves informal firms vulnerable to being evicted or shut down, and makes them easy targets for bribes or bureaucratic harassment from officials. Flexible Working Hours

Some forms of informal work are associated with flexible work hours and other forms of convenience such as working at or near one's own home. And, undoubtedly, some women 'prefer' flexible work hours and ~orking from home due to competing time pressures owing to their responsibility for both paid and unpaid work. But other women have little choice, are conditioned to prefer or are forced into these arrangements. The flip-side of flexibility is uncertainty, including uncertain volume. and quality of production due to flexible work schedules and poor working conditions; and uncertain work orders and payments due to limited market knowledge and bargaining power. This applies in particular to the many home-based producers who are industrial outworkersalso known as home-workers. Industrial outworkers are completely dependent on others for the supply of raw materials and the sale .of

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finished goods and remain isolated from other women doing the same type of work. This dependence, combined with the isolation that makes organising with others difficult if not impossible, undermines their ability to bargain for higher piece-rates, timely payments or overtime pay. Finally, working at home can represent a cost in terms of bargaining power not just in the market but within the household, because it does not provide women with a viable fall-back position.

Direct and Indirect Costs While informal work does offer positive opportunities and benefits, the benefits are not sufficient and the costs are often too high for most of those who work informally to achieve an adequate standard of living over their working lives. Some costs are direct in the form of 'out of pocket' expenses needed to run an informal business or work informally; others are indirect, reflecting the more general conditions under which the working poor live and work. Some of these can be rather high over the long-term, such as when a worker has to sacrifice access to health and education (or training) for herself or family members. Also, there are psychological and emotional costs-in terms of a worker's self-esteem and dignity-associated with many forms of informal work. Many informal workers face significant occupational hazards in the workplace (direct costs) yet are not covered by occupational health and safety (OHS) regulatory and compensatory mechanisms (indirect costs). For unprotected informal workers, exposure to toxic chemicals, repetitive strain and muscular-skeletal injuries, poor sanitation, excessive working hours and structurally unsafe workplaces not only threaten personal health and safety but can also impact on productivity and income. Existing OHS regulatory mechanisms are generally under-resourced and unable to keep pace with the diversify~ng nature of work today. Mainstream enforcement mechanisms rely on easily identifiable

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employers and workplaces and, therefore, exclude many informal workers who do not have a standard employment relationship or conventional work space. In many countries, enterprises with fewer than a specified number of workers may be excluded from aSH legislation. In addition to the costs of working informally, informal workers often have to forego the benefits associated with working formally and being legally recognised by the state. Formal enterprises are more likely to have access to financial resources and market information, and to be able to secure written and enforceable commercial contracts. Formal entrepreneurs are entitled to join registered business associations through which they gain information about market trends and forge market contacts. In addition, depending on the country, the state may contribute to unemployment funds, workers' compensation, maternity benefits, health insurance and retirement savings, all of which are forms of risk management and means of smoothing incomes over a lifetime. In some countries, the state also sets up labour courts or other machinery for settling disputes between employers and employees in ways that enable workers to confront employers on a more equal footing. Finally, to promote exports and competitiveness in specific sectors, the state may offer subsidies and incentives to businesses, including tax rebates, business training, export licenses, export promotion through trade fairs, outright subsidies (e.g., agriculture) and other means. In addition, some states make provisions that are not based on employment but that, nonetheless, impact on the ability of men and women to work. For example: in many European countries, state commitment to child care provision directly encourages women to go to and stay in work; in Durban, South Mrica, a municipal water tariffthe 'lifeline tariff'--charges lower rates to lowincome consumers; poor people who work from home who

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depend on water for work, such as cooking for sale at local outlets and doing laundry, pay less for their water, thus benefiting as workers as well as' consumers; in Thailand, a local community development fund gives local groups access to loans at low rates of interest for income-generating initiatives. Finally, as citizens, both formal and informal workers are entitled to benefits from the state that can directly and indirectly contribute to their ability to work productively: for example, health, education and welfare services, infrastructure for residential areas and support for care of elderly people, children and people with disabilities. However, in many countries, there are systematic biases against poorer people either in accessing state provided services such as health and education or in the quality of those service.s. Government policies oft~n fail to generate aggregate demand for the labour, goods and services provided by the informal economy or to provide legal and regulatory protections to informal firms and workers. Finally, social norms and institutions (family, kin and caste) constrain the physical mobility of individual workers as well their access to and ownership of property. In brief, competitive market pressures and related corporate practices, a decline in state social spending and legal protections and various forms of discrimination in the broader society-by class, gender, race/ethnicity and geography-reinforce each other to generate significant costs for the working poor in the informal econonw. Together these costs take a huge toll on the financial, physical and psychological well-being of many informal workers, eroding the benefits earned through employment. In the short term, the working poor in the informal economy often have to 'over-work' to cover these costs and still make ends meet. In the long-term, the cumulative toll. of being over-worked, under-compensated and under-protected on informal workers, their families and their societies undermines human capital and

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depletes physical capital. All these costs, both direct and indirect-as well as foregone benefits -must be addressed if the poor are to able to work their way out of poverty. A recent UNIFEM-supported study of women in the informal economy in Bulgaria asked women informal workers (through interviews and focus-group discussions) to assess the risks that they face. As ranked by respondents, the greatest risks were becoming impoverished upon retiring from work and the intergenerational transfer of poverty: respondents explained that they could not afford to bring up their children properly and would have to rely on their children to supplement their meagre social pensions when they retired. A UNIFEM-supported study of home-based workers in poor urban communities in Bolivia and Ecuador developed an index of informality (high, medium, low) based on the regularity and stability of employment. Among economically-active persons in their sample, 95 per cent in Bolivia and 79 per cent in Ecuador were in a main occupation that was moderately or highly informal. In both countries, women were more likely than men to be in the most informal employment. This issue was also explored in a recent study in a black township in KwaZulu Natal province, South Africa. Classifying wage workers into most formal, semiformal and most informal, the study found that while income levels in general were very low, the median income for the self-employed was around half that for wage workers. However, there were stark differences among wage workers, with the most informal wage workers having a median income well below that of the self-employed. Controlling for age, education and experience, women earned significantly less than men. The average wage gap was estimated to be around 48 per cent; the gender difference was smallest, however, for those in professional ranks (teachers and nurses) in the civil service. The study also showed clear differences with regard to risk.

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Among the self-employed, less than a quarter received a regular income, as opposed to three quarters of wage workers. The consequences of this in terms of health were seen in the fact that nearly three times as many self-employed workers reported poor health status as wage workers. Moreover, fewer of the self-employed than of the wage workers had work-related insurance that could help tide them over hard times. Among the wage employed, those who are paid in cash rather than through a bank account or post office also face risk, including the possibility of theft, claims on cash income by relatives or friends and ease of spending (rather than saving) earned income. None of the most formal wage workers were paid in cash, compared to nearly two thirds of the most informal wage workers. Irregularity and Seasonality

What people earn is a function not just of their level of earnings but also of the period of time over which these earnings are sustained. For example, findings from a random-sample survey of 104 men and 507 women in low-income slums in Ahmedabad City, India suggest, as might be expected, that formal salaried workers enjoy the most days work per year on average. Within the informal workforce, the self-employed enjoy more days of work per year on average than do casual day labourers or homeworkers. However, these averages disguise marked gender differences in unemployment. Within each employment status category, women reported fewer days of work and more days of unemployment per year than men. Overall, women averaged 124 days of unemployment per year while men averaged only 74 days of unemployment per year. Also, fewer women (83%) than men (92%) reported that their main activity was regular and more than twice as many women (37%) as men (15%) reported that they carried out two economic activities per day (rather than one).

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Seasonality helps explain some of the reported unemployment and irregularity oJ work. In Ahmedabad City, there are marked seasonal fluctuations in the supply and price of different varieties of fruits, vegetables and other fresh produce that street vendors purchase and sell. Also, the demand for fruits and vegetables rises in summer, falls during the monsoon and winter months and peaks during the major festivals and the wedding season. Similarly, the demand for garments typically falls in summer, rises in winter and peaks just before (and drops sharply after) the major annual festivals and the wedding season. Informal Economic Arrangement In examining the costs and benefits of working informally, it is important to look not only at generic costs and benefits, but also at which categories of informal workers tend to incur the costs or enjoy the benefits and under what circumstances. It is often the case that formal corporations choose to hire workers under informal employment relations in the interest of maintaining a flexible and low-cost workforce. In other words, formal firms or employers not only the 'informals' themselves-may choose informal economic arrangements. Also, the policies and regulations of the state as well as social norms and institutions all serve to determine the costs and benefits of working informally. With this perspective in mind, we can posit an integrative causal model of the informal economy that includes informal employment by choice, informal employment by necessity, and informal employment by tradition. Within this model, those who work informally by choice include: those who deliberately choose to avoid taxes and registration, such as many micro-entrepreneurs who hire others; those who prefer the flexibility and convenience of informal work, such as the professional and technical self-employed.

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Those who operate in the informal economy by necessity include: those wno cannot find a formal job, as when not enough jobs are created to keep up with the supply of labour, when retrenchments take place, when companies shift their location of production, when mechanisation displaces workers or when companies decide to 'outsource' production or services; those who do not get sufficient income from their existing job, for example, when poorly-paid public sector employees have to earn a supplemental income in the informal economy to make ends meet; those who are forced to change their employment or commercial relationships: for instance, former employees who are re-contracted as seasonal workers; and independent producers who are forced to work under sub-contracts when they lose their market niche. And those who operate in the informal employment by tradition include: those who follow in the hereditary occupation- of their family or social group, which is- passed down from one generation to the next~ those woo receive a 'calling' to take up a traditional occupation (such as traditional healers in southern Africa); those who face labour supply constraints due to restrictions on their physical mobility (e.g., due to patriarchal norms) and/ or competing demands on their time (e.g., due to the gender division of labour). Some of those in the final category could be seen as operating informally due to necessity as well as tradition. This is because the constraints they face might not be due to gender-ascribed roles and responsibilities but, rather, to wider structural dimensions of the economy, such as asset ownership and gender segmentation of labour markets. Of course, some of these structural

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constraints may also reflect the gender norms of the society. Perspective of Women Where the working poor, especially women, are located in the global workforce has consequences for persistent poverty and gender inequality. Development planners need to look at poverty from the perspective of the ''Working poor-especially women-in the informal economy and consider the ways in which gender intersects with other sources of disadvantage in the realm of work. Finally, mainstream economists and others who advise policy makers need to revisit their assumptions regarding how labour markets are structured and behave to incorporate the reality of informal employment. Money matters

Increased global attention to poverty has rekindled the debate on what constitutes poverty. There is renewed focus on its broader dimensions, which are not captured in the standard measures of what is now called 'income poverty', including: health, education, longevity and other human capabilities; political participation and social inclusion; and human rights, entitlements and empowerment. While all of these dimensions are critical to the well-being of the poor, they should not obscure the centrality of earned income in the lives of the poor. From the perspective of poor people, money matters: both how much cash flows into the household as well as how much cash flows out of the household. From the perspective of poor women what also matters is the flow or distribution of income within the household. Who receives the money within the household? Do women control their own earnings? Women's control over their income and their role in the allocation of household budget expenditures are critical to their empowerment. Women's bargaining power within the household depends in large part on their earnings and bargaining

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power outside the household; yet their ability to earn outside the home depends on gender roles and relationships within the home. Women who do paid work from their homes are not likely, despite their earnings, to increase their bargaining power either outside or within the household. Women who do paid work outside their homes and, in the process, learn to bargain with wholesale traders and government officials, are more likely to be able to bargain within the household, whatever their level of earnings. Women workers who are organised are more likely to exercise bargaining power both within and outside their homes, no matter where they work or how much they earn. To devise effective strategies for reducing poverty, development planners need to better understand and measure the costs and benefits of working informally, taking into account the flows of money into and out of the pockets of informal workers or their household budgets. That means confronting the problems with household income and expenditure measures, particularly households that depend on irregular wage employment and/or self-employment. It also means taking into account both out-of-pocket expenses and lost income associated with illnesses, accidents and work stoppages as well as the monetary and other costs to workers of flexible labour-market policies and business practices. Needed also are measures that capture women's contribution to the household income (e.g., female earnings as a percentage of total househo!i earnings) as well as women's access to artd control over income within the household. Dimensions of poverty

The consequences of working informally go far beyond the income-or money metric-dimensions of poverty. Compared to those who work in the formal economy, those who work in the informal economy are likely: to have less access to basic infrastructure and social services;

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to face greater exposure to common contingencies; to have less access to the means to address these con tingencies (e. g., health, property or life insurance); to therefore have lower levels of health, education and longevity; to face greater exclusion from state, market and political institutions that determine the 'rules of the game' in these various spheres;. to have fewer rights and benefits of employment; to have less access to financial, physical and other productive assets; to have less secure property rights over land, housing or other productive assets. Many of these deprivations are mutually reinforcing. Individuals or families who lack secure tenure over their home are more likely to lack basic infrastructure such as water, sanitation or electrical connections. Lack of basic infrastructure may compromise their health, which in turn, compromises their ability to work. Yet those who survive on their own labour cannot afford to be sick. The lack of water connections in their home means that women have to spend many hours each day standing in line to draw water from a public tap or fetching water from a village well or the nearest water source. For homebased workers, the lack of basic infrastructure compromises their productivity. The reality is that working women worldwide are concent:o:-ated not only in informal employment but also in the more precarious forms of informal employment: women are more likely than men to be own account operators, industrial outworkers and unpaid contributing family members; men are more likely than women to be informal entrepreneurs who hire others, employees of informal firms and heads of family businesses;

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women are more likely than men to be concentrated in export-oriented light manufacturing, at least in the early stages of trade liberalisation when a premium is placed on lowskilled and low-paid workers; women are more likely than men to be in street trade, except in societies that place constraints on women's physical mobility, and they are also more likely to sell from the street (rather than from push carts, bicycles or as hawkers) and to sell perishable goods (rather than non-perishables). As a result, women workers in the informal economy face a significant gender gap in earnings, arguably greater than that faced by women workers in the formal economy. This is largely due to the fact that women are concentrated in lowerpaid work arrangements even within given occupations. But even when women and men do similar kinds of informal work, they often earn different incomes. In pan, this reflects differences in the time that women and men can spend in paid work. However, studies that control for hours and days of work, as well as for other factors such as education and experience, find that on average women earn less than men within the same type of work, often due to the perception of women as being somehow less skilled or as being able to rely on a male breadwinner. While some forms of informal work are said to have benefits for women, these often reflect gender ascribed roles and responsibilities that are, in tum, used to justify gender segmentation: notably, the need to balance paid work and unpaid care work. Finally, women are overrepresented in forms of informal work that are associated with significant costs, most notably as industrial outworkers who have to absorb all of the non-wage costs of production while enjoying very little of the value added.

Disadvantages of Informal Work In every ccuritry in the world, under every economic system, women face constrai~ts in the realm of paid work simply because they are wqmen: their access to property

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is typically less than that of men and often mediated through their relationship to men; they face greater social demands on their time than men do (notably to carry out unpaid care work); and they face greater social constraints on their physical mobility than men. But to fully understand the relationships between women's employment and their poverty status, we need to integrate an analysis of gender with an analysis of other relationships and other sources of disadvantage. After all, most working poor women are poor and disadvantaged not just because of gender roles and relationships. Class, religion, race / ethnicity and geography all intersect with gender to position many (though not all) women in precarious forms of work. In most regions of the world, certain communitiesdifferentiated largely by religion, race, ethnicity or geography as well as by class-are over-represented among the poor: notably, rural communities and religious, racial, or ethnic minorities. In these communities, women are further disadvantaged by reason of their gender, but the fact that they are poor and disadvantaged stems in the first instance from their wider social identity and/or from where they live. Market failures

Mainstream economists argue that markets fail to achieve socially desirable outcomes when there are external costs or benefits, when contracts cannot be enforced without costs, when information is not shared or when monopolistic power exists. Such market failures are endemic in informal labour markets. A strong case can be made for direct government intervention in informal labour markets to achieve social objectives. But mainstream economists also argue that the costs of enduring market failures are less than the costs of intervening to correct market failures, especially in labour markets. In assessing whether to accept market failure or intervene in informal labour markets, labour should not

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be seen as simply an input that produces output but rather as a process through'" which people experience benefits, costs or risks; through which people's well-being and capacities can be enhanced or depleted; and through which people can be empowered or dis-empowered. Decent work generates social benefits such as social inclusion and cooperation, as well as personal benefits that extend beyond production and the income generated. However, informal work is often not decent work. Economic policies that are explicitly employmentoriented and address the costs of informal employment can achieve better social outcomes in terms of reducing both poverty and gender inequality-than policies that narrowly target growth. A key pathway to reducing poverty and gender inequality is to create more and better employment opportunities and to increase the benefits and reduce the costs of working informally. Women suffer additional difficulties based on gender. They are more likely than men in the informal economy to work in isolation in scattered physical locations such as their own or other person's homes. The women and their work are often hidden within long production chains. They are weighed down by the double burden of income-generating work and unpaid care work. The lack of protections and the constraints of gender contribute to the difficulties informal women workers face in trying to lift themselves out of poverty through work. One of the most important ways for workers in the informal economy to counter the forces that contribute to their impoverishment is through organising. Organising and the act of creating responsive organisations are critical elements in their economic, social and personal empowerment. These enable them to take action to advance and defend their interests, XQUnulate -policies that will benefit them- and -hold policy makers accountable over the long term. Although organising is more common-and easier-in the formal economy, informal workers have begun to come together to demand better conditions. Their

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organisations have given collective voice to some of the world's most impoverished informal workers, such as waste pickers and street vendors, and achieved important victories. Despite the role of women informal workers in achieving these gains, many of their organisations are still in their early stages, in part because of the extra difficulties women face in organising. They may be less able than men to attend meetings and take leadership roles in workers' organisations because of cultural limitations on their public role, as well as the demands of their unpaid care work. Nevertheless, women consistently seek to create and join groups that will provide them with critical economic and social benefits. Along with these specific goals, less tangible concerns drive women workers to organise. Many of them are vulnerable to danger and exploitation; they work extremely hard for less pay than men on average. Although they deal with these conditions as best they can, they also strive for respect, dignity and justice. Ultimately, many women workers see that they can fmd none of these if they act individually. Thus, organising is both an end in itself-as women achieve a sense of empowerment and are able to support each other-and a means to leveraging wider impact on the local, national and international stage. It promotes and aff-::cts policies and supports women's efforts to become active members of their communities and equal partners in their homes. As a woman organiser in India put it: "When individual women from amongst the poorest, least educated and most disenfranchised members of society come together, they experience dramatic changes in ... the balance of power, in their living conditions, in relationships within the household and the community. Perhaps the most important effect of empowerment is that the woman says, 'Now I do not feel afraid. m Organising can begin to address the costs and risks of informal work as well as the vulnerability, insecurity and dependence commonly experienced by women whose lives are controlled by powerful cultural, economic and

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political forces. This is particularly true for poor women. Organising can address thJ! many limitations that poverty imposes on them, including a lack of knowledge about the outside world and how it works. For women whose world has been confined to home, family and work, the very act of joining an organisation adds breadth to their lives. When women actively participate in an organisation, or take on leadership roles, their self-confidence, knowledge and understanding of the world generally increases and they gain new skills. But organising alone is not enough to bring about needed changes. Workers need representative voice in those institutions and processes that set policies and the 'rules of the (economic~ game'. In a global economy, improving conditions for informal workers in general-and informal women workers in particular-requires representative voice at the international level as well as the local and national levels. International, regional and national negotiations regarding free trade agreements, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) all need to include the voices and concerns of informal workers, who are the majority of workers in most developing countries and the vast majority of the working poor. Ensuring a voice for informal workers at the highest level requires supporting the growth of their organisations, and building capacity for leadership in this endeavour. It is not an easy road to travel, but it is a vital one. Benefits of Organisations Primarily at member-based organisations where women working in the informal economy are most likely to be directly involved. A member-based organisation (MBO) is one where the members are the users of the services of the organisation as well as its managers and owners. Thus, while women are building and participating in organisations, they are simultaneously building their own capacity.

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A member-based organisation is most likely to deliver benefits and minimise the constraints faced by the working poor, especially Vlomen, because it is directly controlled and run by informal economy workers themselves. This is especially true of MBOs in which women are fully represented in leadership, providing working poor women with a direct avenue to negotiate with, and influenc~, those with the power to affect their working conditions and lives. Being part of such an organisation can provide a large number of benefits for women workers in the informal economy: When day labourers, industrial outworkers, home-workers or contract workers organise to bargain with those who 'employ' them, they can increase their daily earnings and make their working conditions more secure. In 1999, after many years of protests and organising, home-workers in the United Kingdom were included under national minimum wage legislation. In South Africa, after a IS-year struggle involving a domestic workers' union among others, domestic workers were brought under the Unemployment Insurance Act in 2003, which provides unemployment, death, health, and maternity benefits. Organising helps women who have few, if any, assets to pool resources, thereby increasing their economic power. Savings and credit groups may help the working poor access microfinance services. Producers with little capital may buy raw materials at wholesale prices by combining their purchases. Landless labourers may be able to buy land collectively, and farmers who are unable to enter markets individually may have greater access and bargaining power as a collective. Organising helps informal workers to access services or to build better and bigger systems of social protection in areas such as health care and pensions. These activities have grown in importance as informal employment has increased while legal and social protections and state social spending have decreased.

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Organisations of women workers have collectively run schools and childcare and health centres. For example, using funds provided by the Accra City Council, the Accra Market Women's Association in Ghana developed a childcare programme to keep children safe while their mothers conducted business. The Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Water and Sewage collaborated in refurbishing an old building near the market for the centre, which cares for infants as well as older children. In times of crisis, organisations can mobilise support and assistance for victims, as the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) was able to do after the massive earthquake in Gujarat State, India, or the Siyath Foundation (a member of HomeNet South Asia) did in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. The Foundation, which works with coir weavers, distributed clothes, food, sanitary napkins and tools; linked individuals with legal experts; provided psycho-social support; and, working with UNIFEM, developed a long-term rehabilitation programme that involves organising members into a cooperative and mechanising coir production. The collective strength of organising helps women gain representation in local, national and international policymaking forums, allowing them to use their power and influence to make changes in policy and law. In Cambodia, during the 2002 national PRSP consultations, trade union representatives were asked to participate. This included the president of the National Independent Federation of the Textile Unions of Cambodia (NIF-TUC), representing a large group of both formal and informal women workers in the textile and leather apparel sectors. The union representatives successfully argued for keeping a minimum wage floor in place as a poverty reduction strategy. There is one other benefit worth mentioning. A number of gender scholars and women's rights advocates have maintained that working outside the household is one of the major ways in which women have

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been able to improve their personal bargaining power within the household. While this very much depends on the nature and conditions of the work, it is certainly true that women can increase their bargaining power in the household by achieving greater bargaining power outside the household-which in turn may help them to improve the terms of their employment. Just as women workers are often invisible, so too are their organisations. This is particularly true of organisations created by informal women workers. Most international and national forums, conferences and seminars tend not to invite them directly, and not much has been written about them. This is partly due to the fact that some organisations choose to operate 'under the radar' in order to protect members. But it is largely owing to the fact that the working poor, even if they are organised, remain invisible in mainstream development circles, leading to the assumption that organisations of informal women workers do not exist. The reality is very different. For example, when UNIFEM and HomeNet started a programme for homebased workers in Asia, one of their first activities was to map organisations that served these workers. They found that there were at least 508 such organisations in Bangladesh (BHWA 2003/2004) and 307 in Pakistan, with a large percentage of women members. Similarly when StreetNet International attempted to identify organisations of street vendors in Brazil, they learned of 770 associations of women and men street vendors in the city of Sao Paulo alone. Most organisations of informal workers tend to be small, which can affect their sustainability. The advantages of these small, localised organisations is that they are often directly involved in the issues affecting their members and encourage active participation and opportunities for leadership. The disadvantages may lie in their limited power and ability to make substantive gains for members, limited contributions from members and pOol' financial resources, minimal skills base, isolation and inability to access support.

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Several informal women workers' organisations have managed to reach beyond local structures to create larger organisations that benefit from economies of scale, greater access to resources and greater influence. One of the most successful of these is SEW A, the union of informal women workers in India. SEWA's size gives it the credibility and strength to bargain for concrete benefits, to access resources and to influence policy processes at local, national and international levels. Whether informal women workers organise, and what types of collective organisation best fit their needs, depends on a range of factors, including the broader social, political and economic environment in which they work and live. Geographical location and restrictions on women's physical mobility can influence the ability to organise. In small scale, family or home-based enterprises, workers are not as visible as part-time, temporary or contract workers in larger enterprises and hence more difficult to contact and mobilise. Migrant workers and workers in export processing zones (EPZs) often face extreme difficulty organising because of strict control of their movements. In addition, many informal workers may hesitate to join organisations due to familybased alliances, loyalty to kinship networks or fear of job loss. Organising must reflect the nature and conditions of work in the informal economy, including the different types of work informal workers perform, their uncertain hours and their dispersed workplaces. Women must also confront issues of power and discrimination based on gender. Thus, in addition to specific work-related protections, women workers need guarantees of equal pay for equal or comparable work; adequate, safe and affordable childcare; income protectioTJ. when giving birth; physical security while travelling; and freedom from sexual harassment and sexual exploitation in the workplace. Because informal workers often cannot easily identify an 'employer' with whom to negotiate better conditions, or risk losing their jobs if they do make

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demands, they have utilised various forms of organisations and diverse strategies to attain their goals. Where there is no identifiable employer, for example, street vendors have negotiated with municipalities to protect their right to eam a living on the street. In California, in the United States, consumers, workers, unions and the state collaborated in creating public authorities to supervise in-home health-care services. An innovative aspect of these authorities was the presence on their boards of the consumers of health care, who were concerned about high turnover rates and poor services. The health-care providers meanwhile were generally low-wage informal workers who received few if any benefits. Until they and the unions helped create the public authorities, they had n(\ ability to bargain collectively. With the creation of the public authorities, unions such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have been able to negotiate wage increases and improved benefits for health aides, while protecting consumers' rights to hire, train and terminate a healthcare provider. In cases where collective bargaining is difficult, informal workers may use ,collective action instead. Because they can be fired at will, informal workers do not generally take strike action. Instead, informal women workers. have more frequently turned to public displays of power through marches, demonstrations, rallies and passive resistance, often coupled with media and other pUblicity. In Thailand, advocacy campaigns launched by HomeNet and its allies led to the Ministerial Regulation Protection Act, passed in Parliame.nt in 2004, allowing home-based workers and other informal economy workers to participate in Thailand's social security system. Organisations of informal workers are set up differently depending on their different objectives, and their structures and by-laws reflect the different legal requirements that govern them. Whether workers organise in cooperatives, issue-based organisations or

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trade unions depends on how they see their own needs and objectives. Cooperatives Worker cooperatives are generally the easiest to set up, especially for small numbers of people. Cooperatives provide a structure through which workers pool financial resources, equipment, skills and experience (to minimise transaction costs), enabling them to incre~se their earning power and/ or to obtain goods and services by sharing the gains from these combined resources. Cooperatives typically focus on income generation through business development and pursue both economic and social objectives, a factor that has contributed to their success in empowering women and increasing their awareness of the benefits of organising. They also provide a structure through which women can develop bargaining, managerial and other skills and gain the know-how to eliminate exploitative contractors and intermediaries. .". In some cases, cooperatives work together with traditional unions to provide additional benefits, organise new members, or increase their bargaining power, as in the case of SEWA. In Burkina Faso, the Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres (ONSL), a trade union, has reached out to informal women workers involved in embroidery, knitting and soap production in the capital city, Ouagadougou. It set up a development centre that offers literacy, hygiene and nutrition courses to enable women to maintain their children's health records, which are of enormous benefit if a child falls ill (the mortality rate of children under 5 years of age is 50 per cent in Burkina Faso). The centre also runs training courses in basic accounting and administration. Through these activities the women have organised themselves, formed a cooperative and joined ONSL. Similarly, in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, national trade unions and cooperative organisations have formed partnerships

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to develop a common strategy to organise unprotected informal workers. Gender awareness is built into these initiatives, which have led to an increase in the number of informal workers organised, higher incomes and the establishment of a revolving loan fund.

