June 21st - The Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG), an alliance of women’s organization and networks that advocates for the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment, recognizes that the UN High Level Conference on Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, to be held June 24-26, 2009, represents a critical political opportunity to make significant structural changes in the global development macroeconomic and financial architecture.
Given that women traverse both the productive and social reproductive spheres of the economy, they are highly vulnerable to the effects of this economic meltdown. Effective policy responses should thus build on women’s simultaneous roles as economic agents and care-givers.
“Judging by the ongoing negotiations there is a real danger that political interests are overtaking the necessary reforms needed to decisively address the human face of the economic crisis. Decisions must reflect the urgency of the situation, particularly the situation of impoverished women who face the additional burdens of worsening food, fuel and climate change crises in the midst of sudden unemployment and loss of income,” said Gigi Francisco, representative of the WWG. “The crisis gives us an opportunity to change the paradigm of development as well as the paradigm of gender equality.”
The WWG is focusing on advancing the following as outcomes of the UN Conference: Global Economic Council - Establish a UN Global Economic Coordination Council that is transparent, accountable, and with the full and equal representation of developing countries and the involvement of women’s rights and other civil society organizations Global Economic Stimulus Packages - Ensure that the majority of the global economic stimulus packages will be directed primarily towards Least Developing Countries (LDCs). The packages at the national level should feature micro finance for women who have lost their jobs due to the crisis and who must be provided additional support to sustain their micro enterprises, particularly women farmers, as well as, ensure widespread provision of affordable food, health and education to ordinary citizens.
Working Groups – The recommendation of the President of the General Assembly to keep the Conference open and put in place the currently proposed technical working groups to ensure ongoing participation and concrete recommendations.
For further information, please see the WWG’s advocacy paper, “A call for structural, sustainable, gender equitable and rights based responses to the global financial and economic crisis”
WWG representatives from different regions of the world have come to New York City to monitor the negotiations this week, joining other civil society organizations and networks attending the UN Conference.
The WWG is coordinated by Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) and includes the following networks/organizations: African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Feminist Task Force-Global Call to Action against Poverty (FTF-GCAP), Global Policy Forum (GPF), International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Network for Women’s Popular Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (REPEM) Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), Third World Network-Africa (TWN), Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and Women in Development-Europe (WIDE).
The WWG on FfD listserv gender-in-ffd@googlegroups.com is a vehicle to exchange information, updates and feminist analyses on the financial and economic crisis, FfD issues and to advance development alternatives. To join the listserv or for more information please contact: info@dawnnet.org.
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10 Days of Action: Countdown to Commitments is a collaborative effort by organizations and networks advocating for a more just, equitable and sustainable global economy and includes the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), Feminist Task Force-GCAP, Social Watch, ITUC, ICAE, ENLACE, Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development, IBON Foundation, NGO Committee on Financing for Development, International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Loretto UN Office, and the major global coalitions of the Global Social Economy Group and the Global Crisis group, among others. If you want to support this effort or have an event to post, please send info to address below.
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