Issue-based organisations An alternative for informal women workers in many places is to form or join organisations around specific issues concerning their lives and livelihoods. By tackling such issues, women are generally also able to address many of their work-related concerns, even if these are not dealt with directly. For example, poor women in urban slums face problems because of poor infrastructure, including a lack of transportation in general (and safe transportation in particular) or a lack of clean water. In some cases, women have organised safe transport systems. In others, they have set up water users groups as well as health awareness associations to help women protect themselves and their families against diseases from unclean water. These organisations may work closely with worker organisations and NGOs. Although many are localised in their communities, several have begun to operate nationally and internationally, such as SPARC (Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres) in Mumbai, India, which is a founding member of Shack Dwellers International. Trade unions

At some point in their effort to gain recognition and voice, workers' organisations often need to draw on the strengths of traditional trade unions. For example, they may affiliate with trade unions in order to struggle for the right to engage in collective bargaining. Worldwide, women are less likely than men to be in established unions, both because a larger share of male workers are in formal employment and because women face more problems in organising. They may, for example, be

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required to tend to the family after work or be unable to travel alone to meetings. Nevertheless, women's presence in established unions is growing globally as their share of work increases. This growth is currently uneven, varying from country to country and from industry to industry. Informal women workers benefit from the strengths of established unions by being part of a functioning and recognised organisation with resources, skills, contacts and access to employers, government and international organisations. In some cases, informal women workers have banded together to create their own unions rather than join existing ones that may not be as responsive to their needs. For women, the advantages of organising in 'new' unions is that they can set up innovative structures and programmes that are less patriarchal and more open to change than traditional unions. For example, women's unions are generally more creative in finding solutions to issues such as childcare and meeting times. These unions are considered new--even though some of them, such as Working Women's Forum in India, are over 25 years old-because they are different in structure and function from established trade unions and have grown outside the formal trade union structure. Some new unions organise by sector, while others are general unions of informal workers. Some primarily organise waged workers in the informal economy, while others are made up of own account workers. As with cooperatives, some of these new unions are supported by established trade unions, which are increasingly reaching out to informal women workers as the formal workforce shrinks owing to relocation and restructuring by employers. ~

IMPACTS OF ICT

Women face major challenges as a result of changes in the world economy arising from rapid globalisation, fastpaced technological progress and a growing informalisation of work. As a result, as the ILO notes,

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women's labour market status has greatly altered. Although women's representation in the labour force is increasing all over the world-to at least one-third in all regions except Northern Africa and Western Asia-their participation rates are still lower than men's, and they are disproportionately represented in non-standard and lower-paid forms of work, such as temporary and casual employment, part-time jobs, home-based work, selfemployment and work in micro enterprises. In understanding the impact of ICT on poorer countries, it is important to understand globalisation, since ICT has become one of the major driving forces in bringing national markets to the international domain. It is the digital divide which determines the divide in ability of the rich and poor countries to gain economic benefits from an expanding global market and the resulting new trade in information-intensive services and goods. Countries are thus affected by globalisation either through inclusion or exclusion; this polarity in economic well being increases as the world economy becomes reliant on information technologies. Globalisation is not a new phenomenon, but the diotinguishing feature of the current form of globalisation is that both developing and developed countries, have become increasingly connected through trade in digitised information. Combinations of computer and communication technologies culminating in networking technologies have enhanced the speed and reduced the cost of communication to such an extent that the question of distance has become less relevant in commercial and business transactions. With digitisation of information, it has become possible, and generally cost effective, to transfer information processing work, both in manufacturing and in' services, to offices and work units that are remote from main premises, within and across national boundaries. In OECD countries, it has given rise to the out sourcing of a vast range of information processing work, both to subcontracting and satellite units within a

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country as well as to those developing countries that possess a low waged computer-literate and Englishliterate workforce. The position of women, even in the developing world, has been far from uniform or unilinear in this emerging global scenario. In some developing countries, such as India or the Philippines, women have become major recipients of this globally distributed work. In addition, digitisation of information and the Internet have made it possible to sell goods and services beyond the boundaries of national states. The market for e- business and e-commerce is, at least potentially, global. Hence the internet, if and when available, makes it technologically possible to have access to global knowledge that includes prices, markets and tools. It has strengthened their ability to more effectively compete even in the domestic market. When they have been included in the digital economy, women have benefited (albeit to a lesser degree than men) by having access to: global markets; globally distributed work; -

global knowledge.

Nevertheless, in spite of the new opportunities that leT has offered to women, one can only be cautiously optimistic. The success of women has so far been limited to a handful of (mostly Asian) countries. The beneficiaries are generally from urban areas, whereas the majority of women, even in the high profile Asian countries, live in rural areas where connectivity is rare or non existent. Women ru e generally engaged in meeting local and family needs and are overwhelmingly not linked to a global digital economy that is essentially geared to trade and anchored in market transactions. Exclusion implies missed opportunities and a widening of the gap in material well-being between the excluded and the included. Since women form the majority of the poor inmost developing countries, exclusion affects more women than men. There is thus a strong case to be made in applying a gender focus to policy analysis in relation to globalisation.

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In formulating a research agenda to rectify gender bias in the digital divide, it is important to acknowledge that women's position in the world of work is determined by factors other than their gender, such as ethnicity or class. Nonetheless, women in all strata of society share some common challenges. The biological and social roles of women as mothers, homemakers and carers circumscribe their ability and opportunity to function on an equal basis with men in most economic spheres. It happens in traditional occupations and sectors, loosely described as the Old Economy, and is likely to persist even in the so-called Digital or New Economy. Women often find it difficult to engage in new forms of self-employment. Opportunity to establish businesses in telekiosks or cybercafes often eludes women who do not have the same access as men to family property orinstitutional finance. They also have to face greater barriers than men in obtaining education and training that can equip them with computer literacy, English literacy and business skills. Societal roles or oiological qualities do not always work against women. For example, the patience and persistence needed for repetitive work, or the ability and inclination to work on a team are the qualities that management often associates with women. This perception, real or stereotyped, partly explains the feminisation of the workforce in the manufacturing industries of exportprocessing zones in the developing world. Similar considerations now lead to the recruiting of young women in large numbers in er.lerging institutions of the digital economy, such as call centres. It has created new opportunities but often leads to insecure employment, as in call centres, where employees can be dismissed with ease. The emergence of a non unionised workforce may not bode well for the quality of work or the sustainability of these jobs. The quality as wellpas the quantity of work should be included in any evaluation. of the impact of ICT-Ied globalisation.

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WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Although data is not collected systematically for all regions, we know that women head 35% of small and medium enterprises in Asia. The main advantage of the web is it may allow these women to find new markets and enhance existing enterprises. The success of women's small and medium enterprises using lCTs, in this region has, to some extent, already been documented but mainly in a case study fashion. No systematic survey has been carried out as yet. From this limited evidence it is apparent' that digital opportunities in ICT- enabled businesses exist for women entrepreneurs. The Grameen Phone project in Bangladesh is often presented as a best practice model which combines lending to women's micro enterprises with literacy training and skills development. As described by Hafkin and Taggart, the Grameen Bank provides wireless phones as an in-kind loan to village phone operators, 75% of which are women. The operators resell the mobile phone service to fellow villagers, earning an average annual income of $300 as against the national average per capita income of $286. About 90% of the women operators are married with no formal education. The phone business can be managed simultaneously with other business or while doing household chores. The major advantages of this type of IT-enabled enterprise are minimal educational requirements Oust some basic mechanical aptitude), and the small amount of capital needed, which can be supplied by micro credit schemes. Such schemes are particularly useful for rural development where access to telecommunications and internet technology is limited. A successful example of an ICT-enabling business which has access to the Internet and a micro financing component is the use of smart cards by Indian women milk collectors in Rajasthan. The smart cards are used to record the quality, fat content, and sales of milk to distributors and also serve as a bankbook, allowing them to make decisions on spending and increasing their

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profits through the elimination of middlemen called dhudhwala. In Latin America, a nationwide network of housewives called Tortasperu who sell Peruvian baked goods to expatriates over the Internet, is an example of a lucrative opportunity for women who work at home while taking care of their children and at the same time bring in much-needed foreign exchange. The model has been replicated in Africa, in initiatives such as Ethiopia's virtual gift shop where traditional Ethiopian costumes, food items and spices produced by women are sold over the Internet; and in the Middle East, where handicrafts made by women artisans of Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan are sold in a virtual shop called elsouk. These businesses have the advantages of low capital and skill requirements. Aside from telephony services, women's handicrafts could also be developed using B2C, although difficulties in terms of marketing and management skills, supply and delivery logistics need to be addressed. The main advantage of the Web for small home-based businesses is that networking opportunities could, in an enabling environment, make these endeavours profitable rather than marginal. The potential to earn income at home while raising a family-with the technology to communicate inexpensively with customers around the world, and handle accounting and order processing online-makes the Internet an attractive working tool for women. Yet, for the majority of women in Asia, Mrica and Latin America, it has proven difficult to realise this potential in view of barriers in access to: internet technologies language of the Internet, credit or finance technical and business skills information on trade & customs regulations payment over the Net; and/or quality control of the product.

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But IT-enabled businesses are no different from other traditional micro enterprises. They both involve employing about five people or less, mostly family members. The only differentiating factor is the use of new technologies. Either to start up IT- based businesses or to employ IT tools to enhance existing businesses, these women will need capital from special financial institutions that lend specifically to poor women entrepreneurs with no collateral. The most likely source of finance could be found in micro credit schemes that specifically target women because of their high levels of repayment and for the social dividends reaped from lending to them. Micro finance or micro credit programmes should be aimed at empowering women, rather than at the setting up or expansion of micro enterprises. Specifically, micro credit schemes, when appropriately implemented, increase women's income levels and their economic independence, enhance women's autonomy over household decisions on expenditures, promote positive attitudes to women's social and political roles in communities, and provide them with information and support networks which allow them to protect their individual and collective interests at the local and macro levels. Shared credit schemes could be extended to provide shared facilities with regard to computer hardware and Internet access. The positive and negative impacts of micro finance programmes on women have been intensively studied, and in most cases, the .negative effects outweigh any positive effects. Mayoux, for instance, argues that the enterprises set up by women in these programmes demonstrate few income-augmenting, and there is often a cost to be borne in terms of heavier workload and repayment pressure. Worse, loan proceeds in many cases have been appropriated by men to set up enterprises over which women have no control and in which they are required to participate as unpaid labour. In many successful ventures, women's increasing autonomy has led to the withdrawal of male support, as

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well as decreases in male contribution to household expenditures. There is a possible role here for NGOs to control collective\resources in order to ensure their continued availability to women, and to impart an identity independent of the family. The experience of Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in initiating such an approach will be useful.

Technical Skills The major barrier to success in self-employment in the Internet economy is the lack of technical and business skills. Unlike the telephone, the use of Internet requires more complex and demanding skills, including that of troubleshooting. In a situation of self employment, women experience a greater level of techno-fear as compared to men because of less experience in solving technical problems. This fear restricts women from engaging in businesses over the Net. Again, for women, the questions of quality control or of regulatory policies may remain unnoticed. Because of a lack of marketing or business skills, both women and men entrepreneurs, even when they operate as a cooperative, find it challenging to operate businesses over the Net, nationally or internationally. The restrictions on and the cost of international transactions pose challenges. A survey of women's exact needs in technical and business skills in developing countries would be a useful contribution in this respect. Telecentres present more promising opportunities to small and micro women entrepreneurs, particularly to those who cannot afford to buy their own computers and associated networking technologies. But as the evidence shows, the long term sustainability of these centres depend on the income generating capacity of the users, either as entrepreneurs or as distance employees. It depends on the ability of the telecentre to meet the specific needs and demands of the community it !!Ierves. It also may involve a rethinking of the definitIon of telecentre sustainability, as Sonia Jorge has argued.

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In many instances, demand is sufficient to ensure sustainability only after the community understands the value of the centre and how it can benefit from the ICT services provided. This takes time. As a result, policy makers also must recognise that in many areas incomes are so low that the popUlation cannot afford to pay for ICT services, despite great potential demand, even at subsidised rates. And finally, it should be kept in mind that women do not currently enjoy equal access to or benefits of telecentres. In view of women's greater preference for institutionbased tele working, it may be worth while for NGOs to collaborate with government bodies, development agencies and the corporate sector to plan for a different type of telecentre, one that provides facilities for business and employment opportunities on a cooperative basis for poorer women. This vision of telecentres is different from the prevailing approach of social service provision. Facilities for business may need to be subsidised in the beginning but, in the long term, these centres could be self supporting. The participation of the corporate sector will be crucial in advising the cooperatives on evolving market niches where women, even with modest education and limited finance, are able to find regular custom. Government bodies, likewise, can be instrumental in providing women's cooperatives with access to business generated through e-governance. Mitter drafted a blueprint for such an initiative at the request of UNIFEM, India and the Confederation of Indian Industries. The participants were members of the government, the corporate sector, and NGOs from different parts of India. With some modification, the blueprint perhaps may be used by other agencies as a startine, point to explore the potential of ICTs to create employment and livelihood opportunities at the grassroots community level. WOMEN IN FORMAL EMPLOYMENT

For a gender focused policy analysis it will be important

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to evaluate the position of women in comparison with men in formal employment. Assessing the parity between women and men in the digital economy, however, is a complex task which invol~.5s looking at the quality as well as the quantity of work. Women are not always losers. As the survey by Cecilia Ng in Malaysia in 1999 shows, in the software sector women are close to attaining parity in numbers ~ith men. However, in general, they are clustered in the low-skilled level of the hierarchy. . . \V~th little potential for career advancement. Male wo~kers dominate the technical and managerial occupations) This occurs for a variety of sociocultural and economic reasons, including household and family responsibilities, and level of education. Some of the reasons for this include gender stereotypes about women's technological abilities. At the same time that women are highly valued for low-level IT employment because of their "nimble fingers," they are often considered unsuited for many other types of technical jobs. In Brazil, male technical training teachers tend to steer women towards" female-appropriate" work in software, graphics and desktop publishing, while hardware design and maintenance is considered men's work. In Africa, Cisco Systems Networking Academy Programme found that employers perceive women as unqualified for networking jobs because of the supposed physical demands of the work. Attitudes such as these are reinforced by assumptions that men are the breadwinners of the family, so that income earned by women is less important to the household. In some countries where maternity leave is standard, employers prefer mea over women by employers because of the costs associated with such leave. But it is not necessarily discrimination by employers that accounts solely for the unbalanced distribution of men and women in the workforce. Social assumptions about women's role in child rearing mean women often leave the workforce once their children are born. For example, in Korea, 89

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percent of single women are employed, but this number drops to 30 percent after marriage. Conversely, the proportion of women working in family enterprises and self-employment increases after marriage. While Korea is just one example, Sharma confirms this situation for women in Asia more generally: "Women are expected to marry and have a family, and it is commonly believed that a university degree will not help to find a bridegroom." Often women themselves settle for less demanding jobs as they have to be responsible for looking after the children. A survey in Kerala found that some mothers gave up work in software development because of the stress involved in meeting deadlines and tried to make use of their skills by taking up more flexible jobs such as teaching in computer training. It is difficult to obtain comprehensive data by sector on the distribution of Internet economy jobs. Two surveys in India and in Malaysia provide certain pointers and elucidate diversity in the experiments and experiences of countries in the region. Despite some differences, one can argue that in South and Southeast Asia the majority of employment in the Internet economy has so far emerged in the export oriented segment of the market, of which software is a major sector. This expansion has broadened the employment potential for women in new areas. The limited statistics that we have so far indicate that women in some of the Asian countries occupy more than 20% of professional positions.

CHAPTER 6

WOMEN IN 21ST CENTURY Every year millions of women working millions of jobs overseas send hundreds of millions of dollars in remittance funds back to their homes and communities. These funds go to fill hungry bellies, clothe and educate children, provide health care and generally improve living standards for loved ones left behind. For host countries, the labour of migrant women is so embedded into the very fabric of society that it goes virtually unnoticed. Migrant women toil in the households of working families, soothe the sick and comfort the elderly. They contribute their technical and professional expertise, pay taxes and quietly support a quality of life that many take for granted. For a long time, the issue of women migrants has been low on the international policy agenda. Today, the world has a unique opportunity to change this: For the first time, government representatives from around the globe will be attending a United Nations session specifically devoted to migration. The 2006 High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development offers a critical opportunity to ensure that the voices of migrant women are heard. The explicit recognition of the human rights of women and the need for gender equality is a basic prerequisite of any sound, equitable and effective policy framework that seeks to manage migration in an orderly and humane manner. Benefits cut both ways. For many women, migration opens doors to a n~w world of greater equality, relief from

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oppression and the discrimination that limits freedom and stunts potential. For origin and receiving countries, the contribution of women migrants can quite literally transform quality of life. This dedication, however, comes at a cost-for migration also has its dark side. From the modern-day enslavement of trafficking victims to the exploitation of domestic workers, millions of female niigrants face hazards that testify to a lack of adequate opportunities to migrate safely and legally. Trafficking is not only one of most horrific manifestations of migration "gone bad"; it also undermines national security and stability. Weak multilateral cooperation and the failure to establish, implement and enforce policies and measures designed to protect migrant women from exploitation and abuse means it is the most vulnerable who will pay-and sometimes with their lives. The demand for women migrants is at an all-time high and growing. Unnecessary and discriminatory barriers, coupled with inadequate human and labour rights protections, are beneficial neither to families or to countries-nor to the hundreds of thousands of women exposed to insufferable conditions and abuses. Since the 1990s, governments have addressed international migration at various UN conferences. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) stands out among them. By the time the tenth anniversary of the ICPD rolled around in 2004, the Programme of Action still constituted one of the leading and most comprehensive global governmental agreements ever established on international migration and development. Among key commitments, governments agreed to "address the root causes of migration, especially those related to poverty", and to "seek to make the option of remaining in one's' country viable for all people". Since then, th~ global community has rallied around the Millennium Development Goals. In 2000, heads of state and government unanimously made a pledge to "make poverty history" and to end gender discrimination.

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Global communications and transportation have made it possible for people to enjoy more freedom of movement than ever before. But people should not be compelled to migrate because of inequality, exclusion and limited alternatives in their home countries. While governments and experts discuss how best to manage migration, at the centre is the fact that migrants are first and foremost human beings vested with human rights. The equitable management of migration means that measures adopted should not further penalise the most vulnerable, who already face systemic inequality. Chief among these are lower-income and female migrants. Increasingly, migration is following an unsavory course that is hewing toward the negative side of globalisation, and exacerbating existing inequalities. While an elite of highly skilled individuals increasingly enjoy the benefits of migration, barriers to poorer migrants are increasing. Immigration and development go hand in hand. Stepped-up investments in poverty reduction, gender equality and development-including the fulfilment of donor country commitments to overseas development assistance (ODA)-are part and parcel of efforts to achieve a more orderly migration system. These are necessary to reduce the gaps between rich and poor and to expand opportunities for all-including women, who in too many countries lack equal access to livelihood opportunities. Sound immigration policies that respond to economic interests while safeguarding human rights and gender equality are critical. At the same time, they help remove unnecessary obstacles to mobility that can, and do, result both in the loss of human dignity and of human lives. Sovereign countries have the right to control immigration and deter illegal entry. This, however, constitutes only one aspect of any comprehensive policy framework and should not be the only major focus. One positive development is that more countries today acknowledge the need to manage migration rather than restrict it.

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Women are migrating and will continue to do so. Their needs are urgent and deserve priority attention. Only then will the benefits of international migration be maximised and the risks minimised. Women migrants are among the most vulnerable to human rights abusesboth as migrants and as females. Their hard work deserves recognition, and their human rights, protection. Their voices must be heard. Vision and leadership can help steer public debates away from reactionary sensationalism and an emphasis on "otherness" to a recognition of our common humanity, which binds us together in a world increasingly without borders. The contradictions in women's lives remain hidden when theory, research and discourse reinforce the separation of the public world of employment from the private world of family responsibility. These dualisms, divisions and boundaries, are not drawn by women, nor do they account for the complexities that are the reality of women's lives. Studies have tried to capture non-market work by documenting how an informal economy forms part of the strategies used by households to make ends meet. Consequently, survival strategies used by women to meet daily needs can all too often result in few opportunities for pursuing long term strategic goals, while gendered patterns of inequities are reproduced and reinforced. Research informing policies for the 21 st century needs to be directed at transforming these conditions, not diverted to examining coping strategies or focusing on employment, anti-poverty and educational programs that can play into political agendas of privatization and state withdrawal. Theories of work and employment practices are rooted in assumptions about how markets operate. The transformation of economics into the study of markets, and the associated processes of supply and demand, producers and consumers, jobs and the skills needed to acquire them, highlights the complexity of economic processes while casting citizens as unidimensional players in a drama about markets.

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For instance, explanations of unemployment that see the problem as arising from a person's lack of skills can be challenged on the basis that an insufficient supply of jobs is ignored while workers are blamed for not possessing adequate skills. Similarly, globalization studies of economic and political processes, or the role of technology, are critiqued for being genderless, but market work is still privileged. Likewise, social capital studies, even as they focus on women, tend to emphasize their capacity for developing social capital as an alternative route for acquiring economic capital. No matter of the strengths of these arguments on other grounds, such perspectives reinforce a conceptual approach wherein citizens' relationship to the market economy is their defining feature. Building on the work of feminist economists, we dim the spotlight on the market, and recall the fact that economic theory back in the days of Adam Smith was concerned with questions of provisioning (that is, the labour that funds the necessities and conveniences of life) facing individuals and communities. The term "provisioning" directs attention to the purpose of economic activity. Passive images of workers and consumers are replaced with those of people facing challenges around how to meet their needs and obligations. This entails securing and providing resources of various types, including that of caring. It challenges assumptions that the primary work of governments, financial institutions and social organizations is development or increasing productivity. Such a position calls into question assertions that keeping the economy growing is a prerequisite for social progress; that issues like health care and environmental protection are to be addressed only after industry is developed and core economic issues are dealt with. Thus bailing out banks is defined as necessary economic activity; bailing out families is not. Focusing on provisioning responsibilities disturbs notions of the primacy of both familial and employee relationships-and their gendered assumptions.

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In the last decade as the gendered assumptions underlying theories of the welfare state were exposed, there emerged several carefully argued approaches for how to include women. One of these, the female breadwinner model, incorporates women into the dominant way of understanding what people are supposed to do to create and distribute resources. The market and paid jobs take centre stage, with the state and family cast in supporting roles. In his analysis of social welfare regimes, for example, Esping-Andersen recognizes that families are important in considering social provisions, the organization of benefits and the regulation of services. When feminist scholars, however, examined the effects of inserting women and family into the statemarket nexus, they demonstrated how a different set of questions emerge, questions that the female breadwinner approach needed to address if it were to reflect the realities of women's lives. For instance, the model needed to specify the social conditions that will allow women to establish independent households. Unfortunately, adding women into male centred models seldom decentres male privilege or includes what women value. The breadwinner was/is gendered in that the concept assumes the presence of someone available to provide caregiving. It cannot work without this. At the same time, a woman's caring responsibilities curtail her breadwinner capacities, making her appear as an inferior breadwinner. Provisioning for themselves and for those dependent upon them remains difficult for women because this includes caring for otlters with ~he attendant financial and in-kind resources needed to do so. Making ends meet today frequently means taking a series of low paying, contract jobs which do not help build a secure tomorrow. The current buzz words of life long learning and higher education do not translate into women having access to better paying jobs. The tunnel vision version of training which moves women from welfare, to workfare, to available paid jobs, does not

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incorporate an understanding of the caring responsibilities women shoulder. By negating these contributions that women make to the welfare of the nation, such policies undermine attempts to establish unpaid work as a legitimate basis for making citizenship claims. Welfare state theorists have rightly pointed out that employment expansion in the service sector will lead to increasing inequality because these jobs are low paid. There is less interrogation of why they are low paid while other types of work are not. When explanations are offered, the usual conclusion is that such jobs are a marketization of traditional domestic tasks. Such conceptualizations are fundamentally flawed in two respects. First, the category of domestic labour all too frequently incorporates caring labour and thus dismisses the knowledge and skills of such work, seeing it as basic human maintenance work, traditionally done by women and servants which "naturally" draw a low wage when m~keted. Secondly, entering women, family or household into the market model does not break up the two spheres problematic of private and public worlds. We therefore take issue with a policy discourse that privileges the working mother even while recognizing it remains a strategic choice for particular debates. The unreal paid and unpaid work split remains, as does the' inadequate attention paid to and accounting for how caring responsibilities affect both family and market work. The two sphere dualism that has proven so problematic to women does not disappear in the female breadwinner approach to providing for well-being. Currently, the contradictions between the two sets of demands can be avoided by privileged groups of women who have resources to buy some assistance with their ,unpaid work load but their implication falls fully on the shoulders of poor women. To promote equity between men and women the sepru;ate sphere borders need to be transgressed in both directions.

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However, as Olson cogently argues, even if a universal caregiving approach informs a policy, operationalizing such a model in a market economy where democracy is usually equated with the right to exercise choice, does not easily happen, even when active labour legislation is in place to encourage it. For example, until the midnineties Sweden's parental leave policy had put in place salary replacement rates of over 90%. Examination of the Swedish experience confirms that such policies were not sufficient to attract men in equal numbers as women to take care leaves. The failure to do so exposed the fact that individuals incur other costs than lost wages when they interrupt their labour force careers. Challenging prevailing norms and discourses, fundamen tal to social change, is conceptually and empirically demanding. In the case of welfare regime theory the major theoretical constructs are state, family and market. Formal and informal social provisions are seen as originating in one of these. When studies reveal other sources, such as voluntary groups, or informal support networks of friends and neighbours, these are fitted into the dominant paradigm by positioning such sources as stand-ins for the three in situationally specific cases. The use of conceptual proxies does not challenge dominant understandings of how the separate spheres of market and family increases demands on women to be breadwinners while they are also expected to take up increasing amounts of caring labour as state services are cut and/or moved into the market sectors. A conceptual wedge is needed for o:tJening up a space that gets out of the market/family dualism. Only then can new representations of the responsibilities and rights of women emerge. Social policy needs to consider all labour, not just that in the current delineated area of market work. Turning household and community work into. market categories cannot address ql.lestiens· such as how giving and receiving C~e is organized, received and valued. We

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are highlighting the form and distribution of nonmarket work because it keeps disappearing in discussions about what future post-welfare states might look like. This happens in analyses otherwise well grounded in an appreciation of the social effects of globalization and information technologies on nation states and the future of social democracy, and on the role of NGOs and consumer groups as checks to international flows of capital. Outside of the feminist literature, however, for the most part the discussion is ungendered. The informal and unpaid work of women is curiously absent-even when women are the workers, for example, in many micro-credit schemes. Not surprisingly, time use studies continue to show that women have less leisure time than men. These social conditions get reproduced when the dimensions of work done by women escape scrutiny in analyses of how to modify/resist the effects of international flows of capital. Resulting social policies would continue to exacerbate the conditions under which women struggle to make ends meet while leaving market work central to future citizenship claims. To include the vast amount of non-market work that sustain households, conceptually we need to move beyond the additive model which combines the public and private, the formal and informal economies, the paid and un paid worlds. We need to understand how the spheres are kept separated, walled off from each other, how one sphere continues to be valued more than others. Provisioning seems to be the kind of conceptual wedge needed to move us beyond images of bridging the divide between employment and caring work. The image of a bridge does not question the r,mndations that anch~r either end of the structure. GLOBALISATION A.."fD WOMEN MIGRATION

While most women historically migrate for marriage or family reunification, the past decades have seen an increase in women-married and unmarried-who migrate alone or in the company of other women or fellow

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'migrants outside of their family circle. Women are on the move in all parts of the world, drawn by the opportunities and forces of globalisation. Biases regarding what constitutes appropriate "male" or "female" labour, government policies and employer practices influence why and where women and men move, for what occupations and under what conditions. While migrant women and men are both in demand, the latter are more likely to occupy highly skilled and better-paid jobs. Women, on the other hand, are often restricted to traditionally "female" occupations-such as domestic work, work in the service sectors (waitressing etc.), and sex work-frequently unstable jobs marked by low wages, the absence of social services and poor working conditions Nevertheless, because care work and nursing remain traditional female roles, certain migration channels are now wide open-with formal mechanisms designed to fill the demand for female employees. However, even when migrating legally, women are often relegated to jobs where they are subject to discrimination, arbitrary employment terms and abuses. In addition to responding to the global demand for their services, women make the decision to move abroad because of a host of "push" factors in countries of origin. These include family obligations, unemployment, low wages, poverty, limited social and economic opportunities and the desire to expand their horizons. Women generally face greater decision-making and financial restrictions than do men, which can pose obstacles to freedom of movement. Yet income-earning opportunities abroad can loosen traditional constraints on female mobility. Economic and social upheaval can also provide the impetus to leave. For example, the 1998 economic crisis and the dollarisation of the Ecuadorian currency in the year 2000 sparked a major outflow of new migrants to Spain. The 1997 financial crisis in Asia similarly led to the emigration of many women from poorer countries.

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For educated women unable to overcome employment discrimination in their own country, migration offers an 0pportunity to find work that is more likely to better utilise their skills. Women also migrate to flee abusive marriages and patriarchal traditions that limit opportunity and freedom. Discrimination against certain groups of women-single mothers, unmarried women, widows or divorcees-also drives many to move elsewhere. Migrant women move to marry, rejoin migrant husbands and fartlily or to work. They are domestic workers, cleaners, caretakers of the sick, the elderly and of children. They are farmers, waitresses, sweatshop workers, highly skilled professionals, teachers, nurses, entertainers, sex workers, hostesses, refugees and asylum-seekers. They are young and old, married, single, divorced and widowed. Many migrate with children. Others are forced to leave them behind. Some are educated and searching for opportunities more consistent with their qualifications. Others are from low-income or poor rural backgrounds and are seeking a better life for themselves and their children. Marriage has played a significant role in female migration and still does. In today's globalised world, however, marriage migration has taken on an added dimension-the growing phenomenon of international unions, including mail-order brides and arranged and forced marriages. Arranged marriages are quite common in some cultures, especially· among emigres from the Indian sub-continent, where both men and women migrate for this purpose. For many, arranged marriages can lead to a lifelong supportive partnership. But where a woman or girl's own wishes and human rights are disregarded, such unions can be more accurately described as "forced". Governments of receiving countries are now struggling to come to grips with the issue. In 2004, the United Kingdom established a Forced Marriage Unit in a bid to halt the practice and provide support to victims. In

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Australia, recent legislation includes sentences of 25 years for anyone sending a minor abroad for marriage against her will. In Denmark, authorities have established a nationwide network of crisis centres for women and girls who have been~forced into marriage. The French Government has also expressed concern and plans to curb the automatic recognition of foreign unions. In Asia, there is also a high demand for foreign brides. Migration to Taiwan, Province of China, for the purpose of marriage is skyrocketing. Foreign brides, mostly from China and South-East Asia, now number about 300,000-half of the total foreign population. Since the 1990s, nearly 100,000 Vietnamese women have married Taiwanese men. There is also a surge in the numbers of women migrating to tl;te Republic of Korea to marry local men. Nevertheless, even where marriage is "consensual", women from poorer countries still face unequal terms and conditions because these unions usually involve men from we~thier' cQuntries. When it comes to the global trade in mail-order and internet brides, women, on the whole, are willing participants-whether out of a desire to find a supportive partner and economic security or as a ~eans to gain legal entry into another country. The trade-off, however, is that they are dependent for their legal status on their grooms-to-be. In this case, demand is also drivin~ supply. In Russia, for example, nearly 1,000 agencies offer intermediary services, with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Russian women emigrating every year on fiancee visas: According to the Department of Justice, 80,000 have entered the United States in the past ten years. In addition, mail-order bride businesses can act as facades to recruit and traffic women-including those that send Russian women to toil in the sex industries in Germany, Japan and the United Sta.tes. Worried about the possibility of abuse, the US passed a la.w in 2005 authorising consulates to share inlormation with wouldbe brides regarding their husbands-to-be.

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Private Labour and PubUc Needs Domestic work is one of the largest sectors driving international female labour migration. As more North American, Western European and East Asian women have entered the workforce, fewer are available to attend to the elderly, children and the infirm. In the United States, for example, the proportion of working women with children under the age of six soared from 15 per cent in 1950 to upwards of 65 per cent today. Despite the rapid entry of women into the labour force, a corresponding shift that would have more men carry an equal share of household responsibility has not occurred. Furthermore, a lack of family-friendly policies and childcare facilities makes hiring nannies and domestic workers essential for those who can afford it. Indeed, two-income households have becom~ a necessity where costs of living are high. More prosperous families, declining social benefits and increases in the longevity and size of the elderly population are also adding to the demand. These factors have all spurred massive outflows of women from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and now also increasingly from Mrica. In Spain, for example, approximately 5,0 per cent of annual immigrant quotas are designated for domestic workers. Most Asian domestic workers head to the Middle East, where prosperity is driving demand. Domestic workers also move within regions, from poorer countries to richer ones. For millions of women and their families, the "global care chain" offers considerable benefits, albeit with some serious drawbacks: i.e., separation from children and other loved ones. Aside from salaries that are several times higher than what they receive at home, international domestic workers also gain personal and social benefits, including improved educational and health opportunities for their children, gifts, extra cash to send back home and travel with employer families. In the case of Muslim domestic workers in the United Arab E~irates, the opportunity to make the pilgrimage to Mettca can lead to the fulfilment of a lifetime dream.

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Gl()balisation of Industries Globalisation has resulted in an explosion in the entertainment and sex industries. These are providing additional migration channels for women-albeit largely owing to few other alternatives. In 2004, United Kingdom records revealed that the second largest category of work permit applications from foreign women were for "entertainment and leisure" at 5,908-with another 4,627 applying for "hospitality, catering" and "other" occupations. In Canada, over 1,000 temporary work permits a year were granted to exotic dancers in the mid-1990s. In 2004, Japan admitted nearly 65,000 women on entertainment visas, the majority of whom were from the Philippines. These high numbers (coupled with concerns over trafficking) have prompted the Government to review requirements for entertainers. The boundary between "entertainment" (singers, dancers, hostesses) and sex work is often blurred-especially for those women who have been coerced and/or abducted. For instance, in 2004, more than 1,000 Russian women were engaged in sex work in the Republic of Korea. Most had entered the country on entertlirinment or tourist visas but were then forced into prostitution by business owners and recruiters. Sex work is a lucrative business. Throughout the 1990s, it accounted for more than 2 per cent of the GDP in four South-East Asian countries. Sex workers circulate in Asia and Europe, and also move from Latin America to Europe and North America, and from Eastern ·to Western Europe. Given thd largely unregulated and underground nature of th~se industries, actual·numbers are hard to come by and are likely higher than available estimates. Many workers also remain in the host country once their visas have expired. Some estimates pin the numbers of women working in the illegal sex trade in the European Union at 200,600 and 500,000 .. Many have been trafficked.

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Skills and Opportunities More and more female professionals-teachers, nurses, scientists, technicians and busihess owners-are moving abroad, despite the fact that many face considerable obstacles just to have their qualifications recognised. Since the early 2000s, roughly one quarter of employed migrant women living in Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom have been working in the education and health sectors. Since 2001, both the UK and the US have been recruiting Caribbean teachers directly out of high school and college. This has had an adverse effect on the quality of educatiJn in Jamaican schools. In the United Kingdom, the number of migrant women participating in the information, communication and technology, finance and business sectors has also increased. In Australia, recent data also show that more women are migrating to the country to work in managerial, professional and paraprofessional positions. Educated and skilled women are migrating within Mrica and Latin America as well. These include arts and sciences professionals from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay to Brazil. A huge international - demand for nurses is encouraging more and more women to migrate. But as wealthier countries strive to satisfy their need, others are experiencing troubling shortfalls. More than one in four nurses and aides working in major cities in the United States are foreign born. In New Zealand, the nurse registry shows that in 2002, 23 per cent of nurses were foreign. In Singapore, 30 per cent of the nurses registered in 2003 were born outside the country. Virtually all of the foreign-trained nurses working in the United Kingdom migrate from Africa, Asia and the West Indies. Indeed, the number of newly registered nurses from Africa quadrupled between 1998 and 2004. Self-employment allows women to juggle work and family responsibilities and offers an alternative to .labour discrimination or exploitative work conditions. In

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Southern and West Africa, this is best illustrated by a growing reliance on cross-border trade. Zimbabwean women, for example, are finding creative ways to supplement their family income by purchasing goods from Mozambique, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia for resale in their own country, where runaway inflation has put consumer items beyond the reach of the average buyer. Self-employment is also on the increase among migrant South Asian, Chinese and Turkish women living in the United Kingdom. Over the past decades, the establishment of factories, such as the maquiladoras along the United States-Mexico border and the textile industries in Asia, has increased employment opportunities for women. These rely heavily on female workers and have provided many with a springboard for work in other countries. In 2001 in Mauritius, women accounted for nearly three quarters of foreign workers labouring in the garment and textile sector. Though roughly half were married with children, most were drawn by higher wages- _ even if it meant leaving loved ones, including children, behind. In the estimated 200 factories that pepper the landscape around Tak Province, Thailand, migrant women from Myanmar constitute nearly 70 per cent of the workforce. Wages are much higher: In their home country, women can ~t to earn US$15 compared to approximately !JS$80 a month in Thailand. However, abuses are not uncommon. These include withheld wa-ges, under-payment, recruitment agency debt, inadequate health-care access, exploitation and poor working and living conditions. Socio-economic Implications Despite a paucity of data, one thing is ale~: The money that female migrants send back home can raise families and even entire communities out of poverty. Of the more than US$l billion in remittances sent back to Sri Lanka

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in 1999, women contributed over 62 per cent of the total. Of the roughly US$6 billion remitted annually to the Philippines in the late 1990s, migrant women transferred one third. Because they typically receive less pay for equal work, the total women remit may be less in comparison to men. Available data, however, shows that women send a higher proportion of their earningsreguh:rrly and consistently. A 2000 study by the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the International Organisation for Migration (10M) shows that Bangladeshi women working in the Middle East send home 72 per cent of their earnings on average. The same study reveals that 56 per cent of female remittances were used for daily needs, health care or education-a pattern which reflects the spending priorities of migrant women elsewhere. This is largely because women are more inclined to invest in their children than men, and, in more traditional societies, they tend to lack control over financial decisionmaking, assets and property. Men, on the other hand, tend to spend remittance income on consumer items, such as cars and television sets, and for investments, such as property and livestock. One study of Ghanaian migrant wOlI!en in Toronto, however, revealed that many were planning to build homes in their country of origin. In the Dominican Republic, another survey found that 100 per cent of the women returning from Spain established their own businesses. Remittances would have an even greater roiein poverty reduction and development if women did n::>t face wage, employment, credit and property discrimination and if they were not excluded from decision-making within the family and in hometown organisations. Another deterrent for poorer women is that traditional banks tend to charge hefty user fees. Some institutions are working to lower transfer costs and are enabling women to retain control over their remittances and further their uses for productive

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activities and development. These include Fonkoze, the Haitian alternative bank whose clientele is 96 per cent women; ADOPEM in the Dominican Republic, an affiliate of the Women's World Banking Network; the Inter American Development Bank (IADB); and the Bangladeshi Ovhibashi Mohila Sramik Association (BOMSA), established by returning migrant women. The inteIllational community has also been looking more closely at the issue of female migrant remittances in order to understand how best to maximise their contributions for socio-economic development. This includes recent efforts by INSTRAW and UNFPA to strengthen research and policy dialogue. Women's Rights Beyond financial remittances, the social remittances of migrant women (ideas, skills, attitudes, knowledge, etc.) can also boost socio-economic development and -promote human rights and gender equality. Migrant women' who send money transmit a new definition of what it means to be female. This can affect how families and communities view women. Women abroad also playa role when it comes to promoting the rights of their counterparts back home. A good example of this is the vigorous lobbying undertaken by Afghan expatriate women to promote greater female participation in the new constitution of their home country. In Belgium, Congolese expatriates supported their countrywomen in the struggle for increased National Assembly repres~tation in the first-ever free elections in the Democratic' Republic of the Congo. Women living abroad often acquire attitudes, opinions and knowledge that can lead to enhanced family health in the home country. A World Bank report attributes improved child health and lower mortality rates to the health education that female migrants receive while living abroad. This was found to hold true for families in Guatemala, Mexico and Morocco. Furthermore, these

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health benefits are more likely to result when mothers migrate as opposed to fathers. Collective remittances-those pooled by diaspora associations-are rarely aimed explicitly at improving the lives of women. One exception is the Netherlands Filipino Association Overseas. Members provide collective remittances to support poor women through micro-credit programmes and the development of small enterprises. Another is an association of Mexican expatriates in the United States that sends funds to Michoacan State in Mexico. The local Government uses these donations to train women to produce school uniforms that are then sold to the Chamber of Commerce for distribution throughout the country. In general, however, as research into Latin American migrant hometown associations in the United States demonstrates, migrant women are often excluded from decision-making both on the sending and receiving end. Men manage most of the associations in host and destination countries, while women take on secretarial, fund raising and event organising roles. As more women migrate abroad, increasing numbers are establishing their own migrant networks that are transferring skills and resources and are sparking transformations in traditional notions of appropriate gender roles. In Germany, self-organised immigrant women's groups have been instrumental in battling trafficking, fighting racism .and advocating for the independent legal status of migrant spouses. Women's groups also successfully lobbied authorities to make forced marriage illegal among the country's 2.5 million Turkish immigrants. Through 10M's Migration for Development in Africa programme, Guinean women living overseas are assisting impoverished women back home to develop and establish micro-enterprises. Since 1993, African women living in France have formed a network of migrant associations that aims to facilitate integration into host societies and improve the quality of life in countries of origin.

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Seizing Opportunities, Overcoming

Obs~cles

The experiences of migrant women are as diverse as the backgrounds they come from and the communities to which they move. While migration has many benefits, it does not come without challenges. Right from the start, discriminatory immigration policies can limit legal migration channels. This relegates many women to the most vulnerable labour sectors or a~ dependents of male migrants. In the worst cases, they may wind-up as trafficking victims. Most women migrants come from countries where discrimination against females is deeply embedded in the social and cultural fabric. This places many at a disadvantage which can in turn result in inadequate access to information regarding work opportunities in destination countries, costs, benefits and steps necessary to migrate legally and safely. Soliciting the aid of another person or smuggler may place a woman in considerable debt and danger. During transit, female-and, in particular, unauthorised-migrants risk sexual harassment and abuse. They may be coerced into providing sexual favours in exchange for protection or permission to pass through frontiers. For example, researchers conducting a study of migrant women travelling alone through Central America en route to Mexico found that males perceived them to be "ready for anything". Male migrants often forced female migrants to have sex with border authorities in order to guarantee safe passage for the entire group. In 2005, Medecins Sans Frontieres reported that security officers and fellow migrants were sexually abusing sub-Saharan African women and minors while they transited through Morocco to Spain. Women along the, Moroccan-Algerian border are also vulnerable-particularly to smugglers and traffickers intent on sexually exploiting them. Unsafe abortions are not uncommon, and incidents of pregnant women being deposited and abandoned at the Moroccan-Algerian

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border were also registered. Anecdotal evidence suggests that as many as 50 per cent of female migrants making the trip from West Africa to Europe via Morocco are either pregnant or are travelling with small children. Many give birth unattended in the forest for fear of being deported should they seek medical services. Upon arrival in the destination country, female migrants are doubly disadvantaged-both as migrants and as women-and sometimes triply so, when race, class or religion are factored in. Those suffering abuse and violence may have no idea of what their rights are, and may fear repercussions if they contact the police or seek support services. Women also have ,PriOrity needs in the area of reproductive health and rights, but legal, cultural or language barriers mean that many have difficulty accessing information and services. Discrimina.tory Policies

Sometimes discrimination is inadvertent, while in other situations, women may dominate in certain migration streams such as nursing and domestic work, but specific needs and rights may go ignored. Some policies result in the exclusion of female migrants altogether. Other policies-often well meaning and aimed at increasing employment opportunities-nonetheless ignore multiple work, family and community responsibilities. In the absence of childcare and extended family networks, these can prevent women from partaking in skills training or other educational opportunities open to migrants. A country's particular labour needs directly affect to wilat degree men and women are likely to find work abroad and whether they can migrate legally. Traditionally, policies that invited migrants on a temporary basis to fill gaps in specific sectors tended to favour male-dominated occupations. Since the 19th century discovery of gold and diamonds in South Africa, for example, male migrant~ have been in high demand. In South Africa, citizens of the 14 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries are most

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likely to find legal work wi!hin the mining industry, where 99 per cent of employees are men. No equivalent employment sector that facilitates entry for women exists. By contrast, South African commercial farmers prefer female workers from neighbouring countries, but because cross-border migration is typically irregular, female labour migrants remain unprotected by existing laws. While industrialisation in Asia has required labourers for construction, manufacturing and plantation work, women have been more likely to fill the demand for domestic and childcare support. When destination countries prefer skilled candidates, implications for migrant women can cut both ways. Women of low socio-economic and educational status can be at a serious disadvantage. They are more likely to wind up toiling in informal, irregular and seasonal jobs, with fewer possibilities to obtain work permits or citizenship entitlements. In France, for example, one study found that women constitute two-thirds of those refused citizenship on the grounds of insufficient linguistic knowledge. Entry for skilled workers can also be based on criteria, such as proof of years of uninterrupted work, language or of income and educational level. These unintentionally discriminate against women. On the other hand, the demand for skilled labour can also open up opportunities for better-educated women to migrate, as was the case during the 1980s when Australia shifted from a preference for manual labourers to that of professionals. Governments sometimes restrict female migration in order to "protect" women. Such bans on female migrants have been in place, for example, in Bangladesh, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nepal and Pakistan. Bangladesh government data show that less than 1 per cent of thQse emigrating between 1991 and 2003 were women. This was largely owing ~ greater restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles that made it more difficult for women to emigrate. These, needless to note, only increase the likelihood that women will resort to irregular methods.

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A case in point: According to the Asian Development Bank, the Gulf States and South-East Asia are home to considerable numbers of undocumented Bangladeshi women. Government policies, however, have recently begun to change. In 2005, Bangladesh lifted the ban and, in the same Yf!ar, the Nepalese Supreme Court ended the requirement of parental or spousal consent for a woman under the age of 35 to obtain a passport. Labour laws tend to exclude certain sectors of the economy in which women migrants predominate-such as domestic work and the entertainment industry. This leaves many female migrant workers dependant on employers for legal status, basic needs such as housing and food, and the payment of due wages, which employers may arbitrarily withhold in order to ensure compliance. In addition, government efforts to curtail immigration and thus restrict it to temporary, short-term contracts means that many women are unable to change employers. This can trap them into abusive situations, outside the public view, and, in many cases, beyond the purview of public policies. Rights, terms of employment and working conditions vary according to the labour laws and immigration policies in each receiving country. In many countries, for example, the rights of domestic workers are neglected, and many spend years abroad before ever seeing their families. Host country regulations often prohibit lowskilled migrants from bringing family members with them. This is prompting calls for family-friendly policies that will support female migrant workers. Italy and Spain are among the very few countries that grant unskilled workers the possibility of family reunification-a privilege usually reserved for "skilled" migrants. They are also among the few countries that have actively furthered domestic worker rights, largely owing to the vigorous lobbying on the part of women's organisations. Dependency Gap

Women who migrate under family 'reunification schemes

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usually enter as dependents and may enjoy only limited access to employment, health care and other social services. In countries that distinguish between the rights of migrants to work or to reside, women entering as dependents may only be able to work illegally. Dependent status can also result in "brain waste". This occurs when skilled female migrants remain unemployed or are able to find work only in occupations far below their qualifications. Furthermore, if the marriage founders, or if the relationship is abusive, migrant women may find themselves trapped by threats of deportation or the loss of custodial rights. Children also suffer from the absence of material and emotional support when fathers abandon the family or the marriage dissolves. Granting abused women migrants independent legal status, such as Sweden and the United States have done-rather than keeping it contingent on male relatives or husbands-helps protect their rights and frees them from violence. Work and Wages

The proportion of immigrant women who are in the labour force varies by country, yet unemployment is generally higher for immigrant women. In many cases this is true in comparison to native men and women-as well as fellow male migrants. For example, in 17 OECD countries, unemployment rates for foreign women are substantially higher than the rate for native women. Among immigral1.ts from SADC countries living in South Africa, 38 per cent of female immigrants were unemployed as compared to 33 per cent of female natives, 30 per cent of male natives and 23 per cent of male migrants. Where migrant women face high unemployment rates and discrimination, many are forced to take whatever work is available. This can contribute to host population perceptions that migrant women are "unskilled", though many may actually be better qualified than their work implies. In some cases, however, migrants may be offered

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the opportunity to move up the pay scale: In the United Arab Emirates (UAF), Filipina domestic workers are increasingly being employed as drivers-a job with higher salaries and greater benefits. Relative to the status of women in their home countries, newcomers may earn higher wages. Compared to women in the receiving country, however, they are likely to be far worse off. Lower earnings can lead to impoverishment and can negatively impact families left behind owing to less remittance income. Data from the 2000 United States Census Bureau shows that 18.3 per cent of the foreign-born women live in poverty, compared to 13.2 per cent of the native-born women, and that 31 per cent of the female-headed migrant households are poor. Low wages can also affect family reunification for female migrants who are the sole sponsors of relatives. This is because many countries, such as Canada and the United States, require proof of sponsorship based on income and economic self-sufficiency. Low wages can have dire implications for older migrant women-especially for those who are underemployed, undocumented, widows or working in jobs without benefits. Pension plans and other social programmes in receiving countries, such as Canada and the United States, are pased on long-term paycheque contributions. In additidn, a lifetime of irregular labour means many older migrants are without savings for retirement or health care. In many European countries, pension entitlements are based on years of work and residency. The increasing number of older migrants within the region is sparking particular concern for the needs of elderly immigrant women.

Health Problems The health of any migrant is affected by gender, sociocultural and ethnic background, type of occupation and legal status, as well as the degree to which he or she can cover costs and access services, transportation and health insurance. Prior exposure to relevant health

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education and services will also affect a migrant's capacity to make informed health decisions. If a migrant cannot speak the language, she or he is more likely to encounter problems accessing health care. Low-paying and exploitative labour also has an impact, as does the degree to which the migrant and his or her communi.ty are integrated into the mainstream society. Discrimination and racism on the part of healthcare providers only adds to cultural and linguistic barriers. Both the host country itself and immigrant women will benefit from improved access to reproductive health information and services-including pregnancyrelated services and the prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. However, migrant women often come from countries where poor health is a fact of life. Many possess little information regarding health matters and tend to be poorer and less educated than their native counterparts. Health status may be further compromised by the stress of adjusting to a new country and/or violence and sexual exploitation. Pregnancy-related problems among migrants have been a major problem throughout the EU, where studies have found that migrants receive inadequate or no antenatal care and exhibit higher rates of stillbirth and infant mortality. One United Kingdom study found that social exclusion and being non-white were among the main predictors of severe maternal morbidity. Immigrant women often have a higher incidence of unplanned pregnancies owing to poor access and a lack of information regarding contraceptives and how to obtain them. Research in Latin America shows that migrant women report more unintended pregnancies, have lower contraceptive u-se and generally utilise reproductive health services less often than do non-immigrants. Throughout Western Europe the story is the same. In Germany, researchers attribute low contraceptive use to the fact that programmes are geared towards German

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speakers and that immigrants often come from countries where family planning information is simply not available. Socio-cultural pressures may also prevent migrant women from accessing services for fear of being discovered by family members. Higher abortion rates among immigrants reflect women's limited decision-making power and lack of access to quality family planning services. In Spain, requests for abortions tend to be twice as common among immigrant women-especially those from North and subSaharan Mrica. In Norway, non-western women account for more than one quarter of all abortion requestsalthough they represent only 15 per cent of the population. In one Italian region, a study found that foreign-born women were three times more likely to undergo an induced abortion than local women. Socio-cultural factors

Socio-cultural factors can influence migrant reproductive health status, including pregnancy and childbirth outcomes and access to family planning services. Women from more traditional backgrounds are often embarrassed when dealing with male medical personnel-a problem when it comes to accessing reproductive and obstetric health-care services. In Denmark, studies show that poor communication between migrants and health-care providers, coupled with insufficient use of trained interpreters, is a key cause of poor and delayed gynaecological care. In Sweden, one study found that young, single immigrant women with children were more likely to register late at prenatal care centres. The study concluded that training staff in trans-cultural skills and providing them with interpreters could result in improved care. In Sao Paulo, doctors report that maternal and infant mortality rates among Bolivian migrant women are far higher-the latter by 3 to 4 times-than among local women. Migrants often decline caesarean section-a

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lifesaver in the event of obstructed labour-because in some indigenous cultures it implies a loss of femininity that can prompt the husband to desert his spouse. In response, the Municipal Health Secretariat is working to refine its programme, including providing outreach in the Quechua and Aymara languages. Nonetheless, despite increased risks and obstacles to accessing health care, exposure to new childbearing and female decision-making norms can be empowering. Indeed, in some cases, female migrants gain access to reproductive health information and services for the very first time. More and more countries are working to improve the reproductive health of migrant women. In a study conducted among Myanmar immigrants in two Thai provinces following the 2004 tsunami, researchers discovered that one in four mothers delivered without a skilled birth attendant; 55 per cent of all infants had not been immunised and only half of all married women were using contraception. The survey also found that fully 50 per cent of all adults interviewed lacked basic knowledge about HIV, despite the relatively high incidence (30 per cent) of unmarried males who reported paying for sex without consistently using condoms. In response, the NGO World Vision, with UNFPA support, recently expanded a programme serving immigrant communities. To date, project personnel have established mobile health clinics, a health education campaign and have hired Burmese-speaking medical staff. Over time, Australia, Canada and Sweden have also developed broad-based policies that work to tackle cultural and linguistic barriers, not only through culturally sensitive provider training and recruitment measures, but also by promoting the social and political integration of immigrants and refugees. This approach is proving effective: In these countries, studies have shown equal pregnancy outcomes for immigrant and native women.

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Data on HIV infection rates among international migrants are scarce. The alarming "feminisation" of the pandemic, however, is well documented and speaks to what can transpire when the rights of women are neglected en masse. Physiological, social and cultural factors mean that women and girls face particularly high risks of contracting HIV and other STIs throughout the migration process. Undocumented migrant women who become stranded in transit countries en route to their intended destination and are unable to work may be forced into "survival sex" in exchange for basic commodities or food. This increases the likelihood of infection. Sexual violence makes them even more vulnerable. In one South African study, female migrant farm workers from Mozambique and Zimbabwe were found to be particularly susceptible to HIV infection owing to sexual violence. About 15 per cent of those surveyed reported having been raped or knowing someone who had been raped or sexually harassed while working on farms. Most were too fearful of losing their jobs to report violence. According to interviewees, male Zimbabweans were the main perpetrators. The vulnerability of migrant women is borne out by some grim statistics. According to UNAIDS, in France, 69 per cent of all HIV diagnoses attributed to heterosexual contact during 2003 occurred among immigrants-65 per cent of whom were women. In Costa Rica, one service organisation found that 40 per cent of the women treated for sexually transmitted infections were immigrants. In Sri Lanka, the Government reported that, for every one male migrant that tested positive in 2002, there were a corresponding seven females. Although the causes behind this gross disparity have not been established, researchers suggest that sexual abuse by employers and exploitation in so-called domestic worker "safe" houses could be factors. To minimise the risks of infection, the Government has established HIV / AIDS awareness pre-departure orientation sessions aimed at migrant women.

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Seasonal and circular migration, whereby individuals leave their homes and then return home, can also contribute to HIV transmission. One study undertaken in Senegal revealed that migrants have unprotected sex while abroad and then infect their wives upon return. Women without adequate support from migrant husbands also turn to sex work for survival while their spouses are abroad. When male migrants become infected with HIV, remittances often dry up-either through job loss or because they have to spend more of their income on health care. According to UNAIDS, women may resort to transactional sex or will migrate themselves in order to make up fer lower remittances and provide for family members. A country with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, Botswana is witnessing decreased remittances from husbands with AIDS-related illnesses. This leaves women-usually older-shouldering the care of orphaned children. Gender-based violence

Gender-based violence is the ultimate manifestation of unequal relations between men and women. Owing to their status as women and as foreigners, migrant women face disproportionate risks of physical abuse and violence at home, in the streets or in their places of work. So profound is the problem, that the UN Secretary-General now issues reports exclusively focused on the topic. Gender-based violence is not only a violation of human rights, but also threatens health, productivity and social and economic integratitm into the host society. Some immigrants also come from cultures that maintain halmful practices such as female genital mutilation/ cutting, forced marriages and so-called "honour killings". While there is a notable dearth of data on violence against migrant women, smaller studies indicate a high incidence of abuses. In Mexico, a recent study revealed that 46 per cent of migrant women had suffered from

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some sort of violence, with 23 per cent reporting that customs officials were the main perpetrators; federal police followed next at 10 per cent; judiciary and municipal police at 10 per cent; and, finally, the armed forces at 6 per cent. According to the Sri Lanka Bureau for Employment, in 2001, over 1,600 women reported harassment in their workplaces overseas. TRAFFICKING

Because of its underground nature, experts caution that trafficking data is rough and hard to gauge. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that at least 2.45 million trafficking victims are currently toiling in exploitative conditions, and that another 1.2 million are trafficked annually, 1?oth across and within national borders. The US Department of State numbers are similar: between 600,000 and 800,000 women, men and children are trafficked across international borders each year-most for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Of these, the majority-up to ~O per centare women and girls. Up to 50 per cent are children. Trafficked women are usually forced into prostitution and sex tourism, commercial marriages and other "female" occupations such as domestic work, agricultural and sweatshop labour. Human trafficking is the third most lucrative illicit business in the world after arms and drug trafficking and is a major source of organised crime revenue. The industry generates an estimated US$7 to $12 billion annually-although real numbers are difficult to come by. These numbers, however, reflect profits only from the initial sale of persons. The ILO estimates that once victims are in the destination country, traffickers net an additional US$32 billion a year-half generated in industrialised countries and almost one third in Asia. Trafficking constitutes the dark "underside" of globalisation. The opening-up of national borders and international markets has led not only to increased international flows of capital, goods and labour, but also to the globalisation of organised crime.

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Improved information technologies and transportation allow transnational syndicates to operate as never before. The majority of victims are migrants in search of a better life who are usually lured by the false promise of a decent job. Increasingly restrictive immigration policies limit the possibility of legal entry, which is in turn driving more and more would-be migrants to unwittingly entrust themselves to traffickers. Although trafficking differs from other types of migration, there is considerable overlap with both regular and irregular migration where it involves violence, confinement, coercion, deception and exploitation. A mail-order bride, for example, may enter the country legally but subsequently be forced into labour; a domestic worker can end up trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation. Trafficking also intersects with smuggling. Unlike the latter, however, trafficking contains an element of coercion or deception while the relationship between migrants and smugglers is based on consent and usually ends upon arrival at the destination. In actual practice, however, distinctions can be fuzzy, and there are cases that contain elements of both. Trafficking victims need safety, support and care while undergoing social and economic reintegration once their ordeal has ended. Not only do they have to deal with the depression that often ensues, but also social stigma-especially in cases of sexual exploitation. According to the Report of the Secretary-General on Trafficking in Women and Girls, various countries are taking measures to support victims. Belgium and the United States, for example, provide some financial assistance. Telephone hotlines are available in some countr;es, including Bangladesh, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania, Turkey, the US and Uzbekistan. China, Indonesia, Portugal and the United States, among others, also offer access to legal services. Various countries provide social programmes, including psychological and medical care, and have established

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shelters and crisis centres-although these fall short of need and tend to be underfunded. One UNFPA-supported shelter run by the 10M in Bosnia-Herzegovina, for example, delivers reproductive health services to trafficked women and girls. Owing to fears of corrupt police and possible arrest and deportation, trafficked women often prefer to approach NGOs rather than state-based agencies. In the Philippines, the NGO Visayan Forum Foundation is a private/public partnership that operates shelters for trafficked persons and works with the police, shipping companies and the port authority to identify traffickers. In Colombia, the Medellin-based Espacios de Mujer provides psychological, social and health services as well as educational and income-generating opportunities. Medellin serves as one of the key transit points for women trafficked in and out of Colombia. According to the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, "the lack of rights afforded to women serves as the primary causative factor at the root of both women's migration and trafficking". To fight trafficking effectively, underlying causes such as poverty and the lack of equal opportunities need to be addressed. Women who lack economic security are ea~y prey if they are willing to leave their country in search of work elsewhere. The elimination of discrimination against women is thus not only a human rights priority, but also key to putting an end to trafficking. Effective prevention requires a comprehensive approach. This involves education and includes awareness-raising campaigns, community involvement, poverty reduction initiatives and the creation of livelihood opportuni1:ies. It also involves more equitable income distribution and the rebuilding of societies following conflict. Legal reforms that allow equal rights to own and control property and land will help cut the risks associated with the trafficking of women in rural communities.

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There are many examples of development programmes aimed at reducing the vulnerability of poorer communities. The Asian Development Bank regards trafficking in women and children as a major challenge to its mission of poverty reduction. It provides emergency loans, assistance for post-conflict reconstruction and social protection to those most at risk. In Myanmar, the Government offers poor women and girls vocatiollal training and loans to ju'mp-start mini entrepreneurial ventures, while in Kyrgyzstan, authorities are assisting unemployed nationals residing in small towns and rural areas. In 2005, the Government of Nepal reported that it was establishing a National Rapporteur on Trafficking in the offices of the National Human Rights Commission. Many governments, NGOs and UN organisations have embarked on community awareness-raising effortsincluding those that target poor rural areas where girls and women are most likely to be recruited. In Brazil, the government launched a campaign, including through the radio and signs posted at airports, to alert women departing from states where the risks of trafficking are particularly high. A one-month campaign in Bangladesh sought to educate community members about trafficking and related crimes against women, and to sensitise them on issues related to the reintegration of victims. MODERN APPROACH TO GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

In June 2000, the United Nations (UN) held a Special Session of the General Assembly to assess the progress achieved by the nation states in implementing the Fourth World Conference on Women Platform for Action. The session called Women 2000, or more popularly Beijing+5, was one of a series of 5-year reviews on the UN Conferences and Summits that took place during the first half of the 1990's. Beijing+5 culminates 25 years of women's activism which began with the UN declaring 1975 as the International Year of Women and the four world conferences that followed: Mexico City, 1975;

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Copenhagen, 1980; Nairobi, 1985; and Beijing, 1995. These years witnessed the increasing mobilisation of women worldwide and their growing political presence and power, not only at women's conferences, but throughout the UN system. They also witnessed the changing and deepening of the focus and critique women were bringing to economic issues. The agenda evolved from a WID (Women in Development) approach to GAD (Gender and Development) to mainstreaming gender in all policy and programs to an emphasis on empowerment and Human Rights. This evolution charts developments in the analysis of women's social and economic experiences and progressively, in more global ways, to address the inequities embedded in women's experience. The shift from WID to GAD was particularly important because it transformed the women's agenda. The WID agenda focused on two main goals: to generate discussions and research on the role of women in development; and to institutionalise a women's focus within development agencies and governments with the mandate to integrate women into development. The WID solution, integrating women into the development process, did not question the kind of development that was being fostered by the donor nations from the industrialised North. Furthermore WID focused on women and generally ignored the consequences of different social realities, that is, the gendered worlds of women and men. The GAD approach uses gender, rather than women, as an analytic category to -understand how economic, political, social and cultural systems affect women and men differently. Gender is understood as the social roles, expectations and responsibilities assigned to women and men because of their biological differences. It is an ideological and cultural construct that shapes women's and men's realities. The GAD approach signals three important departures for WID. First, it identifies the unequal power relations between women and men. Second, it reexamines all

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social, political and economic structures and development policies from the perspective of the gender differentials. And third, it recognises that achieving gender equality and equity will demand "trans formative change." The GAD approach demands transformative change in gender relations from household to global politic and policy and within all the mediating institutions, such as governments, the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Based on this analysis, women and pro-equality development practitioners advocated mainstreaming gender analysis into all policy and programming both in design and impact assessment. Gender mainstreaming was formally adopted as a transformative strategy at the Beijing Conference. Beyond GAD and gender main streaming, women today are demanding the full exercise of theirhuman rights and are developing a rights-based approach to economic policy. In a recent June 2000 special edition of World Development, Diane Elson and Nilufer Cagatay advocate "a rightsbased approach to economic policy which aims directly at strengthening the realisation of human rights, which include social, economic and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights. Such an approach goes beyond viewing gender concerns as instrumental to growth, as is sometimes the case, because it recognises women's agency and their rights and obligations as citizens." This approach clearly illustrates a profound political shift that became evident at the Fourth World Conference on Women, where women were no longer focused on a narrow range of so-called women's economic issues, but were demanding voice in all arenas of economic policy making. As Noeleen Heyzer of UNIFEM succinctly stated it: "This conference was billed as a World Conference for Women. It became a Women's Conference on the state of the World." The representatives of the 185 nation states which negotiated the Platform for Action did not fully understand or embrace that shift. Nor did the majority of the delegates to Beijing +5 if one judges from the

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recommendations put forward in the Outcomes Document. The United Nations has been a catalyst for the emergence of the Global Women's Movement. The various conferences and summits since 1975 have provided venues for women to gather, especially in NGO Forums (non-governmental organisations), amplifying their voice in international political debates. Conference and summit documents have provided a moral and political platform for women's activism in struggling for their human rights, political/civil and social/economic/cultural. However, UN conference documents are not and cannot be the sole road map for women to achieve their rights because they are inherently flawed. UN conference documents are political, negotiated in the self-interest of nation states; therefore, the women's agenda is always in danger of co-optation. Granted, in recent years more and more women and men, with a pro-equality agenda, have been on national delegations. They have struggled valiantly to keep the agenda focu~('d on women's needs and agendas, but in the final decisld f~ their positions are dictated by the self-interest of tl'le nation state they are representing. It can b@ il1ustl ated that the advancement of women is in the best interests of nation states, but that reality is not universally understood nor accepted. In all settings, it is still the predominately male-dominated agendas that prevail. For example, in the Beijing +5 process, the U.S. women delegates worked with their pro-equality counterparts from the South and the NGO community to ensure that the paragraphs on globalisation included the negative effects of global economic integration, leading to wider economic disparities, greater feminisation of poverty and increased gender inequality. The Out~omes Document, as it is called, recognises that the effects of global economic integration and debt have inhibited countries ability to provide social protection and social security to its citizens and to fulfill its commitments to the Beijing Platform for Action.

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In its final statement at the closing of Beijing +5, the U.S. government took reservations on globalisation language, stating: "These paragraphs characterised globalisation and debt as significant obstacles to achieving gender equality. National governments had primary responsibility for social and economic development and for ensuring the equality of women. Most aspects of equality for women had no direct link to international economic and financial issues." It was not in U.S. self-interest to recognise that global economic integration which it is fostering has serious consequences for the well-being of many nation states and their citizens, particularly women. The reality of women's experience was coopted to meet the U.S. economic agenda. A second problem with UN negotiated documents is that they are non-binding on nation states, multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO, or on NGOs. They do provide a kind of political and moral position for women to lobby their governments, but that is all. This observation is not meant to deny the real progress that women have made over the last 25 years based on the advocacy work they have pursued after a UN conference. It is, however, to sound a cautionary note on the expectations that should be brought to a document. Finally the greatest weakness that pervades· all UN conference documents is the lack of analysis. They describe problems, but they fail to analyse the roots of the problems, so, often the proposed solutions are either inadequate or unworkable. For example, the Beijing +5 Outcomes Document clearly describes the negative effects of the continuing debt crises and global economic integration, but it offers no or very weak recommendations to address the causes of these negative effects. It directs most of its economic recommendations to national governments, while basically ignoring the external constraints that current

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macro economic policies place on governments that inhibit their abilities to respond to recommendations. This problem is repeated in the current World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty, published by the World Bank. The report admits that its traditional prescriptions of balanced budgets, sound currency and free trade have failed to significantly reduce poverty around the world, but it does not analyse why its prescriptions have failed, nor does it offer any alternative solutions. Instead it addresses the need of giving more power and more income security to people in poverty in time of crisis, without asking why these crises continue to occur. The reason for this lack of analysis and effective solutions is directly related to the political agendas and the power dynamics of multilateral institutions. AGENDA FOR WOMEN'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Beijing +5 took place within a changing political context. Cracks were beginning to show in the great venture of globalisation and its driving force, global economic integration. The gaps between the so-called "winners and losers" were growing as the poverty ratio between the rich and poor both among and within countries was widening. The Asian financial crisis, while it had sobered policy makers, had devastated national economies and plunged people back into poverty. A small but growing chorus of economists were challenging the Washington Consensus, that body of economic policies enshrined by the World Bank and the IMF in its stabilisation and structural adjustment policies.The Third Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in Seattle had collapsed under both internal and external pressures. A global citizens' anti-globalisation movement was growing as was evidenced in Seattle, in Washington, DC at the World Bank and IMF spring meeting. at the G-7 meeting in Okinawa, at UNCTAD X and other multilateral meetings, and most recently at the Bank and Fund annual meeting in Prague. Moreover, there is a growing political analysis of the levels of power that are propelling

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the global economic process. Whereas, the multilateral institutions, specifically the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), are the key implementers of the policies, it is the powerful nations, specifically the G7/8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the U.S. and Russia) with the expanded European Union (EU) who shape the agenda. Transnational Corporations (TNCs) exert great pressure on these governments to ensure a favorable economic and political environment for business. The UN's political power is overshadowed and often ignored or compromised. Furthermore, the new Global Compact between business and the UN could well more deeply compromise the abihty of the UN to act democratically and with any integrity. W9men's economic advocacy in the future will need to' address the major power brokers, if its agenda of human rights, equity and sustainable social development is to 'be realised. So the economic agenda must include national political agendas of the South, the North and TNCs. The scope of women's economic agenda includes the transformation of macroeconomic policies and institutions, national policies and priorities, social relations and household dynamics. The goal of the economic agenda defined in negative terms is the eradication of poverty; in positive terms, the goal is economic rights and security for women, their families and communities. MACROECONOMICS ISSUES

The key macroeconomic issues include eradication of poverty, debt, SAPs (stabilisation and structural adjustment policies), trade, investment, finance and ODA (overseas development assistance).Poverty Eradication, Debt and SAPs Eradication of poverty has a growing moral imperative in the current unequal world, where amidst the flourishing of some economies and peoples, some 2.8 billion, almost half of the 6 billion people on

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earth, live on less that US$2 a day; 1.2 billion live on less than US$l dollar a day. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Mrica are the two most impoverished regions.Women continue to be a majority within the poverty population. Critical to the poverty eradication is debt cancellation and the redirection of the economic resources now absorbed in external debt servicing to poverty reduction and the provisioning of social and public services. Beijing +5 Outcomes Document, as did the Beijing Platform for Action, identifies the servicing of external debt as a contributing factor to the growing impoverishment of women: The impact of globalisation and structural adjustment programmes, the high costs of external debt servicing and declining terms of international trade in several developing countries have worsened the existing obstacles to development, aggravating the feminisation of poverty. Negative consequences of structural adjustment programmes, stemming from inappropriate design and application, have continued to place a disproportionate burden on women, inter alia, through budget cuts in basic social services, including education and health. However, the solution offered is the Cologne initiative for an enhanced HIPC (heavily indebted poor countries). Support the Cologne initiative for the reduction of debt, particularly the speedy implementation of the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries debt initiative; ensure the provision of adequate funds for its implementation and implement the provision that funds saved should be used to support anti-poverty programmes that address gender dimensions. The Cologne initiative is the agreement the G7/8 made at their annual meeting in 1999. Its effectiveness in reducing debt and alleviating poverty is seriously criticised by NGOs. A recent analysis by Oxfam International identifies the promises of the enhanced HIPC as grossly exaggerated. NGOs across the world, including women and women's groups, have been active in the Jubilee 2000

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campaign to cancel debt to the least developed countries. This effort needs to be continued and enlarged, if poverty reduction for women, families and communities is to be realised. NGOs from the G7/8 and the other members of the EU have a responsibility to lobby their governments for realistic approaches to debt relief. For their part, Southern NGOs and women's groups need to lobby their governments to ensure any resources freed by debt relief address the poverty needs of a country, particularly the poverty needs of women and children. Moreover, HIPC does not address the debt problems of middle income countries, who also carry crippling debt servicing obligations. These countries need to be brought into debt reduction strategies. As major donors to the IFIs, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the G7/8 and extended EU, are the key policy decision makers. However, the Bank and the Fund are the primary players in crafting policy implementation for countries. Women have been critical of and borne the burden of stabilisation and structural adjustment programs (SAPs) since the early 1980s. Whereas, SAPs are identified as one of the contributing factors to women's poverty in the Outcomes Document, neither an economic rationale for discontinuing SAPs nor an alternative to SAPs is addressed. Rather the document offers diffuse solutions of women's participation in decision-making and implementation of policies to eradicate poverty. The new Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) is a current example of participation being fostered by the Bank and the Fund, but it is not without its critics. From a human rights perspective, participation in the PRSP process reduces participation to a policy option rather th~n recognising it as a human civil/political right. Feminists emphasise the political nature of the PRSP. The process was developed in response to strong "global civil society" pressure against debt and against the current global economic system that continues to generate poverty.

CHAPTER 7

WOMEN IN SOCIAL CHANGES Each child should be able to dream of becoming the leader of his or her country. This pinnacle of aspiration means that every other position of authority and decision making is also accessible. Boosting the representation of women in decision making at all levels of government raises the chances that girls will believe they, too, can eventually have a say. When government is truly representative of the society it serves, its decisions will also fully serve society. For example, if more women are involved in decision making, this may result in more family-friendly policies because of women's primary responsibilities for children. However, experience shows that women have to make up a sizeable proportion of any decision-making group in order to reach a "critical mass" and represent their unique priorities and concerns and become a genuine and effective voice for substantive change. Compared to Western countries, the communist countries of Europe and the Soviet Union were quick to grant womert legal rights and favour important attainments for them in employment, education, health care, and childcare. However, the socialist state also claimed control over the issue of gender equality. As in the case of many other areas, the politics of gender equality was suppressed, and there was little public discourse to shape and advance women's equality and a fairer sharing of power, including in the household. In effect, women were unable to exercise ownership over

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women's issues. Public discussion was monopolised by official ideology. The communist legacy in the representation of women in politics must also be overcome. The former governments featured "elected" parliaments, but all candidates were designated by the ruling communist party. In this system, quotas ensured seats for women, but little power for them. The highest share of women "elected" to parliament was 34 percent-in Romania under the dictatorship of Ceauc;escu. In reality, women were picked to fill the "workers and peasants" quotas as well-killing two political birds with one stone-and were rarely "re-elected". The real power remained with the male-dominated "nomenklatura". The token representation of women in public life is well illustrated by a biting description referring to Albania. "Women were often seen on platforms at solemn meetings, serving the same function as the potted plants - decoration." Real power was held by the communist party. Though women did have the formal right to belong to the highest organ of the party-the political committee, their participation in this top body never exceeded 5 percent in any country during the 1960s and 70s. In 1989, there were no women on the political committees of the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria and only two women of the 15 members in Hungary, two of the 16 in Poland, and two of the 21 in Romania. Under communism, civil institutions were limited because the state did not tolerate free association among citizens. Social, political and economic change was usually initiated by the party. Civil associations, such as youth groups, were often supplanted by state-sponsored and state-controlled organisations. There was also little incentive to form interest groups since the authorities were not democratically elected and therefore were not accountable to the people. With the introduction of democratic mUlti-party elections, the number of women in national parliaments has been drastically reduced across the region. Partly

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this is the outcome of the abolishment of quotas for women in elected bodies. In the West, the Nordic countries have led the way with a consistently high representation of women in parliament. This is the fruit of progressive attitudes and of voluntary quotas applied by political parties for their own candidates. After 1998 elections, the Netherlands and Germany joined the ranks of the Nordic nations among countries with women making up more than 30 percent of the members of parliament. In the former Soviet Union, the significant decrease in the number of women parliamentarians began with reforms instituted by Gorbachev in the 1980s. In the 1989 elections, quotas were partially lifted, and the share of women deputies halved, falling from 31 percent in 1984 to 16 percent. There is some evidence that in the countries of the former Soviet Union, women also have less chance than men of winning a free political (;ompetition. In 1996, in Lithuania, a country with a high number of women parliamentarians, women made up 20 percent of candidates, but only 17-18 percent of those elected. Political parties are a crucial part of the new civil society in the region, but they are no exception in terms of gender inequity. Women usually make up a smaller share of party members than men, and the representation of women on party executive committees is invariably less than their share in the membership. In Hungary in 1992, for example, women made up 25 percent of the membership, but less than 5 percent of the executive of the Hungarian Democratic Forum, which led the coaljtion government after the first democratic elections. The same was true of political parties in Slovenia, where in 1998, for instance, women constituted 60 percent of the membership of the Christian Democrats, but accounted for less than 20 percent of the leadership positions. This unwritten, but common practice discourages the active participation of women in politics by limiting their potential, thereby perpetuating a cycle of inequality: if women are unable to acquire

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leadership experience they will remain less likely to become elected leaders. Imposed quotas are a discredited strategy in these former communist countries, but there is pressure for proactive measures by government to promote gender equality in politics. In Russia, it is being debated whether the law on equal opportunity should authorise the imposition of quotas among all elected posts. The deputy speaker of the Senate in Poland, a woman, told the UN Status of Women Commission that all democratic countries should have a law requiring equal gender status in order to surmount existing barriers like gender stereotypes and traditions within political parties. The law would mandate a parity threshold whereby no fewer than 30-40 percent and no more than 60-70 percent of elected positions would be held by each gender. There are political parties in a number of Western democracies that have voluntarily adopted such balancing mechanisms for their own candidates-a positive measure arguably quite different in spirit and outcomes from the quota system of the communist governments since it has been generated from the bottom up within the parties. Participation in Government Posts It is one thing for women to be elected to parliament and

another for them to rise to senior decisicm-making positions such as cabinet minister, deputy minister or secretary of state. The representation of women among top government decisiori makers is low in the transition countries. In 1996, in only four countries did women make up more than 10 percent of government ministers, and only Slovakia was close to the OECD average. In nine countries, there were no women ministers in 1996. in Hungary, after the 1998 elections, there was only one woman iIi the cabinet. Women ministers can shape decision making, but can also act as important role models in society. Adding the shares of women in sub-

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ministerial positions-deputy ministers, secretaries of state and their deputies-gives a statistically more positive picture of women's presence in government decision making across the region. The gap between Central and Eastern Europe and the three CIS sub-regions is clear. Unlike Central and Eastern Europe, all CIS sub-regions and most CIS countries fall far below the non-Nordic OECD average. In Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, the first, second and fourth most populous countries in the entire region, the share of women in senior government positions is strikingly low. There seems to be no statistically significant relationship in the transition countries between the proportion of women in parliament and the representation of women in senior government positions. Kyrgyzstan, with a relatively high share of women in senior government positions (11 percent), has a low proportion of elected female deputies-l petcertt in one chamber and 5 percent in the other. In Kazakhstan, by contrast, the proportion of women in parliament almost doubled, from 7 percent in 1990 to 13 percent in 1995, but representation in top posts remained slim. In the Baltics, Lithuania has a high percentage of women deputies, but a low share of women in government decision-making positions. The link between women's share among legislators and senior government positions is stronger for OECD countries (correlation coefficient = 0.45, compared to 0.06 in the transition region). This may be explained by the fact that in OECD countries there has been a steady (although non-linear) growth in the numbers of women parliamentarians in the last 50 years, and this process has created a stronger precedent for the attainment of government positions by women. Hopefully, the transition countries will not take such a long road to fairer representation for women. Overall, there has been little vocal demand for increased political participation for women, and even some women politicians have claimed that, because of the

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transition cnS1S, this is not an appropriate time to deal with women's issues. In 1990, the Czech ambassador to the UN, a woman, said "feminism is a flower on democracy"; in other words, a stable democratic system must be in place before issues of women's equality can be addressed. Nonetheless, women's equality might be more solidly integrated into the foundations of a developing democracy. Yet, as some commentators note, the political transformation promised by transition has so far built upon, rather than levelled, existing gender inequality. Women also appear to have lost ground during the transition in another important area of public leadership: the judiciary. In Kyrgyzstan, women held 31 percent of the positions in the justice system in 1985, but only 8 percent a decade later. In Moldova, there were 13 women judges on the Supreme Court in 1990, but only seven in 1994. Not only are these posts prestigious, but judicial decisions affect the political, economic and social life of a nation. The influence of the judiciary is bound to grow in the newly democratic societies of the region, and it is important that women be represented equitably in these centres of influence. Similarly, women are poorly represented in top positions in foreign affairs and international relations.

Women in Economic Decision Making A role in high-level economic decision making is as important to women's participation in society as is equitable representation in political bodies. Leaders in business and industry help set the direction of economic policy and development and are part of the power elite in any country; there is often an overlap and career interplay between top economic and political positions. Economic leaders include the executives of national public bodies dealing with economic matters, senior managers of enterprises, senior managers of international and regional financial institutions, and the leaders of

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trade unions and professional and business organisations. Women's low representation in key economic positions under communism more genuinely reflected their lack of influence in decision making than did their share among parliamentarians and in other government bodies. Women directors at large state enterprises were rare. In Hungary in the mid-1980s, for example, almost 90 percent of top managers were men. Women managers tended to have positions in sectors of lower strategic importance. Women make up the majority of public-sector employees, but are scarce at senior levels. In the Czech Repu blic in 1997, only 7 percent of the directors of stateowned enterprises were women. Much of the new private sector in the region consists of former state enterprises that have been privatised. A sample of directors of large private organisations and companies in the Czech Republic found a ratio of one woman to every 10 men. In Russia, almost half of the women managers are employed in retail trade and in the hotel and restaurant industry, but even in these sectors women account for only onefourth of the managerial posts. Women in the region have been, in some ways, in a good position to benefit from the economic liberalisation of the transition. They are not only educated and experienced in the workplace, but are concentrated in fields of study and business with strong growth potential. Still, men have often been able to leverage their advantages under the old economic system to their profit in the new marketplace, entering the more promising professions and occupying top-level posts. In Russia, the share of women employed in sectors of the economy where the pay prospects have improved with marketisation-trade, credit and financial institutions, insurance, the hotel ·and restaurant industry - shrank by 15-17 percent between 1990 and 1996. It is generally difficult to find internationally comparable data on the

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gender distribution of high-level economic managers in the region. WOMEN IN THE NEW CML SOCIETIES

Decisions about development in democratic countries are not taken solely by top-level political and economic leaders. They are also shaped by civil society, including lower level administrators, entrepreneurs, households as economic actors, special interest groups, trade unions, social movements, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the news media. Experience shows that a strong civil society can provide a sound foundation for economic and political development in the transition countries. How women participate in this process is vital for women's well-being and, no doubt, for the success of the transition itself. Just as participation in local politics and NGOs can help women develop political and social power, the acknowledgement and cultivation of women's work in the household economy and small entrepreneurship can help establish a broad base of economic power. Women in Local Government

Democracy is new in much of the region, but where data are available they show that women are consistently more well represented in local governments than in national governments. There are many reasons for this greater success, not least of which may be that local politics is literally closer to home. Women may be more likely to participate because it is easier to combine family responsibilities with local political work, and issues tend to have a more immediate impact on families and their communities. The lower cost of local political campaigns means women can afford to compete more readily and political parties may be more willing to invest the smaller sums in women candidates. There is also evidence that the belief that politics is a tough business unsuitable for women may not extend to local government, perhaps inherbecause this is seen 'more

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as a community activity. Local media may sometimes be less inclined to play up the gender angle in politics and more inclined to portray female candidatf!s as individuals in the community. In all but two of the 11 countries for which data are available, the proportion of women elected to local governments is higher than that of women elected to national parliaments. In Latvia, the share of women in local councils is about 40 percent, more than double that in the national parliament. The difference is also great in Hungary, Bulgaria and Moldova. In Romania and Azerbaijan, the proportion of women elected to local governments is slightly less than the success rate of women in national elections. The high share of women elected to local bodies in many countries is especially significant because, during transition, countries are moving away from the heavily centralised governments of the communist era. Local governments are becoming more and more responsible for the provision of public services, such as education and social care, though the economic recession accompanying transition has left many of them with few resources. Indeed, local governments have often been put on the frontline of the transition crisis in that they have been given the responsibilities but not the resources to provide public services. The vigorous participation of women in local politics is proof that women are intensely interested in taking up decision-making positions. Data on the number of female mayors are less encouraging, underlining the continuing exclusion of women from top political jobs eve!) at the local level. In Hungary, Bulgaria and Estonia, 10-13 percent of mayors are women (including the major of Tallinn, Estonia's capital); in the Czech Republic and Moldova somewhat less, and only 2-4 percent in Romania and Lithuania. In Russia, only one of 89 regional governments (that is, oblasts, republics, or autonomous districts) has a woman governor. Civil organisations are an indispensable part of democratic societies and constitute an increasingly

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powerful "third" sector that balances and acts in partnership with the public and private sectors. In almost all transition countries, political liberalisation has encouraged the formation of NGOs, social movements, grassroots groups, and media organisations; the longstanding repression of autonomous civil associations has largely evaporated. The number of NGOs is growing in the transition region, filling the space left by the retreating state and fulfilling the desire for a civil society. In today's world, civil associations are important incubators for leadership and are becoming bodies of consequence in society. They are therefore major vehicles in which women can gain experience, build skills and exercise influence. In Western democracies; a broad-based women's movement has been the primary force in advancing women's equality, in part by putting and keeping equality issues on the public and political agenda. Under communism, the state appropriated women's organisations and representation and turned the concept of the active promotion of gender issues into an empty, imposed ideology. This may explain "the signs in the region that both women and men are disenchanted with the words "feminism" and "gender equality" and have even developed "an allergy to feminism". However, as an observer has noted, top women decision makers in Poland may eschew the label "feminist" and yet still act as advocates and role models of equality for women. The distaste in the region for gender equality as a political concept raises an obstacle to the public discussion of women's rights. Still, a range of initiatives has sprung up to move beyond the communist women's associations which were frequently accused of poorly representing the political interests of women. One remarkable initiative is the Women's Party in Russia that gained 8 percent of the seats in the 1993 elections to the Duma. In the following elections, however, the party failed to pass the 5 percent threshold. Women's parties have also

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been created in other countries, for example in former Czechoslovakia, but none has gained political representation. In Western democracies, women's political parties are rare. Instead, equality issues have tended to be incorporated into the platforms of mainstream political parties. For many countries, the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, was a catalyst for the organisation and mobilisation of new women's groups and organisations advocating women's equality - fresh alternatives to discredited national women's organisations inher-ited from the communist state. This UN Conference relied firmly on the promotion of NGO participation before, during and after the conference so as to make NGOs an effective partner in the conference discussions and outcomes. The Beijing Conference also acted as a catalyst for the new governments of the transition countries, stimulating recognition of and action on women's equality issues. For example, in Latvia and Lithuania, the process of collecting data to be presented at the conference helped establish official national machinery to promote the improved status of women. Contact with Western academics has encouraged the creation of gender studies programmes at universities. Women have also been active in the establishment of their own business associations. The range of issues serving as the focus of NGO activities is often quite similar across the region, with four prominent areas of interest: political concerns and rights, the promotion of business and professional activities, social services such as health care and education, and activism against violence against women and domestic abuse. There is, however, substantial variation in the strength and autonomy of the NGOs. International and Western NGOs have been active in the region, especially in Central and Eastern Eur{)pe. starting projects and supporting the formation of local associations, notably self-help groups, hotlines and shelters for battered women that deal openly w:th the

"'::",

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problems of domestic violence and sexual abuse. In Poland in 1997, there were reportedly 73 women's organisations and informal groups, including six religious associations, eight research centres and six political groups attached to political parties or trade unions. In FYR Macedonia, 154 of the 271 registered NGO activists are women. Women's NGOs are numerous in Russia, but appear to be less vigorous in other CIS countries. Established under Gorb.achev in the 1980s in an effort to stimulate discussion and debate, many women's groups have continued to develop autonomously since transition. For instance, housing groups have grown out of neighbourhood committees. Women of Russia and the Free Association of Feminist Organisations and Independent Women's Fora are examples of umbrella groups which have emerged in the 1990s. Women are active in ethnocultural affairs. For instance, the International Women's Organisation for Keeping and Developing the Culture of Turkic Nations was recently founded in Moscow. Women'~ business organisations are also becoming more active. In 1998 the Confederation of Businesswomen of Russia jointly organised a major conference, "Women and Management", with the International Institute of St Petersburg. In 1992, among women's groups, a "Group of Gender Expertise" of 15 independent experts was established within the highest legislative body of the Russian Federation. In Ukraine. observers have been more sceptical of women's groups and the Women's Party in Ukraine, arguing that these organisations are isolated from each other and from the great majority of Ukrainian women and that they have failed to challenge prevalent patriarchal values and attitudes. However, some of the newly formed women's organisations also appear to have high numbers of members, which is a reason for optimism. NGOs are often unregulated in the transition countries. This has meant that commercial businesses sometimes masquerade as not-for-profit organisations.

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Legislation and regulation are needed to define the differences between businesses and NGOs, so as not to discourage the growth of these important civic actors. Given the history of oppression of associations of citizens in the iormer communist countries and the current economic problems in the region, the development of this sector has been modest. However, the emergence of women's groups is positive, as is the fact that governments do consult such groups on new policies and legislation. The challenge now is to promote and support the growth of these new and necessarily tentative beginnings. For example, grassroots women's groups are typically the first to address violence against women. The Crisis Centre for Women in Moscow responds to about 200 calls per month and also carries out media campaigns and public education, despite limited and fragile financial resources. The initiative of such NGOs should be matched with action by many other actors in society, including, government and bUl~iness. Women's Participation in Private Business

The creation of new private-sector businesses - rather than the often disappointing privatisation process of state enterprises has been the driving force behind the growing number of enterprises, improvements in labour productivity and much of the economic recovery in the "successful" transition countries. It is also evident from the data that women are less likely than men to be private-sector employees, selfemployed or entrepreneurs. Still, there is now a significant block of women business owners in the region. The Czech data (22 percent) refer to self-employed persons who have employees. For many countries the data simply refer to persons who are "employers". Enterprises are important engines of economic growth in the region, and women's ownership of businesses, no matter ho'Y 1?ig...or how small, is an ~mportant form of economic decision making. Tbe seeding and cultivation of

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women-led businesses represent an effective strategy for building the economy and supporting women's equality. Entrepreneurial activities reflect risk-taking behaviour. The decision to start up a business can be prompted either by an entrepreneurial spirit, or by the more negative motivators of economic crisis and reduced employment prospects. The mass collapse of former job, wage and career prospects at state enterprises has placed many families in a desperate situation. Despite the poor traditions, the meagre experience and the limitations on family assets that could help in setting up and financing an independent enterprise, venture, or farm, the economic crisis has generated a wide range of coping activities 9.cross the region. In established market economies microentrepreneurship is particularly important to women who have limited access to power through conventional employment, such as women who face barriers because of education, age, ethnicity, or rural residence. In the transition region, women's entrepreneurship has taken varied routes. BUILDING BLOCKS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

The transition has been expected to expand the opportunities available to the people of the region, women and men alike. However, gender equality of opportunity has not flourished and, in some areas, has even dimiI";shed. Much undeniably remains to be done to build up civil society and to cultivate an environment of gender equality in the region. At its 39th session in March and April 1995, the UN Commission on the Status of Women discussed a series of general policy recommendations to help promote women's equal representation in decision making. With regard to vertical discrimination, the commission recommended that the civil service set an example by promoting women to high ranks and that organisations: -

increase transparency in the selection for top posts;

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use gender-fair criteria, as well as affirmative action incentives; promote training in management skills; encourage the development of female networks. With regard to horizontal discrimination, it recommended that organisations: encourage the recruitment of women in postsecondary business education through subsidies and quotas; promote training in management skills; encourage "mentoring" by senior women; promote credit programmes targeted at women entrepreneurs, including the provision of incentives to financial institutions to support credit programmes aimed at women. In particular, there is a tremendous opportunity in the region to adopt and adapt such initiatives and practices in order to cultivate women's equal participation from the ground up. Some basic building blocks of womerl's empowerment are already in place in the transition environment. From this foundation, ladders of acce~s must be raised to enable women· to move on to higher levels of decision making and more political and economic participation. Education for Women

The importance of education to progress is evident in its inclusion, along with economic output and health, in the Human Development Index. An investment in human capital through education and training is critical to improving economic productivity in the transition countries, especially in the context of the increasingly knowledge-driven world markets. Similarly, education for women represents a direct investment in the ability of women to participate in society, especially in decisionmaking positions.

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Although there are several pathways to power, in democratic countries education is the broadest avenue. Fortunately, the transition countries have a legacy of good education systems for both girls and boys, and no evidence of a systematic gender gap at any level of education has appeared since the transition began. Tertiary education is especially important so that women can move into positions of political, economic and social leadership, and enrolment rates have mostly risen during transition. Development of Government Machineries

The Platform for Action of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women makes it clear that the state is crucial to the effort to advance women's equality through the development of "national machineries" for the advancement of women. In the former communist countries, there may be an "allergy" to state intervention in general and to the imposition of "equality from above" in particular, but government agencies that promote equal opportunity among citizens are a legitimate feature of democratic societies. In other words, government has an essential role to play in building and maintaining a culture of equality in the nation. The fact that a significant number of governments in the transition region have submitted national reports on the status ,of women in compliance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is a positive sign. The participation of these national machineries in such an international milieu and in relevant conferences is important for the exchange of information -including information on best practices-and the reinforcement of commitments to progress in women's 'equality. The basic unit of a national machinery for improving the status of women is a central office or department within government with the mandate to coordinate the development of public policy so that a gender perspective is mainstreamed into all areas .)f public affairs. Such an

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office not only ensures that the needs and concerns of the half of the citizenry consisting of women are integrated into government laws, policies and programmes, but provides government leadership on women's issues, works in partnership with other levels of government and civilian actors, and supports the activities of non-governmental women's groups and equality-seeking organisations. Since the collapse of communism in the region, existing mechanisms have evolved and new mechanisms have been established to monitor women's issues. In Hungary, for example, a year after the Fourth World Conference on Women, an equal opportunities secretariat for women was created within the Ministry of Labour. Although agencies have been established in many other countries as well, an investigation in 10 countries found that in four of these countries there is still no government agency to promote gender issues. To be effective, national machineries clearly require political will, legal clout and adequate resources. Moreover, only tight collaboration with civil organisations and dialogue among all relevant players-government, business, trade unions, religious organisations, political parties, women's NGOs-can create an environment in which women are empowered. Women in Small Enterprises Government and international agencies can playa crucial role in supportini women as agents of change by encouraging the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the transition countries. Women have established or own about one-quarter of the new businesses in the region-a promising start, given the newness of entrepreneurial freedom and the high-risk environment for small businesses. The region has an historical deficit in small- and medium-sized enterprises. However, as recent experience shows, such businesses have become the spark plugs -.If new economic growth in Western countries.

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Because of the involvement of women as small-scale entrepreneurs, efforts to promote the development of small businesses in the transition countries could broaden women's access to economic decision making and power. The revitalisation of economies in the transition region can be accelerated if support is offered to the new small-enterprise sector in general and to women in particular. Such investments would payoff in terms not only of gender equality, but of fresh approaches to business as well. While women entrepreneurs have much in common with men entrepreneurs, they may envision different business opportunities, structure business differently, have different aspirations for growth, and even have nontraditional business goals and operating practices. The number of women who are managers and professionals in the transition region - relatively more than in many Western countries - shows that women stand out because of their strong potential as owners of new businesses. They therefore represent a good target for policies and programmes that aim to promote the growth of the small-business sector. Nonetheless, a survey carried out for this Report in 10 transition countries shows that public programmes promoting female entrepreneurship have been set up in only three of the countries (Russia, Romania and Estonia). In the other seven countries (the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, FR Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Georgia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), no dedicated government programmes seem to exist to support the effort of women to engage in private economic activity. Much time, pressure and public leadership have also been necessary in many Western countries before financial institutions have begun to respond to the banking needs of small businesses. For example, the legislative mandate of the Business Development Bank of Canada, wholly owned by the Canadian government, was amended in 1995 to focus on supporting small businesses and targeting particular groups of entrepreneurs, including women.

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SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT OF SC WOMEN

The well being of people is unquestionably the ultimate object of all development efforts and the basic quest of human endeavour is always to seek a better quality of life. The quality of life of the citizens of a nation can be effectively improved only by raising the standards of living of the people on the street and in backward areas. Social empowerment in general and women empowerment in particular is very fundamental in achieving this goal. The institution of democracy provides a strong foundation for harmonising social and economic objectives. Thus within the broad democratic framework, there are great opportunities for synergying women and economic growth programmes to deliver better quality of life in tl~e shortest possible span of time. Importantly, economic empowerment has been considered instrumental for holistic development. In the changed context of rural development, there is more emphasis on sustainable development and promotion of microenterprises, which demand micro credit. Interestingly, women's crucial contribution in community development, social change and economic independence is highly stressed by many individuals, institutions and agencies. Against this backdrop, present chapter purports to review women's status and state initiatives for their development; conceptualisation of rural development, paradigms shifting there in and emerging issues of micro finance and development strategies. In India, the plight of women is no better than their counterparts in other developing countries. Despite the honour and reverence accorded to them as deities in mythology and personified tribute paid to them as in historical monuments, the ground realities remain opposite in a patriarchal society like Indian, there exists the unfounded belief that man is the bread winner of the family and hence the male child gets the best of limited facilities and resources within the family.

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The girl child is under constant risk of being aborted through the misuse of modern technology. She is mostly deprived of schooling for sake of taking care of siblings at home. Since she is to be married off soon, investing in her education is a liability. Despite the fact that women are massively involved in almost all sectors of economy, their work and earnings do not count. Their activities as producers of the household are not reflected in National Income Statistics, thus, making their contribution unaccounted for. In an effort to uphold cultural heritage, the past is glamorised and with it, the equality of women and enhancement of their role in development gets inhabited. In terms of every set of indices of development and socioeconomic status, women of all regions and strata have fared worse than men. In work, employment, earnings, education, health status and decision making powers, there is a clear differentiation between male and female entitlements. Women constitute 70 per cent of the world's poor population (1.3 billion). They produce 50 per cent of the food worldwide but receive only 10 per cent of the incomes. Women's access to and ownership of resources is less than that being enjoyed by men and even among those women who own some property. At the turn of 20th century, the Industrial Revolution brought about radical changes in societies the world over particularly societies, which were rooted in the agriculture. One of those· radical changes was the removal of manufacturer from households factories and shops. The work done at home offered li~e long educational socialisation, communication and other residential benefits to the family members. It kept the unemployment and crime rate low. The spirit of cooperation and respect prevailed. The Industrial Revolution took away this responsibility from women's, brought about a ruralurban dichotomy, particularly in agrarian societies and created a demand for some other educational agent outside homes. The educational agent, the school, was assigned two basic goals: (1) development of human resource

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(particularly men) with skills for the manufacturing sector; (2) undertaking partial responsibility of the home, namely value addition and moral education. It resulted in gender segregation and discrimination within all sectors; a majority of women lacking in productive and technical skills; science and technology and extension and training programmes provided primarily to men as women are conceived only as consumers/beneficiaries of the Industrial Revolution; and education system that caters only to academics through role learning and regurgitated evaluations, resulting in poor female enrollment and retention and consequently their illiteracy and poverty. In sum, it perpetuated a cycle of gender bias and poverty almost impossible to wipe out. Importantly, at the turn of 20th century, the communication revolution, which is technology intensive, has brought about another radical transformation again at the home front. PARADIGMS OF WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT

Cardine Moser has identified five paradigms towards women's development in Third World countries. The first paradigm related to welfare approach is based on the traditional view of marking the women's role in development or the basis of customary gender division of labour. The second paradigm came in existence during 1975-85, when the decade was declared as the 'Decade of Women'. This approach was aimed at gaining equity and procuring her as active participant in development process. It further aimed at giving ~qual opportunities to women even by creating positive discrimination or reservation. The third paradigm was concerned with anti poverty, directed at poor women to ensure and increase their productivity. This is still being followed under the assumption that women's problems arise out of underdevelopment. The appnllach of rural development is increasingly confronting itself to the formation of Self Help Groups (SHG's), in stabilising and linking with viable socioeconomic activities for sustainable livelihood.

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This is seen as the only solution of poverty eradication, equity and development of women. The fourth paradigm is related with efficiency which depends on the belief that policies of economic stabilisation and adjustment rely on women's economic contribution to development and their economic participation is seen as a mechanism to achieve equity. The fifth paradigm is empowerment model, which envisages greater. Self-reliance among women their subordination is seen not only as a problem of men but also of colonialism and neocolonialism. This approach focuses on overall development and particularly on enhancing social and economic capabilities. In this task, a number of nongovernmental organisations are playing crucial role since government is seeking partnership to ensure sustainable, people's centered and decentralised development and governance. It is also well accepted that women's active role in ecological and environmental programmes may ensure sustainable development, since increasing ecological and environmental degradation has caused environmental crisis when women belonging to weaker sections of society are protesting against government policies and programmes which are causing development induced displacement, loss of sustainable livelihood and natural resources. The present paradigm of empowerment of women is not a woman in development but a gender and development. The women in development paradigm assumes that women have been left out in development process and hence need to be integrated to give benefit, gender and development paradigm recognises women's triple role i.e. in reproductioI}, production and community management. Therefore, the main objectives of development programmes in this context may be categorised as (i) initiate income generating' programmes; (ii) sensitise women about their rights, entitlements and legal framework; and (iii) take up capacity building measures.

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Gender and development approach stress as the need for gender analysis and identification of strategic gender needs before initiating any appropriate action for empowering women. It is seen that gender inequality retards economic growth. There is growing evidence to suggest that several aspects of gender relations, the gender based division of labour, disparities between males and females in power and resources, and gender biases in rights and entitlements act to undermine economic growth and reduce the well being of men, women and children. It is commonly held that, investments in female education and health tend to increase the incomes of families; educated women who know more about health and hygiene, are also able to practice this knowledge; better educated women are able to adapt newer technologies, hold on to new opportunities, and cope us with economic shocks. Women's- development has come a long way from the earlier welfare orientation. In the welfare approach, women were taken as vulnerable sections of the population, whose situation could be ameliorated; through the provisioJ.1 of support services like health, nutrition and childcare. The economic self-reliance puts emphasis on income generation projects for women; the equality model put the blame on inequality and promoted affirmative action to promote equal opportunity. The present approach of empowerment looks at unequal gender and power relations and uses conscientisl}tion, mobilisation, solidarity and collective action. The empowerment approach arises from a strong commitment to women's rights and capacity to make their own decisions about development strategies, under the credit for empowerment. The SHG offers the canvas to conduct social intermediation, provide women the opportunity to acquire the ability and entitlement to their own lives, set their own agenda, gain skills, solve problems and .develop autonomy. Significantly, the member of SHG's may exhibit the following outputs, resulting from their activities:

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acquisition of literacy and numerically skills;

(ii) awareness of basic legal rights; (iii) awareness of projects and state development activities; (iv) critical political consciousness; electoral process, societal analysis and gender issues; (v) enhanced social status as perceived by self and other's; (vi) freedom from exploitation, money lenders, landlords etc; (vii) active role in organisation of group and other political bodies, viz. Panchayat; (viii)ensuring literacy and education of girl child; (ix) health consciousness;

(x) restructuring of women's time utilisation; and (xi) enhanced decision making powers within the

household. The status of women in a complex society like ours, is not uniform. Within Indian subcontinent, there have been infinite variations of the status of women, differing according to the cultural milieu, family structure, caste, class, occupation, property rights etc. All these factors are significant determinants of variations in her position in different groups. Scheduled caste women who constitute sizeable population of India is SUbjected not merely to gender bias, but also to indignities arising out of the age old tradition of untouchability, marginalisation and exploitation from which incidentally the entire social group of SCheduled Castes suffer. The deep-rooted social discriminations have compelled this section of population to lead a life of bare subsistence level, both in respect of economic terms and human dignity. As per 1991 census, the scheduled caste female population of 66.29 million represents 16.43 percent of the country's total population, which is 403.36 million of the Scheduled caste female population, 81.46 percent i.e.

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54 million live in rural areas and 18.54 percent i.e. 54 million live in rural areas and 18.54 percent i.e. 12.29 million live in urban areas. Although the SC's are listed in 24 states and 4 union territories, the SC female population to the extent of 99.83 percent is reported from only 18 states, each having more than 0.1 million SC female individuals. These states in descending order of numerical strength are: Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Orissa, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, Assam, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura. The sex ratio, as per 1991 census, among the scheduled castes has been reported to be 922. There is wide variation in the sex ration among SC's across the states of India. The children in age group 0-6 years constituted 19.63 percent of the SC population as against 17.94 percent for the general population. The SC population have more children than the general population, which appear to show a higher birth rate. Importantly, early marriage among scheduled castes population is generally a reflection of their overall socioeconomic status in society. These include mass illiteracy, negligible participation in modern economic activities, excessive participation in agricultural and allied pursuits and lower income. The SC women are prone to occupational health problems associated with degraded working environment, mental stress, long hours of work, lifting of heavy weights, contact with hazardous "and infected material and inconvenient postural conditions of work etc. Besides, they suffer from malnutrition, anemia, post delivery complications, tuberculosis, early child bearing and constant enforced deprivations. The general in ability and occupational health problems result in constant ill health and mortality among this class of women. Education & Employment Education and employment have direct bearing on

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economic empowerment, therefore, brief detail of women's education and employment scenario is given here. Education has been a very important part of Indian social and cultural life from the earliest times. The malefemale combined literacy rate in 1901 was 5.9 per cent, the female literacy rate being only 0.6 per cent. Right up to the 1941 census, it had increased only up to 7.30 per cent, whic4 was a little less than 50 per cent of the total literacy rate of 16.10 per cent. The gender gap works out to 100 per cent. Over the six census conducted in India since Independence, the literacy rate for females has increased from 8.86 per cent to 54.16 per cent which means that about half of the women are still illiterate. The literacy gap between male and female is still quite high, though during 1981-2001 there is significant change in literacy rates among females, as compared to their counterparts. Only 30.62 per cent women living in rural areas were literate in 1991 though most of the developmental efforts were directed towards this end. In 2001, literacy rate among women in rural areas was recorded to be 46.70 per cent while it was recorded quite high among males. There is a wide gap in literacy rates between rural and urban areas. Moreover, gender literacy gap is quite high in rural areas. Lower literacy rates in rural areas are primarily due to the more conservative nature of village society. This brings down the total literacy rate of the country. Lower male literacy rates in the villages are primarily due to the physical nature of the work required for agricultural labour and migration of literate men to towns. In 2001 literacy rate among women in these states were found about 50 per cent. 68.2 per cent Hindu women, 71 per cent Muslim women, 37.3 per cent Christian women, 54.9 per cent Sikh women, 24 per cent Jain women, 68.4 per cent Buddhists, 29.4 per pent Zoroastrians and 71.5 per cent other women were not found to be literate in 1987-88.

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In 1991, 23.76 per cent Scheduled Castes women and 18.19 per cent Scheduled Tribes women were found literate. Bihar and Punjab were the main states-where female literacy rate among Scheduled Castes community was recorded below 10 per cent. Similarly, female literacy rate among Scheduled Tribes was recorded below 10 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. During 19992000, enrollment rates among females were recorded 85.2 per cent at primary level, 49.7 per cent at upper primary level, and 72.0 per cent at elementary level. Enrollment rates in these levels were recorded higher ru:nong boys as compared to girls. Interestingly, gender disparity has been reported in enrollment, retention and drop outs. Higher education has remained still a far cry for majority of the people in India and more so for women. The participation of women in higher education is found to be very low i.e. about 33 per cent at university and college level.' Education is the key instrument for women's development despite the fact that education could also be used to perpetuate subordinate status of women through systematic institutionalisation, traditional social customs and reinforcing the gender belief system. Since education plays a dialectical role and acts as a catalyst in the long term, it has to be viewed as liberating instrument and efforts have to be directed towards removing barriers to women's access to education in general and quality education in particular. According to 1991 census, only 23.29 percent of SC females are literate, as against 52.21 percent general literacy rate in the country. There has been sharp variations in the literacy rates in the rural and urban areas with high rate of gender disparity among the scheduled castes. Although the literacy rate among SC wome":l has gradually increased over the years, the literacy gap between them and non-SCjST female continued to widen. Based on 1981 census, there were 48 districts within the country where the SC female literacy rate is less than 1 percent, stooping to as low as 0.48 percent in Barmer

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district of Rajasthan. Besides, there were some Scheduled Caste community which have hardly any literate female among them. There has been overall increase in the enrollment of children to SC at all levels over the years. But simultaneously a serious impediment, which arrests literacy, is the phenomenon of drop out, wastage and stagnation. From 1980-81 to 1995-96, there has been progress of enrollment both in primary level and junior high school level. However, rate of progress in primary school level has been higher as compared to Junior high school level: The drop out rates among SC girls are higher as compared to non-SC girls and it higher in higher secondary levels and secondary level as compared to primary level. Women's economic empowerment is absolutely essential for raising their status in society. However, there persists the acute malefemale disparity in the opportunities available. The total workforce of women is only 89.77 million, out of which substantial percentage are marginal workers. As far as the rural urban divide of female employment is concerned, the situation can be gauged from data available from 1991 census. A very small percentage of women out of total popUlation are employed and the ratio of female employment to male employment is extremely iniquitous. It may be stated that the majority of them are concentrated in the unorganised sector where work is irregular, wages are limited and there are hardly any labour rights under the various labour laws. Thus it may be noticed that the ratio of female to male workers concentrated in' the unorganised sector is also unfavourable to women with. 95.79 per cent women workers concentrated in this sector as opposed to 89.77 per cent male workers. An overwhelming majority of women are engaged in the unorganised sector. About 79 per cent of the total women workers are in the agricultural sector, 49 per cent of them are occupied as agricultural labourers and 30 per cent as cultivators.

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It is ironical to note that in 1911 the proportion of women in the female work force (33.7 per cent) as well as proportion in the total workforce (34.4 per cent) has substantially declined, to 16.4 per cent and 22.3 per cent respectively in 1991, Hirway and Roy have remarked that though relatively more women participate in work in rural areas than in urban areas, yet rural females enjoy much lower occupational diversification, very poor employment status and high unemployment rates. Furthermore, the rural female worker was experiencing negative occupational diversification. This is an alarming situation, where economic independence of women seems to be seriously impaired. Women's work is characterised by features such as high labour, high intensity, seasonal work and low skill. In the organised sector, more women are employed in the public sector than in the private sector. For the private sector, the highest number of women are employed in Assam followed by Kerala while in the public sector Tamil Nadu is on the top, followed by Maharashtra. The data shows that the rate of growth of women's employment is much higher in the public sector while it has grown very slowly in the private sector. Women are now being employed in higher number in factories, plantations and mining & quarrying. It is to be nc.. ted that women's employment is declining in which is commendable, looking at its hazardous nature of the occupation. The share of employment of women in Central government services is very low as compared to men. As an overwhelming percentage of women are employed in the agricultural sector, it was the responsibility of the Agriculture Department to give them land rights, technical skills for increasing their productivity especially as marginal farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture devised a scheme in 1993 for forming. 'Farm Groups' in various states, which included 4200 women. Another scheme called Training of Women in Agriculture' was also formulated in the same year. Till the end of the Eighth Five Year Plan 1.89 lakh

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women were trained for improving agricultural practices. The Ministry also organised 6800 groups of women, spread over the country for training them in agro-based industries. The Department of Women and Child Development by sanctioning exclusive women's dairies acted as a catalytic agent for the coming into effect of exclusive women's cooperative dairies. Under the poverty alleviation programmes launched by the ,Ministry of Rural Development, a large number of women were benefited. Women's share accounted for 37.56 per cent in selfemployment programmes (TRYSEM and IRDP) and their share in total number of man-days generated under employment programmes was recorded 27.69 per cent. Though women's share in rural employment has increased significantly, it is still much lower as compared to their share in population and engagement in agricultural and non-farm activities. Again, Swashakti, Swayamsidyha and Swalamban are the three major projects oriented towards econolnic empowerment of women. The approach of the projects is based on formation, stabilisation, entrepreneurship development and promotion of income generation activities. As per Annual Report of the Development Commissioner, Small Scale Industries, out of total new units registered in 1987-88, percentage of women entrepreneurs is 13.03 only. Most of the units owned and or managed by women en trepreneurs belong to the small and tiny category. Therefore, all the hurdles and hardships generally encountered by the small scale industry is present in the development orbit of a woman entrepreneurs. It is most unfortunate that in spite of massive spread of technology and education, people do not at ease wherever a women ventures into the hitherto exclusively male domain of industry and business enterprises. Entrepreneurship development among women may be Viewed from the view points of

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(i)

creating the environn,.p.nt needed for healthy and sound entrepreneurship and (ii) organising more and more rational motivational campaigns for the woman entrepreneur where she takes on this challenging !"ole and likes to adjust her personality needs, family and social life and economic independence.

The experience demonstrates that the development of women entrepreneurship is constrained by the following factors: (i) lack of motivation, their aspiration level is lower than males; (ii) women lack self confidence; they have low self esteem; (iii) lack of full knowledge about available business opportunities, (iv) they also lack complete information about procedure of various institutions, requirements and sources of assistance for this purpose and; (v) they lack managerial competence to run manufacturing/ processing units on sound principles of business management. Despite the obvious obstacles, a few women can be seen pursuing the profession and realising remarkable degree of success. Entrepreneurship leads to the women being the leader of the organisation. The scheduled caste women are the worst victim of the prevailing poverty deprivation syndrome in the ·country. Poverty forces them very often to work and earn less remunerative menial jobs; and sometimes work even in odd situations detrimental to their health and personality development. Employment opportunities for SC women are very rare and whatever are there, they provide meager income just for subsist once. A sizeable population, amongst SC's still follow age-old occupations and Jajmani system. Such identified traditional occupation, included menial jobs and unclean occupations like leather work, skinning,

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flaying, disposal of dead animals and scavenging. Nearly 86 percent of SC female working force is employed in the primary sector of economy based on land and other natural resources like water and forests. Among them are included agricultural labourers (66.52 percent) followed by cultivations (17.53 percent), those engaged in livestock, forestry, fishing etc. (1.50 percent) and those in mining and quarrying (0.38 percent), while in SC female population, about two third (66.52 percent) of main workers are reported to be as agricultural labours, wherever in total female work force agricultural labours are only 44.24 percent. In secondary sector i.e. related broadly to manufacturing, the disparity between the working force of SC's and non-SC/ST, ~s not very glaring. About 7 percent SC females were found engaged in secondary sector, i.e. mainly in household industries and artisan work. Services sector 7 percent SC females were found engaged though most of them were reported to be engaged in unorganised sector of economy. Most of the SC females are either self employed or wageearner where the implications of labour laws are nominal. Gender Equality and Women Empowerment

Gender equality and women empowerment are the buzzwords, entrusted with different interpretations to suit varied socio-political perspectives. The rhetoric of gender equity and women's empowerment has acquired an important place in government policy, non-governmental advocacy, media and academic research. The terms, women empowerment and gender equality determine the direction of diverse discourses on women, locally, nationally, internationally. The action plan, as recommended by International Conference on Population and Development at Cairo incl:uded: i) establishing mechanism for women's equal participation and equitable representation at all levels of the political process;

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promoting the fulfillment of women's potentials through education, skills development and employment, giving paramount importance to the elimination of poverty, illiteracy and ill-health among women;

iii) eliminating all practices that discriminate amongst women and assisting them to establish and realise their rights; iv)

adopting measures to improve women's ability to earn income beyond traditional occupations, achieve economic self-reliance and ensure their equal access to the labour market and social security systems;

v)

eliminating violence against women;

vi) eliminating discriminatory practices by employers against women; vii) making it possible through laws, regulations and other appropriate measures for women to combine the roles of child-bearing, breast-feeding, and childrearing with participation in the workforce; vii) strengthening policies and programmes that improve, ensure and broaden the participation of women in all spheres of life as equal partners and improve their access to all resources needed for the full exercise of their fundamental rights. The Beijing Conference was the first significant milestone in the journey towards ensuring gender equality and women empowerment. The goals of the Conference were; (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v)

sharing power equally; obtaining full access to the means of development; overcoming poverty; promoting peace and protecting women's rights; inspiring a new generation of women to work together for equality and equity.

Economic empowerment is a necessary condition for enabling women to seek justice and eqUality. Without economic strength, women cannot be able to exercise

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their guaranteed rights. It is, therefore, necessary to seek participation of women as equal partners with men in all fields of work, equal access to all positions of employment, equal opportunities for work related training and full protection of women at work place. Economic empowerment of women, including reduction of female poverty require programmes that focus on identifying, developing and promoting alternative approaches to increase women's access to and control over the means of making a living on a sustainable and long term basis. It necessitates supporting their existing livelihood, widening choices and building capacity to take advantage of new economic opportunities.' Its strategies to advocate that the government undertakes legislative measures to speed up women's participation in economic life, including the right of equality in property ownership and inheritance and access to credit, financial service and assistance in entrepreneurial development. The basic requirements of women's empowerment strategy are; i)

introduction of special measures to increase the proportion of women involved in decision making;

ii)

establishment of specific training programmes, especially for women living in extreme poverty, to improve their condition;

iii) creation of equal employment opportunities for educationally, technically and professionally qualified women by dismantling the forbidding walls of silent discrimination in their recruitment and related process; (iv) encouragement to women's entrepreneurship and other self-reliant activities, particularly in the informal sector; (v) integration of gender perspective into all economic structuring; (vi) elimination of all forms of discrimination in employment, including wages and breaking down of gender based occupational segregation;

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(vii) initiation of measures to improve working conditions of women in the informal sector, particularly, by encouraging them to organise so that they know their rights and are able to obtain necessary support to exercise them; (viii) mobilisation of banking sector to increase lending on easier terms to women entrepreneurs and producers, especially in the rural areas; and (ix) activisation of enforcement machinery to ensure that the interest of women workers are protected, especially in the informal sector where large scale discrimination persists. As the largest democracy in the world, India has enjoyed the freedom to continuously experiment with a numiJer of forms, structures and modes of organisations to achieve women's equality. The state is seen as the prime mover in bringin~ about this social change and is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the fundamental rights to equality and freedom of the sexes and prohibition of discrimination on this ,.ground. The replacement of institutional structures and formations from time to time, their modifications, renewal as well as organic growth have come about as responses to emerging concepts on women's issues. During the last six decades, development planning for women straddled theories as disparate as welfare, development, equality, efficiency & empowerment. The institutional structures have undergone changes in response to these evolving concepts and have changed from welfare to empowerment and beyond, in response to experiences of social reality at the field level as well as factors governing external environment. Today, the state has accepted women as active agents, participating in development programmes and schemes & thereby achieving their own Development. The gender dimension on the development approaches at conceptual level came from uncovering several distinct areas of gender bias. Their subordinate status meant

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development benefits; be it education, health, income, employment did not rest them in same measure as men. All pervasive sexual division of labour that assigned the task of family maintenance and child care to women meant their inability to participation in many activities outside the home, whether social, economic or political. July, 1946, the All India Women's Conference adopted an Indian Women's Charter of Rights that demanded full civil, legal rights, equal opportunities in education, employment, policies etc. In 1947, the National Planning Committee, set up in 1939 by the Indian National Congress, had' constituted a special women's committee which submitted its report on ''women's role in a planned economy', their rights and development. Importantly, in 1974, report of the committee on the status of women reiterated many earlier demands with emphasis on the poor, the unorganised and rural women. Its most significant contribution was the extensive documentation of the conditions of women, which had deteriorated in the three decades after independence. SimilarlYI various UN documents, resolutions, conventions especially Beijing Conference, also gave preeminence to state action to enforce and monitor women's rights by establishing a special national machinery for women. A comprehensive plan for women was fortnulated by the D~partment of Women & Child Development, called 'The Perspective Plan For women 1988-2000'. A National Commission for Women was established with a view t~ ensure women's rights and entitlements. From 19th century, the role of the state in defining and influencing the status of women has informed many struggles for their equality. The state, its policies and programmes continue to be the focus of much of the energies of the women's movement in postindependence India as well. From 1970's, the women's movement has tried to establish an autonomous identity for itself and attempted to bring

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about changes through the process of influencing and pressurising the state and its structures. The trends in planning in India show that in the first Five Year Plan, most of whose members had liberal education and also participated in the national struggle for independence wanted to give women the rights of self centralisation to the fullest extent. They laid down very progressive parameters of higher education, the need for women to get employment and to function in a protected labour environment. The Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth plans carried forward on the same strategies. It was only in the mid seventies, in preparation to celebrate the International Women's Year in 1975 that a committee to survey the status of women was set up 1971. From the Sixth Plan onwards, a new exercise in planning stressed on women development and Department of Women & Child Development, GO! was set up in 1985 with a separate minister in-charge. National Commission for Women, a National Creche Fund, a National Credit Fund, a National Women's Fund, Mahila Samridhi Yojana and Indira Mahila Vikas Yojana were set up. This acted as an effective nodal unit for monitoring activities relating to women's development in various ministries of the government and taken for review and its' recommendations. The strategy for women's development has been multi-dimension and multisectoral. AlthoUgh many schemes have been made for women in different ministries and departments, the agencies for executing them have been the same and they give women a certain consideration. Since 1980's, there has been an effort to give women an integrated approach and to provide health, family welfare, nonformal education and create aWareness of their rights and skill training at the same time. Several states have launched the projects for women empowerment, development and welfare. These projects are financially supported by foreign agencies, and implemented with the vital role of NGO's and voluntary sector.

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Importantly, women empowerment programmes emphasise on SHG's formation, its stabilisation and linking with viable micro enterprises. While formulating the First Five year plan, it was envisaged that the programmes under various sectors of development would benefit all sections of the population including SC's, ST's, OBC's and minorities. But, unfortunately, it never happened. Therefore, special programmes under Backward classes sector were formulated keeping in view the special requirements of SC's, ST's and OBC's. The second Five year Plan promised to ensure that the benefits of economic development accrue more and more to the relatively less privileged classes of society in order to reduce inequalities. The Third Five Year Plan advocated the principles to establish greater equality of opportunity and to reduce disparity in income and wealth. The Fourth and Fifth Five Year Plan envisaged basic goal as rapid increase in the standard of living of the people through measures, which also promote equality and social justice. The Sixth Five Year Plan marked a shift in the approach to the development of Scheduled Castes. The Special Component Plan (SCP) launched for the Scheduled Castes expected to facilitate easy convergence and pooling of resources from all the other development sectors in proportion to the population of SC's. In the Seventh Five Year Plan, SCP for SC's was strengthened, while the other schemes for the welfare and development of SC's continued. There was substantial increase in the flow of funds for development of SC's under SCP from state plans, Central Plans, Special Cultural Assistance and Institutional Finances resulting in the expansion of infrastructure facilities and enlargement of their coverage. Priority in the Plan was given to the educational development of SC's. In the Eighth Five Year Plan national level apex bodies have been set up to act as catalytic agents in development schemes for employment generation and financing pilot projects.

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The Ninth Five Year Plan envisaged the empowerment of socially disadvantaged groups as agents of socioeconomic change and development through creating an enabling environments conductive for the SC's, OBC's and minorities. The Plan has adopted three pronged strategy of (i) social empowerment; (ii) economic empowerment; and (iii) social justice. The nationwide popular scheme of Post-Matric scholarships (PMS) for SC students after its revision in 1997-98 extends its scope for enhancing the income limit of parents of the beneficiaries and for extending some additional benefits to persons with disabilities amongst SC's. Scholarships are given to eligible SC students, which include provIsIOns of maintenance allowance, reimbursement of compulsory non-refundable fees, thesis typing/ printing charges, study tour charges, book allowance for students pursuing correspondence courses etc. The scheme of Pre-matric scholarship for the children of those engaged in unclean occupations introduced in 1977-78 aims at motivating the children of scavengers, sweepers, flayers and tanners to pursue education and also for controlling school drop outs amongst them thereby weaning them away from the obnoxious practice of scavenging. The scheme of hostels for SC boys and girls launched in 1961-62 provides hostel facilities to students studying in middle secondary and higher secondary schools, colleges and universities. Under the scheme, central assistance is provided to states and UT's including universities and NGO's, for construction of new hostels and also for extension of existing hostel buildings for SC students. However, the maintenance cost of these hostels is to be borne by the state/UT's. The scheme of Special Education Development Programme for Scheduled Castes Girls belonging to Very Low Literacy Districts introduced during 1996-97 aims at establishing special residential schools for SC girls who are first generation learners in low literacy pockets where the traditions and environment are not conductive to

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learning. The scheme covers 48 districts of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh where the literacy of SC girls was less than 2 percent in 1981 census. Book Bank scheme for SC students launched in 1978-79 aims to supply text-books to SC students for pursuing Medical, Engineering, Veterinary, Agriculture, Polytechnic, CA, MBA, Bio Sciences and Law Courses. Similarly, the scheme of upgradation of merit of SC students launched in 1987-88 aims to provide remedial and special coaching to SC students studying in Classes IX to XIII. While the remedial coaching aims at removing deficiencies in school subjects amongst the SC students, special coaching aims at preparing them for competitive examinations for entry into professional courses like medical, engineering etc. Importantly, the coaching and Allied scheme for SC/ST students was launched in 196061 for improving the knowledge and attitude by providing special coaching through Pre-Examination Training Centre and thus for preparing them to compete with others in the competitive examinations. The economic empowerment schemes for SC's include: . . (i)

Revitalise the National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation (NSFDC) and National Safai Karmachari Finance Dev~lopment Corporation (NSKFDC) to play an effective catalytic role in promoting employment, income generation activities with both backward and forward linkages;

(ii) Special efforts through various training pr.ogrammes to upgrade the traditional skills, equip them with modern technology so as to meet the market demands;

(iii) enforce special legislative measures to ensure payment of minimum wages and equal wages, with no gender discrimination in the informal or unorganised sector;' (iv) motivate the Private and the Corporate sectors to invest in the welfare and development of the weaker

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sections as they form a potential force in country's human resources; (v)

endow every landless SC family with a minimum piece of land; restoration of land ownership and effective implementation of protective legislation;

(vi) involve NGO's in promotion of small and lift irrigation projects, especially in the drought prone, dry and hilly areas to ensure food security at the village level; (vii) sensitise the financial institutional to pay special loans on differential rate of interests. Besides, certain allocation has been fixed in the general programmes of economic development, which include Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana, Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana, Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme, Central Rural Sanitation Programme, Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rojgar Yojana etc. being the most powerful instruments to enSl're social justice to socially disadvantaged groups, efforts were being directed to this end with much more vigour and force during the Ninth Plan. Further implementation of the reservation policy in and in services for SC's is being strictly observed to fill up all the reserved vacancies promptly. Besides, legal measures have been resorted to for the protect or the interests of SC's. The National Commission for SC's and ST's is also committed towards this aim. GROWTH OF MICRO-CREDIT

Globalisation and economic liberalisation have opened up tremendous opportunities for development and growth resulting in the modifications of livelihood strategies. However, these changes are making the marginalised and poor sections of society more vulnerable in the absence of adequate safety net. Keeping in view the widespread rural poverty, there is need not only to ameliorate the economic conditions of marginalised and disadvantaged social groups, but also to transform the social structures.

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In the context of rural women, their economic condition becomes more vulnerable due to unequal distribution of resources. Poverty and deprivation increase gender inequality, which favours a policy for empowerment of women by increasing their access to credit through SHG's so as enable them to acquire the capability and assets that can help facilitate realise strategic gender needs. The SHG's can be built on social capital of the local community especially women to carry out thrift and credit activities to initiate micro-income generating activities to eke out a sustainable livelihood. During the recent past, the new type of institutions have been promoted to meet the credit needs of those groups who have been excluded from formal credit markets. SHG's are mostly informal groups whose members have a common perception and impulse towards collective action. These groups promote savings among the members and use, the pooled resources to meet their emergent needs including the consumption needs. Sometimes, the generated internal savings are supplemented by external resources/loans by NGO's and banking institutions promoting them. SHG's are thus able to provide banking services to their members, which though may not be sophisticated yet are cost effective, simple, flexible, accessible to the members and above all, without any default in the repayments. The linking of SHG's to banks helps in overcoming the problem of high transaction costs to banks in providing credit to the poor, by transferring some banking responsibilities, such as loan appraisal, follow up, recovery etc. to the poor themselves. In the rural context, SHG's have facilitated the poor, especially the women to overcome the existing constraints grappling the formal credit institutions. These groups provide considerable social protection and income opportunities to their members. These institutions have sought to explore new ways and alternatives based on value-system, introduce new relationships and take into

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account the social and economic aspects of collective living and livelihood improvement. Besides, they also help facilitate the poor women to overcome the difficulty of providing collateral guarantee to raise the finance to initiate micro-income generating activities. Due to better performance, the SHG's have acquired a prominent status to maximise social and financial returns. Since late 1970's, there have been increasing realisation, that one of the obstacles preventing the poor from improving their lives was the lack of access to financial sources. Attempts have been made to develop more sustainable and reachable financial systems, in place of previously discredited schemes of direct credit to meet women's expressed needs for improved access to credit, particularly to small loans, multi production strategies and thereby to improve the livelihood of their families, thrift credit or SHG's have been promoted, both by the governments, as well as NGO's and other donor agencies. Micro-credit has been advocated as the new Panacea for reduction of poverty. Its potential for economic empowerment of women has also been variously looked at. Importantly group formation is crucial to the empowerment process as women draw strength from number. The group provides: (1) confidence and mutual support for women striving to social change; (2) a forum in which women can critically analyse their situations and devise collective strategies to overcome their difficulties; (3) a framework for awareness training, confidence building, dissemination of information and delivery of services and for developing communal self relian..:e and col1~ctive action; and (4) a vehicle for the promotion of economic activities. Poverty in India is predominantly rural in charac\er and is more pronounced among vulnerable groups like SC's, ST's and Women. These social groups belong to landless

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and small farming classes, experience unemployment and are dependent on wage employment. Mostly they are engaged in low productivity activities of agriculture and allied sector. Therefore poverty alleviation needs increase in agricultural productivity and transfer of substantial proportion of labour-force from farPl-sector to non-farm sector including other more productive employment areas (Srinivasan) . The most commonly adopted poverty alleviation approaches have been state-driven, donor-funded and top down. The development agencies and governments which have striven for poverty alleviation, designed their programmes and projects on certain assumptions in the external expert stance. However, many cultural, economic and political barriers effectively prevent the poor from having any real stake in development activities. Therefore, reaching the poor requires working with them to learn about their needs, understanding how development decisions are made in their communities and identifying institutions and mechanisms that can get opportunities and recourses into their own hands. This can happen through investments in human capital such as education and health, investments in social capital such as local level institutions and participatory process and support for community based development efforts planned and implemented from bottom up (Srinivasan). Interestingly, the Self Help Groups Linkage Programme has been showing faster progress as well as high rate of success. The initiative in this regard has been taken by the NABARD, by sponsoring an Action Research Project in 1986-87. It attempts to bring together four trends and derives strength from the positive environment created by these independently of each other. These are (Srinivasan); 1. 2.

maturing and expanding SHG movement initiated by the NGO sector; focus on micro-credit to the poor as a strategy for poverty alleviation;

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ongoing national policy commitment to improve access to finance for the poor; policy environment ~through financial sector reforms to increase banking out reach.

Self Help Groups form the social capital which facilitate financial linkage of poor borrowers with formal financial institutions (FFI's) in India. The basic principles on which the SHG' s function are (Srinivasan); The SHG is a network of members who fulfill locational criteria. They are resident in the area and are homogeneous. They have rules/norms regarding their functioning. Savings first, credit thereafter. Personalised services suiting the requirements of the members are ensured. SHG's hold regular meetings to ensure participation of members in the activities of the group. SHG's maintain accounts. Group leaders are elected by members and rotated periodically. Transparency in operations of the group and participatory decision making ensure that the benefits to members are evenly distributed. Market rates of interest on savings and credit are charged. Group liability and peer pressure act as substitutes for traditional collateral for loans. SHG's Groups The Self Help Groups are voluntary associations of people formed to achieve both social and economic goals. The concept of micro-financing rural poor for self-employment was started by Prof. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and is now being followed in more than 52 countries around the ,globe. Many international NGO's such as,

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Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), Americans for Community Cooperation in other Nations (ACCION), Women's World Banking, Freedom from Hunger etc. are executing various projects, through their partners mostly in developing countries. The concept of SHG mainly revolves around the reasons that may lead to the genesis of self-help as a way to mitigate the problems faced by a set of people. According to Morton the development of contemporary forms of SHG's is generally ascribed to Alcoholic Anonymous, which was initiated in 1935 in USA. As per Kingree, the concept of SHG's can be traced to collection of people to informal groups with an aim to overcome the problems related to a particular negative status. Jacobs and Powell reported that SHG's have proliferated in recent years, serving more people and addressing many types of status related problems. Social scientists have forwarded various definitions for SHG. .... '

Rural credit delivery system in India is affected' with many a problems most noticeable being sipho~ing off subsidies and concessions meant for poorest of the poor by not so poor, poor credit discipline among the borrowers resulting in low recovery of dues, high transactions cost involved in serving large number of small borrowers who frequently require low quantum of c edit and costly proposition of providing saving facilities to scattered rural populace. Price Water House Report has also stated that rural credit delivery system is also burdened with low quality loans, high levels of over dues, substantially high proportion of nonperforming assets resulting into non-viability and un~sustainability of the rural banking industry. A study conducted by the World Bank has also conclusively revealed that lack of people's participation in developmental activities does not foster entrepreneurial abilities, which results in low take off of developmental projects. The growing realisation among the rural poor to collectively pool their small savings so as to create a corpus of funds to cater to their emerging credit needs

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underlined the emerg-=-nce of SHG's and other group related saving and credit activities in many developing countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Bolivia and India. The SHG movement h India is basically aimed at utilising the SHG's as an 'intermediatory' between the banks and the rural poor to help drastically reduce transaction costs for both the banks and the rural clients. NABARD with its head quarters at Mumbai, is an Apex Development Bank in India for financing and promoting agriculture, small scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and other rural crafts so as to promote integrated rural development. In wake of banking sector reforms invoked in early 1990's the role of commercial banks in providing credit to rural poor came under intensive debate vis-a.-vis the sustainability of entire banking operation for providing banking servicesboth in terms of savings and credit-to the rural poor. Sheokand has indicated that as the rural poor's share ill availing formal sector credit got further marginalised, NABARD, in 1992 launched the SHG-Bank linkage programme with the policy backup of the Reserve Bank of India. According to Shanmugam the SHG-Bank linkage programme initiated by NABARD, in active collaboration with Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs), aimed at enhancing the coverage of rural poor under institutional credit thereby focusing on poverty alleviation and empowerment. Prior to this, NABARD's initiative in promoting active partnership between banks and SHGs was encouraged by the findings of a study conducted in 1988-89 by NABARD in collaboration with member institutions of Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), Manila. The study covered 43 NGOs involved in promoting savings and credit SHGs in 11 states of the country. As per a NABARD report the scheme on SHGs was made applicable to RRBs and co-operative banks of the country in 1993 and in April'96, RBI advised the banks that lending to SHGs should be considered as an

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additional segment under priority sector advances and it be integrated with mainstream normal credit operation. Rao & Dasgupta have commented that the SHG-bank linkage programme has gained considerable movement in southern region of the country, though the northern states too are also now catching up fast and an overwhelming (78%) of the listed SHGs are Women Self Help Groups (WSHG's), that is the SHGs which constitute of only women members. Since the inceptions of NABARD promoted SHG linkage programme there has been an appreciable increase both in formation of SHG and their linkage with the banks. The concept and importance of SHGs has been accepted and adopted by policy makers and they will form the backbonp. of rural poverty alleviation strategies, implemented by Government of India. Self Help in essence is forging 'collaborative' ties between individuals who need each other's co-operation in solving their day-to-day crisis. Lawson & Anderson have defined collaboration "as a process of pooling resources, linking and allying with one another to develop innovative, new responses for tackling social problems including poverty. Bailey & Koney, Weil and Parsloe have pointed out that collaboration is necessary to address social issues that require multi-agency approach to alleviate them. SHGs are one such medium to achieve social collaboration. 'Collaboration' differs from 'co-operation' in the sense that cooperation facilitates support and assistance for meeting the goals that are specific to an individual stakeholder, whereas collaboration insists on goals that are mutually agreed upon based on an established value base to which all stake-holders have a commitment. According to Hord collaboration proposes joints sharing and decision making in the interest of change, as well as changes in relationships to facilitate these ends. He has also indicated that motivation to engage or refrain collaboration are necessarily influenced by differences among stakeholders in expertise, status, empowerment and access to external and internal resources.

CHAPTER 8

CHALLENGES OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT As a concept, "gender" is not synonymous with "women". The concept developed out of the recognition of the historical, social, political and economic oppression and marginalisation of women, made possible by the construction of male and female identities and roles flowing from a masculine value system based on dynamics of power and domination. The significance of the concept of gender is that in making visible women's subordination in the power differential between men and women, there arises the potential for the construction of new and transformed relations among women and men. This implies changes for both men and women, and changes in the social and material world they share. Both women and men, from this perspective, must have the right and opportunity to challenge oppression by rejecting or transforming prescribed roles within society. This inCludes the right of women and men to challenge and transform outdated and dysfunctional sexual divisions of labour, and develop new norms of human relatio.ns and social solidarity. Given women's historic subordination, it also implies that women must have the opportunity to engage in prucesses of personal and collective growth that permit women to challenge the diverse forms of subordination that affect them, and develop the capacity to take power

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and control over their own lives, their organisations, and their specific cultural, economic, political and social context. An integral and indispensable element of this concept of women's empowerment is autonomy. Autonomy signifies the capacity and freedom to decide, to give one's opinion, and to act. It is the result of a process of humanisation of relationships previously based on subordination, oppression and domination. Autonomy, then, signifies the authentic possibility of a woman to define herself for herself, and by herself, and not as an appendix of others - be it the State, the Church, political parties, or any other organisation that regiments the lives of women without taking into consideration their essential being as individuals and persons-nor as a depersonalised function of the family and the community. This conceptualisation does not isolate women's roles and identities from the rest of society, but it does require an understanding of the social manipulation and domination to which women have historically been subjected. Neithe.r does it put into question the necessity and desirability of reJationships of reciprocity, but posits that true reciprocity i1? based on egalitarian and humanised relationships among free and autonomous people, women and men. Asymmetrical power relations between men and women must be understood in their appropriate historical and cultural contexts, and within the dynamics of continual change and reinvention that occur in all vibrant and living cultures. Within the contemporary social context in most countries in the world there exist important and dynamic elements that promote empowerment, autonomy and a transformation of genderbased roles and relations among women and men. These possibilities create the circumstances to construct new parameters for a better quality of life for everyone, and ought to be supported. INTERNATIONAL TRENDS IN GENDER EQUALITY

From militarisation to globalisation, a fast-changing

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global terrain is dictating new challenges and new ways of approaching the women's rights agenda. The events of September 11 th have undoubtedly ensured that the issue of global conflict and militarisation will figure more prominently on the agenda of the women's movement. 'Reeling from the horror of these events and the escalation of military interventions, in addition to antiIslamic sentiments, the international feminist community is currently mobilising to show a different type of leadership in the post-September 11th world. Challenges of Global Conflicts Building on previous peace-building efforts, the women's movement is rallying around a call for peace and justice - demanding that the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity are brought to justice through transparent judicial means using the full weight of the international human rights systems. Most women's groups are making the claim that military interventions will only exacerbate the violence and insecurity instead of fostering security on our planet. If anything the peace movement is swelling, adding amongst its ranks, in particular, the analysts and activists whose most recent efforts have focused on trade, investment and the negative effects of the global economy. While joining support with other civil society groups in much of these peace efforts, the international feminist community is specifically making the connections between the terror imposed on the U.S., with patriarchy, the broader effects of glo balisation, increased militarisation, and religious extremism. Statements sent by email around the planet by women's rights leaders outright condemn the attacks, but many acknowledge almost an inevitability of the violence borne from increasing gaps between the rich and poor, as well as protracted military interventions by the U.S. in many parts of the world. These tensions have fuelled hostility particularly in the Global South towards the West/North, very often

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with religious leaders exploiting this resentment to mobilise the marginalised. Increasingly, therefore, the women's movement is blaming the current global disorder on a crisis in leadership - a leadership that has allowed such suffering to exist, as well as hatred to thrive. Whether it is hate against abortion providers, a particular ethnic group, religion, nationality, or race, our leaders have allowed it to flourish often for political, but more often, economic gain. Little is still known about women's peace-building approaches in response to violent conflict and even less effort is made to include gender analysis as an explicit component of peace-building initiatives. To some extent this has to do with the fact that leadership and capacity has to be built amongst women to bring gender sensitivity and awareness into the development of alternative approaches to conflict resolution and peace building. More challenging, this work requires us to both name and stop the internalisation of hatred of 'the other'. Given the current global environment, and the dearth of women's voices in the mainstream media and policy circles in response to it, gendered approaches to peacebuilding will likely become an important issue and approach for gender equality work in at least the immediate future, if not longer. Religious and Cultural Extremisms Religious extremism is closely associated with the current ~ituation of conflict and insecurity whereby religion is used to gain and mobilise politicat power and exert social control. Very often, the control of women and the denial of women's rights is dictated by religious leaders whether Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, or Muslimthereby denying or undermining women's education, reproductive rights, sexuality, ownership of resources, or mobility. In addition, as the international network of Women Living Under Muslim Laws has noted "it is very clear that fundamentalist movements often stoke each

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other's fires, either through collaboration or through confrontation". Since feminist advocacy for sexual and reproductive rights made significant achievements at the Cairo conference on Population and Development, there is a dramatically strengthened conservative backlash led by the Christian "right" with the Muslim fundamentalists at the United Nations. At recent preparatory meetings for the Special Session for Children's Rights or meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women, these rightwing forces have been active in huge numbers, with hundreds of their young people "bussed in", and using many tactics to intimidate feminist delegates. Women's groups around the world, therefore, are increasingly concerned about the ways in which extremist religious, cultural and ethnic forces have been gaining ground. With their networks, financial resources, and close ties to political power, many feminists see these political/religious movements as a foe so formidable it will take an immense amount of advocacy, consciousness raising, resources and political power to stand up to them. Networks like Women Against Fundamentalisms recognise that a multi-pronged strategy to countering the power of fundamentalist groups is necessary. They suggest that gender equality advocates will have to challenge governments who fund religious schools or impose religious practice and education, while defending individuals and women's organisations against attacks by furidamentalists. Similarly. Catholics for a Free Choice are leading a major campaign to change the Roman Catholic church's status at the UN from its current almost "state" ranking, to the status of a nongovernmental organisation in order to radically weaken its voice and political power at the UN. On the other hand. like in other areas of gender equality work, an insider-outsider approach is recommended whereby gender equality advocates are building alliances with progressive religious

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organisations, and interpreting religious texts from feminist perspectives. Other work in this area focuses on reclaiming women's own identity and spirituality as a means towards empowerment and greater control over their lives. In any case, as religious (as well as ethnic or cultural) extremisms intensify around the world, greater emphasis on understanding it, advocating against it, and developing alternative approaches to counter it, will likely become a more central priority to gender equality work in the coming years. Furthermore, it will become even more critical for the movement, as described below, to make the links between poverty, religious extremisms, and militarisation. Challenging the core conditions that breed and encourage extremisms - such as lack of democracy, ignorance, corruption, and of course, poverty and economic marginalisation-by ~ffectively offering an alternative vision and leadership to the one being proposed by extremists, will be essential in the long-run. Wome and Economic Injustice

Trade liberalisation, advanced technology, and economic integration all have contributed to a new global economy. Efforts to liberalise trade, open up markets and deregulate industries have been part of the dominant economic strategy pursued by governments and transnational corporations all over the world. While these processes are not new, the sheer speed and reach of global integration today is at levels never witnessed before. Furthermore the impact on women's lives-with regards to employment, access to healthcare, use of technology, and struggles for a livelihood-has been 'both profound and diverse. Globalisation is radically transforming both the issues women's organisations are addressing and the strategies used to address those issues. While the sites of struggle for the women's movement have traditionally been related to the household, the

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workplace, and the state, women now must engage with supra-national actors including international financial institutions and private sector corporations. For example, economic reforms means that capital can flow much more easily than in the past across national boundaries-as a result women have needed to understand how this affects their employment opportunities and the structure of their local economies. Also, because globalisation has often required the rollback of state social protections for formal and informal workers, the sick or elderly, and the environment, gender analysts and activists in different regions are finding themselves facing the same issues of additional reproductive burdens, increasing insecurities, environmental degradation, and increasing disparities between the privileged and the most vulnerable. In terms of strategies, because international financial institutions, trade regulating bodies and transnational corporations now dictate policies that would formerly have been the purview of the state, more and more gender equality work is shifting to focus on influencing these actors in addition to (or instead of) making demands on the state, a shift which requires new tactics and an understanding of economic values and language. Within much of the work on globalisation from a gender perspective one can find essentially two distinct approaches: WID / GAD approaches and economic justice strategies. The first strand has been characterised in terms of welfare, economic self-reliance, efficiency, equality and empowerment, having evolved over time to focus on relations between men and women and working towards the goal of equitable, sustainable development. Common to this strand are micro credit and gender main streaming projects that focus on enhancing economic opportunities and providing protections in the face of vulnerabilities. Economic justice approaches are quite distinct, having developed out of socialist feminist and liberation movements. Economic justice approaches more commonly

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tackl~ the multi-dimensional causes of women's poverty and disempowerment and focus on the policies of international financial institutions (including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and regional development banks), the global trading regime and agreements as regulated by the World Trade Organisation and regional trading agreements, and the larger questions of gender and economic processes. This analysis is situated within a. framework of a critique of North-South relations and the neo-liberal economic agenda, and also attempts to take account of the gender, class and race dimensions of social and political relations in a holistic way. What seems more evident of late, is an increasing number of feminist researchers, activists, and practitioners working towards both understanding and achieving economic justice in the context of globalisation. In the past five years alone, the numbers of networks and organisations that are researching and advocating gender justice with economic justice have grown in numbers and impact. A large part of this work however, still focuses· on the impact of globalisation. There is a growing consensus that feminists must concentrate on the much tougher agenda of developing viable alternative economic models.

Inequality in Decision-making Gender equality advocates are also emphasising that governance vrocesses are integral to efforts for poverty eradication, women's rights, and economic justice. This means that there is much greater attention being given to women's participation in decision-making processes a~ well as accountability and transparency of governance structures at local, national, and international levels. For gender equality advocates, a focus on governance is based on the belief that only when the organisations and processes of power and decision-making are held to account for women's rights will equality ever be a reality. Many countries have witnessed a trend towards decentralisation of power, functions, responsibility and

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accountability to grassroots communities while at the same time women have won constitutional rights to onethird of the seats in India and Bangladesh. Similarly, gender or women's budgets are being developed around the world in order to institutionalise priorities for women's rights within government spending. Feminists' concerns for good governance go beyond democratising governments to market institutions that dictate global economic reforms. In fact, some feminist leaders point to the paradox where democracy may be expanding, but social and economic rights are shrinking as globalisation diminishes the power of parliaments. Recent activism and demonstrations by anti-globalisation protesters have revealed the need for the multilateral system and the international community to increase the opportunities for dialogue with civil society organisations on the governance of the global economy. As globalisation continues to have dramatic effects on the rights of women around the world, many recognise that gender perspectives will need to be better articulated and advocated. Women's organisations and networks will need to be fully engaged and taken seriously in these global processes-whether at the World Bank, World Trade Organisation, or high level United Nations meetings like the Financing for Development process. What is even more critical is that women do not just squeeze their issues into the margins of these agendas, but instead actually articulate what the agenda should be. Constraints in Access to Teclinology

Globalisation and increased corporate control has also brought about a transformation in technologies at a speed that none of us could have predicted. Within the gender and development and women's rights community, leTs, or information and communication technologies have been heralded as a boon to the movement by creating the means for alliances and coalitions across great distances as e-mail and the internet make it

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possible to plan campaigns and share data almost immediately, wherever there is access. On the other hand, the communication revolution and increased corporate control of the media is leaving behind or marginalising many women, and further strengthening the hegemony of the English language, so issues of access and a "digital divide" will be of growing concern to the women's movement. Moreover, policy debates related to the future control over sharing of information, the media, and communication technologies have until now not considered gender issues, but more gender advocates are recognising the importance of influencing this field. The production of new reproductive technologies (such as a controversial anti-fertility vaccine) as well Sls new bio-engineered organisms (such as genetically modified foods) by corporations is raising new, but very complex, issues with regards to women's safety and bodily integrity. In other words, with the new advances in genetics, technology can now happen inside the body. Testing is most often conducted on women in the South where fewer enforceable civil and regulatory protections exist. While this work is in its infancy, as the entire social justice and scientific communities come to grips with the implications and ethics of these new technologies, a growing number of gender equality advocates are ringing the alarm bell and naming new technologies as central concerns to the human rights of future generations. Other advances in human genetics beyond those relating to reproductive technologies have also been largely neglected by the feminist community. Even more difficult technologies, such as biotechnology, neuroscience, robotics, and nanotechnology (e.g. mechanical antibodies) are quickly coming into our reality and our markets. The implications of these new technologies are profound and far reaching and are inextricably linked to other forces at play in the world today ... globalisation, economic change, militarisation and health care. Thus

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far, decisions about these technologies have been left largely to the private sector, with little or no analysis by feminists or even basic government assessment. It will be critical in the coming years to address these questions head on while there is still time to take a measured and careful look at the changes facing the world through these new technologies. Threats of HIV / AIDS

Given the overwhelming magnitude of the AIDS CrISlS, and its impact on women, this issue is increasingly acknowledged as a priority in the gender and development and women's rights community worldwide. While the me<;iical aspects of the crisis receive extensive attention, the gender aspects and links with poverty and globalisation receive much less. Gradually, AIDS is being understood as more than a medical issue, but as an issue of human development, human security and human rights. AIDS is both a cause of poverty or deepening poverty, and as a result of the effects of poverty and social and ec·onomic inequalities. Furthermore, the fact that women are biologically, economically, and socially/culturally more at risk must figure into any viable responses. As a result, the World Health Organisation and many re,Productive rights and development organisations focusing on this issue take the position that unless and until the scope of human rights is fully extended to economic security this crisis cannot be resolved. This being said however, the gender and development community needs to remain vigilant that the focus on this concern does not divert financial and research resources away from other major women's health problems to tackle HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, the AIDS crisi~ has created additional health and human rights prt>blems for women, unrelated to their HIV status. For instancej trafficking in girls and women and increased prostitution have become major symptoms of this

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pandemic-as virgins are seen as cures to AIDS, and then those whose family "honour" has been taken away are shunned by families and end up as prostitutes. Women's health and human rights priorities therefore, in all their forms, will need to remain priority concerns for gender equality work. WOMEN'S POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC EQUALITY

In a study for Inter Pares and the Project Counselling Service that explored the impact on women and society in Latin America of the massive social and economic dislocation caused by several decades of civil conflict and armed violence, our Peruvian colleague, Gladys Acosta, wrote that "the 'chaos' that results [from extended civil conflict], while being destructive of the social fabric, also contains possibilities for a humanist transformation between genders, in their desire to transcend confrontation and struggle for survival." Gladys pointed . out, however, that for these situations of crisis to lead to actual activities for the transformation of power relations, continuous efforts have to be made to acknowledge and make visible the differential impacts that the same situation can have for women and for men. J And consistent and coherent interventions must be made to support women in their efforts to initiate and consolidate their own organisations. While opening political and social space for women is crucial for the development of individual women in societies, it IS also essential to the development of authentic democratic norms and structures that include the perspectives of all citizens. Women are asserting that public debate should concentrate not only on economic, political and social themes, but also should make visible those issues previously considered "private", such as sexual violence, and voluntary motherhood. In her study, Gladys Acosta explained how the social, political and economic marginalisation of women is made possible by a value system based on dynamics of power

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and domination. Inherent in this reality, she explained, is the corresponding potential to construct transformed power relations among women and men, implying changes for both men and women and for society as a whole. These two aspects are fundamental, then, to a feminist gender analysis. It is a concept used to describe and analyse the dynamic interactions among the masculine and feminine dimensions of specific social goals. It is also a methodology of work to develop a new social consciousness and norms of interaction among women and men in establishing and working toward common social goals. WOMEN'S MOVEMENT AND CONVERGENCE OF DEVELOPMENT

Throughout the 1990's, the UN conference processes, and the burgeoning of new organisations and initiatives working for gender equality, two communities and approaches were particularly visible: one associated with women's human rights and another working from a gender and development perspective. These two streams of the women's movement each have knowledge and experience to contribute, although they often haven't worked together. They have distinct terminology, different experts, specialised methodologies, separated agencies and ultimately they target different institutional actors. Over the years, this persistent divide has resulted in unnecessary duplication of efforts, as well as approaches that lack holistic understandings. More recently however, we have witnessed the paths of development and human rights converging-in particular around issues related to globalisation. Development actors increasingy recognise the link between laws and institutions that influence women's status on the one hand and the outcomes of development schemes and programs on the other. At the same time, women's rights activists and legal practitioners are increasingly focusing on economic and social well-being, cultural practices and traditions, and state economic

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policy. As the UNDP's Human Development Report for 2000 noted, human rights and human development share a common vision and purpose, which is to secure the freedom, well-being and dignity of all people everywhere. Development practitioners are recognising the benefits for example, of using a rights approach over a gender mainstreaming approach. Amartya Sen puts forward a compelling rationale to adopt a rights approach so that our attention is focused simultaneously on the freedoms that make development possible and on the freedoms which constitute the ultimate objective of development. Organisations like Oxfam are explicitly adopting a rights-based approach. As many have found, so many gender main streaming initiatives have not borne fruit because of inadequate analytical skills, lack of political commitment to equality and inadequate funding. In many cases, while "women" as a category have become visible, steps have not been made towards their equality. A rights approach helps to avoid such pitfalls by keeping the end output-guaranteed rights for all-in constant focus. It provides standards by which to measure success and ties results to objectives and procedures. C

On the other hand, development .approaches offer strong analytical and methodological tools for understanding and shaping the effects of economic forces. In addition, with a longer history of incorporating gender analysis-particularly with the influence of feminisms from the Global South-the development field has been a powerful force in the global women's movement, organising and presenting alternatives to the status quo. In general, development approaches have been more· broadly focused, more participatory, more contextualised and inclusive than human rights approaches. Given the insights, strategies and shared agendas of both approaches, we will therefore likely see more convergence between human rights and development within gender equality work in the coming years.

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Chan~e

In the past decade, an increasing number of gender and

development and women's rights proponents have turned their focus on organisational and institutional change issues. After years of promoting gender equality through institutions using gender training methods, gender policies and other bureaucratic tools to "mainstream gender" there is now a much broader acceptance that equality will depend more on changing the structures of organisations, and most importantly, the institutions that embody them. Relatively recent research and analysis, as well as new approaches and practice, have influenced the broader gender equality community. Gradually, more of us are recognising the need to work on understanding what organisational and institutional change really means and then what it implies for our work. For instance, much effort has gone into advocating for better organisational 'infrastructures' to ensure that equality objectives are met. Examples include strong national machineries for women, a gender focal-point and procedures in a mainstream development or policy organisation, or the formulation of a women's budget. These established organisational changes however, manifest relatively little positive change because the underlying cultural and political norms within organisations are not tacklednamely power relations, attitudes, and political commitment. Similarly, the struggle for voice, resources and rights will depend on changing the broader institutional norms. As a simple example, while Bangladeshi women might have gained access to decision making in local government through seat quotas, until their husbands let them attend meetings change will not come about. There is growing recognition therefore, that we need to work simultaneously on changing how organisations function and the cultural, political, and other underlying

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power relations that undermine paths to gender equality. This means tackling complex and deep problems behind gender inequality-ones that tackle power head on (such as classism, racism, and sexism), and issues that have hitherto been perceived in the private realm (such as the work-family divide, or cultural traditions). For many, the first step is to understand what institutional change really means, and then work on the more difficult task of how to make it happen. But an increasing number of actors are converging around this difficult agenda having recognised that change will depend upon it. At a more concrete level, an on-going but essential priority within gender equality work involves how best to make our organisations more effective both in terms of impact and sustainability. Without a doubt, throughout the world, women's organisations are relatively weak given the lack of economic and political priority given to gender equality work. Questions of sustainability and funding, balancing work and personal life, measuring results, and monitoring and evaluation are therefore constant challenges that will remain on the agenda. Intersectionality Embedded in colonial histories and exacerbated by modern fundamentalist ideologies, new technologies and contemporary forms of discrimination, the policies and processes of neoliberal globalisation are perpetuating racism, intolerance and discrimination against women. They are justifying the exclusion of those who have been left behind by the global economy and aggravating poverty, in equality and human rights violations. Clearly, globalisation and economic change are impacting on different people in different ways. While all women are in some ways subject to gender discrimination, other factors including race and skin colour, caste, age, ethnicity, language, ancestry, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic class, ability, culture, geographic location, and

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status as a migrant, indigenous person, refugee, internally displaced person, child, or a person living with HIV / AIDS, in a conflict zone or under foreign occupation, combine to determine one's social location. Intersectionality is an analytical tool for studying, understanding and responding to the ways in which gender intersects with other identities and how these intersections contribute to unique experiences of oppression and privilege. It is therefore an indispensable methodology for development and human rights work. Intersectionality is a feminist theory, a methodology for research, and a springboard for a social justice action agenda. It starts from the premise that people live multiple, layered identities derived from social relations, history and the operation of structures of power. People are members of more than one community at the same time, and can simultaneously experience oppression and privilege (e.g. a woman may be a respected medical professional yet suffer domestic violence in her home). Intersectional analysis aims to reveal mUltiple identities, exposing the different types of discrimination and disadvantage that occur as a consequence of the combination of identities. It aims to address the manner in which racism, patriarchy, class oppression and other systems of discrimination create inequalities that structure the relative positions of women. It takes account of historical, social and political contexts and also recognises unique individual experiences resulting from the coming together of different types of identity. For example, the experience' of a black woman in Cape Town is qualitatively different than that of a white or indigenous woman in that same location. Similarly, the experience of being lesbian, old, disabled, poor, Northern-based, and/ or any number of other identities, are unique and distinct identities and experiences. Intersectional analysis posits that we should not understand the combining of identities as additively increasing one's burden but instead as producing substantively distinct experiences. In other words, the

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aim is not to show that one group is more victimised or privileged than another, but to reveal meaningful distinctions and similarities in order to overcome discriminations and put the conditions in place for all people to fully enjoy their human rights. As a consequence of their. multiple identities, some women are pushed to the extreme margins and experience profound discriminations while others benefit from more privilege d positions. Intersectional analysis helps us to visualise the convergence of different types of discrimination-as points of intersection or overlap. Moreover, it helps us to understand and assess the impact of these converging identities on opportunities and access to rights, and to see how policies, programs, services and laws that impact on one aspect of our lives are inextricably linked to others. For example, many female domestic workers experience sexual assault and abuse at the hands of their employers. It is the intersection of the worker's identities (e.g. female, poor, foreign citizen) that put her in the position of vulnerability. It is the intersection of the policies, programs and laws (e.g. employment policies, citizenship laws, shelters for abused women) that support and maintain the vulnerability. Because the policies do not respond to the specific identities of domestic workers, they do not allow the women to enjoy their right to be free from violence. As a theoretical paradigm, intersectionality allows us to understand oppression, privilege and human rights globally. It helps us to build arguments for substantive equality from women's histories and community case studies (that is, women writing/ speaking from their experiences of specific, intersecting identities) by extracting theoretical statements and overarching pn"nciples. This allows us to see that the claims women are making for their equal rights are not merely an instance of a self-interested group promoting its own interests, but instead fundamental to achieving the promise of human rights for all.

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Intersectionality, therefore, is a tool for building a global culture of human rights from the grassroots to the global level. Intersectional analysis is characterised by an analytical shift away from the dichotomous, binary thinking about power that is so common. Too often our frameworks conceptualise one person's rights as coming at the expense of another person's; development becomes about establishing and maintaining competitive advantage. In contrast, thinking about development from the perspective of intersectionality focuses attention on specific contexts, distinct experiences and the qualitative aspects of equality, discrimination and justice, permitting us to simultaneously work on behalf of ourselves and others. Just as there are no human rights without women's rights, there are no human rigllts without indigenous peoples' rights, the rights of the disabled, of people of colour, and of gays and lesbians, just to name a few. While intersectionality differs from some more prominent gender and development and diversity approaches, it is not new. As a formal theoretical framework, intersectionality has been used for well over a decade; it emerged out of attempts to understand experiences of women of colour in the United States. More recently it has been taken up by feminists in the global South. As a fact of life, intersectionality has been there all along, in the ways that we live, interact and understand discrimination and equality. We are now, however, more often discussing intersectionality explicitly in the fields of development and human rights, using it as a tool for advocacy, program planning, and research. GENDER MAINSTREAMING

Gender main streaming has a double meaning: it is a strategy and a process of agenda setting and change at different levels within organisations and institutions. It is both a technical and a political process, which requires

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shifts in organisational cultures and ways of thinking, as well as in the goals, structures and resource allocations of organisations. It requires as well as implies changes at different levels within institutions and organisations, paying attention to equality between women and men in agenda setting, policy-making, planning, budgeting, implementation, evaluation and in all decision-making procedures. Gender mainstreaming is not an objective or an end in itself. It is a means to achieve gender equality. The required end remains equality, human rights and justice, as well as fundamental change in power relations between women and men. Unfortunately, gender mainstreaming is too often seen as an end in itself. In practice, the transformatory aspects of main streaming have been sidelined. Many institutions that have adopted gender main streaming approach it from a very technical perspective. Mainstream institutions, such as the World Bank and state institutions, have added "gender main streaming" to their rhetoric but have not changed their practices or their policies. Instead of having segregated activities for women, or in addition to targeted in'terventions to promote women's empowerment, the gender mainstreaming strategy brings the focus on women's issues and gender equality into all policy development, research, advocacy, legislation, resource allocation, planning, implementation and monitoring of programs and projects. It is intended to be transformative, changing the very

definition and discourse of development to include gender equality as a means and an end. The concepts of gender tnainstreaming has been espoused and promoted by the United Nations, the World Bank, and by many bilateral aid agencies, government departments, and human rights and development organisations. Results have been mixed. Many gender equality advocates consider it the only strategy that will keep women's issues from being swept off to the margins. They see it as the only strategy that

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will lead to the integration of gender equality and women's rights objectives into the socalled "hard issues" of macroeconomics and poverty eradication. For others however, the promise of gender main streaming is long gone. In their experience, it has resulted in the disappearance of attention to women's specific needs and the gender-differentiated impacts of policies and programs. A key problem with current approaches to gender mainstreaming is the loss of the primary imperative and the driving force underlying gender main streaming. Gender mainstreaming is not simply a point to get to; it is a process. It is a process for ensuring equity, equality, and gender justice in all of the critical areas of the lives of girls and boys, women and men. As such, it is a moral and ethical imperative as well as fundamental to human rights in all its forms. It must therefore become ingrained to all of the institutions and operations of the vital organs of power and decision-making that promote and work toward the development of just and prosperous societies nationally, regionally and internationally. Gender main streaming must be a cornerstone of the process of development, poverty eradication, environmental protection policies, good governance and democracy. There is an urgent need to revisit the concepts and frameworks of gender mainstreaming. We seemingly have lost touch with gender as a category of analysis that focuses on the relationship of power between women and men in terms of access to and ownership of resources and power dynamics. Gender main streaming, and the problems it now faces, is not simply an empirical phenomenon but an issue of deep value conflict, power politics, analytical tensions, contradictions and dilemmas bound up in different interpretations and expectations at the institutional, policymaking and operational levels.

Ultimately, some of these as yet unresolved tensions and the lack of clarity about objectives and goals have

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contributed to a return to a more instrumentalist focus on gender/women as a means to an end. However, growth and/ or successful project implementation should not be the main purpose of gender main streaming. There are at least two major reasons contributing to this situation. First, there is under-investment in keeping abreast of on-going analytical and policy-oriented initiatives that aim at developing and strengthening categories critical to gender main streaming in areas such as feminist economics. The second reason is the persistent and growing gap between macroeconomics and gender main streaming. There is little interaction between macro level planning/ macro phenqmena and gender mainstreaming at the policy analysis and applications levels in governmental, international and intergovernmental organisations. This results in a piecemeal approach to development and gender equality work. CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO GENDER MAlNSTREAMING

It is undeniable that financial and trade considerations

set the agenda and condition the environment in which gender mainstreaming takes place. These macro level events impact both the substantive content and the operational reach of gender main streaming and therefore contribute-in no small way-to the weaknesses of gender mainstreaming. For example, macroeconomic policy predetermines an over-emphasis on growth that reinforces an integrationist approach to gender mainstreaming, constantly shifting that process back into the WID stream instead of the more transformative GAD stream. Globalisation, trade liberalisation and the emerging coherence between international financial and trade institutions greatly impinge on the policy space at the national level. But there is no policy interaction at the institutional level with regard to gender mainstreaming. In addition, current approaches to macro-economic targets tend to result in regressive income and asset

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distribution. This has direct implications for reinforcing not only a false choice between efficiency and equity, but also engenders commitment to a limiting anti-poverty framework, which in turn, muddies the water for gender equality objectives. Within the context of the macro framework there is the sense that these are "hard areas" that have nothing to do with gender. Gender equality and gender mainstreaming are therefore relegated to "softer" areas that must work to complement and offset the necessary adjustment costs of macro planning decisions and outcomes. So, for example, it is perfectly acceptable to examine areas of food distribution between men and women but gender has no place in discussions about agricultural liberalisation or tariff reductions. Yet both of these have significant implications for food security, selfsufficiency, and sustainable livelihoods. Likewise, the intellectual property framework is often seen as a "hard area" with no gender dimensions; yet women's and men's access to medicine, traditional knowledge, and technology transfers are impacted by intellectual property rights regimes. Present approaches to macroeconomics have tended to enforce and reinforce a simplistic antipoverty agenda that, though important and necessary, is not sufficient as a goal of gender main streaming. We have to move the discussion beyond poverty reduction to look at structural issues of inequality and economic injustices that reinforce old forms of poverty as well as create new forms of poverty and inequalities. Gender equality must be reaffirmed as an end in itself and not simply a means to an end when convenient. This requires attention to structural policies and changes of paradigms including specific attention to institutional factors such as how the so-called "hard areas" and "soft areas" interrelate at the meta, meso, micr
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eliminating gender biases and power imbalances between men and women, it would certainly merit further investment. But one must look long and hard to find examples of gender main streaming being implemented or even conceptualised-in this way. Gender main streaming, as practiced, is more often used as a strategy for obscuring and under-valuing the significance of gender ineqUality. Examples abound. The classic situation goes something like this. A pian is being formulated: it can be a Poverty Reduction Strategy, the budget for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, or a civil society strategy for influencing a World Conference. Five task forces are formed (e.g. poverty, water, health, etc.), but gender equality does not need a task force because it is mainstreamed. Budgets are assigned to each of the task forces, but gender equality doesn't need a budget because it's mainstreamed. Then a paper is written on the work of the task forces with chapters for each issue, but gender equality does not have a chapter because it is main streamed. And then there's a high level meeting with the leaders of the five task forces present, but no one presents on gender equality because ... you g!lessed it. What is going on behind the~n~~ is ~~~;-m6re ludicrous. Those concerned with gender equality and women's rights do not have a task force so they form a "working group." The group now becomes the mainstreamers. They divide up to "influence" the task forces. They dutifully prepare background papers on the gender dimensions of each of the task force issues. They undertake "evidence-based advocacy." They lobby. They have the double job of influencing the task forces at the same time that they are coordinating with their counterparts in the "working group." Sometimes they are very successful; they often succeed in getting a paragraph or two included. If they miss a particularly critical meeting however, their successes can be wiped out in a nanosecond. Women's double and triple day, which has been well documented

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in the reproductive sphere, is being replicated in gender equality work. While the hunger or water task force focuses on strategies to address hunger or water, those . working on gender equality run madly between everyone else's task force at the same time as having their own. Aruna Rao, David Kelleher and Rieky Stuart have written about the deep structures in organisations that inhibit or prohibit gender mainstreaming from being an effective strategy for transformation toward gender justice. We can have solid gender analysis, high quality gender training and a superb gender policy, yet when it comes to getting the work done-convening the task forces, assigning the budgets, distributing medicines for HN or the food in a refugee camp-women and girls still have diminished access and influence as compared to men, resulting in greater threats to their lives, their security and their future potential. U sing gender main streaming as a lead strategy has had valuable spin-off effects, generating new tools precisely because those advocating for gender equality and women's rights have come to understand that accountability and implementation of agreements are critical to making progress. Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB), for instance, is a promising area of work receiving increasing support and interest worldwide. GRB is being used as a transformative tool in Tanzania and Uganda to bring greater transparency, participation and accountability to local and national level budget processes, and in Ecuador, as a mechani.sm for reexamining the budget with popular participation and reallocating municipal resources in response to the results of the analysis. A greater interest in the gender-differentiated impacts of macroeconomic policies and improved capacity to gather and use sex-disaggregated data have also resulted from reliance on gender mainstreaming. These tools and analyses are raising awareness, generating evidence, and even resulting in significant policy changes. In almost every instance, however, women's rights and gender

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equality advocates are at the forefront of developing, lobbying for the use of, and monitoring these tools. If support wanes for their work because of commitments to "gender mainstreaming," how far will these tools take us? Beyond asking whether gender mainstreaming is effective 'in bringing about institutional and policy change, there are three additional questions that merit further exploration: a) Is it an effective strategy compared to other options? b) Is it a strategy at all? and c) Even if the answers to (a) and (b) are positive, has gender main streaming now been saddled with so much baggage that we need to change the language? What are the other options? The Beijing Platform for Action and countless gender equality policies point to two strategies for achieving gender equality: gender main streaming and women's empowerment (or a focus on women). We have done the issue of gender equality and women's rights a disservice by presenting these as choices rather than interlinked strategies. Nevertheless, of the two, empirical evidence indicates that ensuring women's empowerment is often more effective at having a direct and transformative impact than the slow and confusing process of gender mainstreaming. The conceptual confusion around gender and gender mainstreaming is a disadvantage in work to promote and protect women's rights and gender equality. "Sex" vs. "gender" vs. "women" causes great exasperation. A male colleague in the UN-who has been in the organisation for over 25 years-once asked me, in complete seriousness, "why can't we just talk about working for women anymore?" We want to find approaches that work and to transfer knowledge about what works to other institutions. This requires serious reflection. Gender main streaming is not the problem, but it may also be that continuing reliance on it as a lead strategy is not the solut.ion. In the run-up to the lO-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action, there is probably no more important conversation to have than one that helps us to develop new alternatives and more effective strategies

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toward making visionary commitments about women's human rights and gender equality a reality. The Beijing Platform for Action (PfA) , adopted at the United Nations 4th World Conference on Women in 1995, established gender main streaming as a strategy to address inequalities and unequal access to resources in areas of concern in the Platform for Action. Many considered this a remarkable achievement that could transform overall developments. The PfA stressed that before decisions are taken, gender analysis has to be done along with a visible policy on gender equality in all areas. The before part of this commitment, however, seems to have been forgotten. This has put the whole strategy into jeopardy and reduced main streaming to an afterthought and an "add-on." And while in 1997 high hopes for mainstreaming as a way forward led to an ECOSOC resolution, the text stressed something which-again-seems to have been forgotten in the discussions: that a prerequisite for gender mainstreaming is commitment from senior management as well as the provision of adequate financial and other resources. So ten years after Beijing, where do we stand, and what success stories of gender mainstreaming, if any, can be brought forward? Has gender main streaming been helpful or not in reaching the overall goals of the PfA and to combat female subordination, etc.? The evidence does not appear to be positive. Quite a few studies and evaluations of the effects of the strategy have been presented. In 2002, for example, a Swedish International Development Agency study was published indicating that so far, it had not been pursued on a regular basis and achievements were still scattered. The same year, Norway organised a donor meeting, providing proof that while gender often implied high rhetorics, it was seldom followed by adequate funding and high level commitment or an understanding of the transformatory implications of the process. Overall,

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experiences with gender main streaming suggest the following problems: a)

The concept itself is unclear and misunderstood: Gender mainstreaming is still difficult for the aeyelopment community because "gender" is still not understood as a construction of roles but primarily as attentivn to biological women. Furthermore, "main streaming" has~at best-been a reminder of the need to add "women's interests" to "refine" already established settings.

b)

Mainstreaming has been reduced to a technique: Because gender mainstreaming seldom contains the necessary funding, staffing or commitment, it is often reduced to a question of technique and "tool-kits". And far too often the technique is criticised for any failures in gender main streaming, whereas the real problems are lack of commitment and resources and a true acceptance of the equal worth of women and men. Mainstreaming as a pretext for saving overall resources: Often agencies claim to have applied gender main streaming and use this to justify the lack of staff, resources, and program planning allocated to specifically address gender and women's issues, thus falsely "mainstreaming" gender to invisibility. Thus, gender work today may actually be less equipped in terms of staff and resources than it was in 1995. What we need today is a yardstick or some kind of minimum criteria for what should be labelled as gender mainstreamed. Gender mainstreaming has not been transformative: Gender mainstreaming, as it is applied today, basically accepts the status quo and development "business as usual"-and then adds gender. Much more far-reaching methods for transforming the agenda are required to put gender into the driver's seat of development, and reorganise and redefine the structure and focus of current work. Current efforts appear to be insufficient and possibly not heading

c)

d)

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into the right direction. Mainstreaming often means that gender experts "run after already running trains" to at least get a minimum of attention to gender (or women) into processes such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, etc. This is unsustainable, and reminiscent of poor overburdened Sisyphus in Greek mythology, who had to start over again every morning, pushing a boulder up a mountain. While gender main streaming might still be a useful strategy if adequate funding and high-level commitment were assured, it seems necessary to also explore new ways of more effectively reaching the targets of human development and gender equality. Gender mainstreaming may be a "second-best option," which at this difficult time in global politirs, when the gender agenda has been threatened by fundamentalisms from all sides, requires more far-reaching venues of thought to not only ensure some thoughts on gender but to promote transformation and change. To this end, we may need to go "upstream" in the process and challenge current understandings and focuses in terms of what development, poverty, deprivation and human security are all about. Thus, much more attention should be given to male hegemonic structures, male dominance and male privileges, which when threatened are defended by force both within families and societies, often at the expense of the well-being of women and children-and many men. Thus, we need to move from attention primarily to "women's interests" and "women's needs"- to rather investigate and expose features which actually dominate analysis, strategies and allocation of current resources: men's interests and men's needs-which leads to the fact that most development undertakings today are "men's projects," whether we speak about poverty reduction, health, HN, security. We do not need to expend a lot of effort on reformulating the vision put forth at Beijing. The

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important thing is to develop strategies and concepts that would facilitate change and achievements in attaining the goals of Beijing, not limited to techniques but which go to the heart of equal rights and worth of all humans, and enable us to break down and replace current structures of power and privileges, instead promoting gender equality and sustainable human development. POTENTIALS OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING

Making gender a "cross-cutting issue" tends to diminish the focus on the real issues. In some instances, gender has been main streamed into oblivion. In many development organisations, gender departments or programmes have be~n whittled down and in some cases completely abolished. Since the Beijing Conference of 1995, women's organisations and gender equality departments in larger institutions such as governments and development agencies have struggled to survive. Resources have been slashed, with the argument that their presence and exper~ise were no longer required given the efforts of gender main streaming. Pressed for indicators of changf' or progress, the stock answer is that gender is now cross-cutting and mainstreamed therefore it can no longer be "measured". Linked to the above trends are the prevailing misconceptions about gender. Many development organisations now argue that using a "gender approach" implies a 'need to focus on men and bring them in as beneficiaries. Many women's rights organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to access resources if their programmes do not include men. During the period 20002002, CIDA in Zimbabwe specifically turned down funding proposals on the basis that men were excluded. At the same time, disproportionately large amounts of resources are going to projects such as work with men and boys around HIV / AIDS and men's marches against violence. The lack of conceptual clarity of gender as an analytical concept-rather than a strategy-lies behind some of these trends.

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What started out as a positive attempt to build on the successes and challenges of the last 20 years in advancing women's rights has, like the concept of gender, been distorted to mean something else. Based on the understanding that separate projects/ programmes for margin ali sed groups tended to be marginal and to make little impact, main streaming was seen as a strategy to widen the gains. The choice to mainstream was also based on the understanding that gender issues are everywhere and in everything-they are not found in one or a few arenas. Mainstreaming is about ensuring that gender equality goals are embedded at every level and in all parts of an institution-rather than ghettoised. It's also about making sure resources are mobilised to move what is often a huge agenda. Most importantly, gender mainstreaming is not the same as "integration" or adding on gender-something that many of us are already familiar with from the old days of Women in Development-the "add women and stir" approach. Today, gender m~ instreaming threatens the realisation of the goal of gender equality. Many development organisation1" have abolished gender desks/ programmes and specific funding. Gender experts are only invited to "add gender" to existing frameworks, thus main streaming is not about challenging the existing analysis of situations, nor is there an assumption that there is something wrong with the mainstream in the first place. Gender main streaming is often stated as an end in itself. Gender has become so main streamed that it is no longer visible. After we have main streamed gender, it is no longer clear what our programmes or policies should look like. Was the idea to mainstream gender so much so that it is no longer visible at the end of the stream? Gender main streaming has very real, even structural limitations, but nonetheless it can still be a vehicle for shaping and operationalising national and international commitments to women's economic rights and improving

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women's access to social and economic resources. In its current form, it is the common practical and operational framework for the cohering and actualisation of overall agendas which can impact all the various dimensions of governmental apparatus for impacting the daily lives of women and men: social policy, economic policy. trade policy and industrial policy. The latent and still possible potentials of gender main streaming are fourfold: 1)

the possibility of conscientising citizens, technocrats and economic decision-makers about the critical dimensions of women's and men's lives;

2)

the possibility of devising local, national, regional and international approaches to dealing with the problem of gender discrimination and ineqUality;

3)

the possibility of enlivening interlocking policy approaches for more targeted, long-lasting and sustainable impacts of taxation, budgeting, lending, borrowing and interest rate policies on the caring, entrepreneurial, and labor market activities of men and women as they carry out their multiple roles and functions in society.

4)

Ultimately, gender main streaming can also be a powerful tool for grounding the cultural, economic and social rights of girls, boys, women and men and as such can provide the solid foundation for advancing the economic empowerment of women.

But the sad reality is that these wonderful potentialities of gender main streaming have been severely attenuated, distorted and thwarted. Instead, gender mainstreaming has succumbed to the pitfalls of a technocratic fIx and has lost its philosophical and moral underpinnings in most cases. In far too many C£I.ses, "gender" has been misused and abused by those who refuse to recognise and take action on women's subordination and the various forms of social and economic injustices in the economy and society. These gender equality subversives, who tend to have strong influence in any of the phases of

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gender main streaming, have tended to devote their energy to sidelining the issue of women's oppression and systematic inequalities. This is often done in the name of protecting men's interest, as if gender main streaming is intent on leaving men at an institutional or structural disadvantage. Unfortunately, this kind of rearguard action is more pervasive than we would like to think, even in rich countries. Even more importantly some of its architects and orchestrators are women. These men and their female collaborators will persist in denying that there is a problem of women's subordination and pervasive gender discrimination that is unfavorable to women. Or, even if they acknowledge the problem, they refuse to accept that it is serious or to see where, why and how it persists and how present attitudes, behavior and policy may be generating new dimensions to the age-old problem. Though they would deny it .rociferously, the underlying compass that regulates such behaviors and actions, as noted by Gerd Johnsson-Latham, is that there is "no true acceptance of the equal worth of women and men." Gender injustice-the pervasive and differential treatment-or men and women that results in unfavorable burden sharing, maldistribution of resources and imbalances in rights and entitlements to one gender at the disadv~ntage of the other gender-is endemic to all preseht cultures. Undeniably, for the better part of most of the last millennium, it is women who have been at the short end of the stick. Some cultures and societies have managed to eliminate or reduce the most obvious and negative aspects, while others try to neutralise it through laws and rhetori~ such that we think the problem only exists in other people's culture or religions. But the fundamental design, the hardwire, is still there in our cultural practices, sayings and religious beliefs and dogmas. And, they undergird all that we say and do, no matter how much we try to anesthetise it. What is the natural, automatic reaction in time of crises: underemployment, war, etc.? There can be no other

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explanation for the persistence and tenacity of such an obvious affront to human evo~ution and technology. In such an environment, gender mainstreaming was bound to meet a halfhearted, lukewarm reception and its implementation at best undertaken on an instrumental level. There is a pervasive problem of lack of real commitment and accountability to th~ prime directive: gender equality and gender justice. Certainly in some areas more resources have been leveraged for programs that benefit women. But in the _critical areas of conscientisation and embedding deeply into the psyche of policy-makers as well as into the structural design of policies success has been elusive. The reality is that gender main streaming initiatives, mechanisms and instruments have been under-funded and underresourced.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bang, R.A. Bang. A.T.· et aI., "High Prevalence of Gynecological Diseases in Rural Indian Women", The Lancet, 1989. ChatteIjee, Meera, Indian Women-Their Health and Economic Productivity, The World Bank. Washington, 1990. Degler, Carl N. At Odds: Women and the Family in America. Oxford University Press, New York. 1980 Ensminger, Margaret (et. all. "School & Family Origins of Delinquency: Comparisons by Sex", in Van Dusen, Katherine T. and Sarnoff A Mednick, (Eds) Pr:ospective Studies oj Crime and Delinquency, Kluwer-j~ihoff, 1983. Fagan, Patrick F. The Real Root Causes oj Violent Crimes: The Breakdown oj Marriage, Family and Community Cultural Studies Project, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., No. 1026, March 17, 1995. Franklin, Cynthia, "Family and IndiVidual Patterns in a Group of Middle-Class Drop-out Youths", Social Work, Vol. 37 No.4, July 1992. Jeffery, Patricia., Jeffery, Roger., and Lyon. Andrew, "Labor Pains and Labor Power: Women and Child Bearing in India", Zed Books Ltd., New Delhi. 1989. Kellam, Shepard (et al.). "Family Structure and the Mental Health of Children". Archives of General Psychiatry. Vol. 34, 1977. Khan, M. E., Singh, Ratanjeet. "Women and her Role in the Family Decision-Making Process: A Case Study of Uttar Pradesh, India", Journal of Family Welfare, 1987. Khanna, Renu, Taking Charge: Women's Health as Empowerment: the SARTHI Experience, Sahaj. India. 1992. Koski, PatriCia R., "Family Violence and Non-Family Deviance: Taking Stock of the Literature", Marriage a,..,rt Family Review, Vol. 12., 1988.

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Manisha Gupte, Sunita Bandewar and Hemlata Pisal. "Abortion Needs of Women in India: A Case Study of Rural Maharashtra", Reproductive Health Matters, M2" 1997. Mihira V. Karra. Nancy N. Sartk, Joyce Wolf, "Male Involvement in Family Planning: A Case Study Spanning Five Generations of South Indian Family", Studies in Family Planning, March 1997. Pendse V., and Giri, Indu, "Pregnancy Care Practices in Rural Rajasthan", Journal of Family Welfare, Vol. 35(5). 1989. Savara, Mira., Sridhar C.R. "Sexual Behavior of Urban, Educated Indian Men: Results of a Survey", Journal of Family Welfare. 1992.

INDEX

Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 29 Ahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad 2 Ayalkootam 41

Higher Education Equity Programme (HEEP) 30

Beijing Platform for Action

Khadi and Village Industries CommiSSion (KYlC) 5 Kudumbashree 40

(PfA).297

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 142 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 84

Information and Communication Technologies (lC11 45

Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 78 Lijjat Patrika 14 Lome Convention 84

Cyberfeminism 46 Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) 72

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) 31 Equality Opportunity (EO) plans 33 Export Processing Zones (EPZs) 64 Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) 295

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 83 Higher Education Council (HEC) 30

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 162 Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) 83,86

National Independent Federation of the Textile Unions of Cambodia (NIF-TUC) 164 National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) 22 National Policy of Education (NPE) 28 Neighbourhood Help Groups (NHG) 41

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WOMEN'S ROLE IN MODERN WORLD

Non -Traditional Agricultural Exports (NTAEs) 72 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) 148 Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres (ONSL) 168 Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) 162 Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) 14, 164 Sex Discrimination Act 29

Societ) for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) 169 Structural Adjustment Programme(SAP)68,77 Technoworld Digital Technologies (TDT) 43 Trade-related employment 64 University of Cape Town (UCT) 32 World Trade Organisation (WTO)83 World Trade Organisation 279