SOUTH Global Financial and ASIA Economic Crisis REGIONAL and its Impact WORKSHOP on Women A Human Rights Perspective August 22-23, 2010, New Delhi, India DD-29, Nehru Enclave, 2nd Floor, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019, India A Report Tel: +91-11-40536091-93 • Fax: +91-11-40536095 • [email protected] • www.pwescr.org A Report Global Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Women: A Human Rights Perspective © 2011 by PWESCR, all right reserved Written by: Shipra Nigam and Dr. Shalini Mishra Published by: PWESCR (Programme on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) DD-29, Nehru Enclave, Kalkaji, 2nd Floor New Delhi 110019, India Ph: +91-11-40536091-93 Fax: +91-11-40536095 [email protected] www.pwescr.org Designed and Printed by: Systems Vision [email protected] 4 ABBREVIATIONS 5 INTRODUCTION 7 MESSAGE FROM OUR PARTNERS 8 THE CONTEXT 13 THE CRISIS : PERSPECTIVES FROM SOUTH ASIA 32 CONFLICT AND ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL AID EXPERIENCES FROM AFGHANISTAN Contents 36 CRISIS AND WOMEN’S NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 44 POLICY RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS : THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE 52 THE WAY FOrward 57 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 58 ANNEXURE : BIOGRAPHIES OF PARTicipanTS Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank MMR Maternal Mortality Ratio BPL Below Poverty Line MNCs Multinational Corporations BPO Business Process Outsourcing NGO Non-Governmental Organisation CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination NREGA National Rural Employment Guarantee Act against Women NSSO National Sample Survey Organisation EPZ Export Processing Zone NTFP Non Timber Forest Produce EU European Union PDS Public Distribution System FAO Food and Agriculture Organization PESA Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act FDI Foreign Direct Investment R&R Relief and Rehabilitation FHAN Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal RBI Reserve Bank of India FIIs Foreign Institutional Investors RSBY Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana FTA Free Trade Agreement RTF Right To Food FTZ Free Trade Zone S&P Standard and Poor 4 GDP Gross Domestic Product SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation GMOs Genetically Modified Organisms SAFTA South Asian Free Trade Agreement ICAR Indian Council for Agricultural Research SAPs Structural Adjustment Programmes ICDS Integrated Child Development Services SC/ST Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and SEZ Special Economic Zone Cultural Rights SHG Self Help Group IDP Internally Displaced Person TINA There Is No Alternative IFIs International Financial Institutions UNCESCR United Nations Committee on Economic, Social ILO International Labour Organization and Cultural Rights IMF International Monetary Fund UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic and IMR Infant Mortality Rate Social Affairs IPR Intellectual Property Rights UNDP United Nations Development Programme IT Information Technology UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and MDGs Millennium Development Goals Cultural Organization MFN Most Favoured Nation UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women MGNREGA Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment WB World Bank Guarantee Act WTO World Trade Organization Introduction he current global crisis began effects on women’s livelihoods, and processes (from the global to the Tin the housing sector of the US increased burdens of work and unpaid local), that will shape approaches to economy, spilled over into the financial labour, as well as loss of social security development for years to come, the role sector moving on to the real sector of nets. This crisis, however, reached of women becomes crucial, not merely the developed and developing world, global proportions when it impacted because of the inevitable negative causing immense hardship for millions advanced economies and their role in gendered impacts of these crises, but of poor and vulnerable people in global arenas, thereby bringing out the also because women themselves are developing countries in the process. interconnectedness of the divergent crucial development players in most Despite tentative signs of recovery realities in a globalized world. communities the world over and have a more recently, the economic and vital role to play in proposing effective National as well as international human costs of the crisis have been approaches to alleviate the impacts of institutions are facing diverse pressures considerable. Women in particular, the crisis within a framework of human in the fields of growth, employment, are adversely affected by the current rights, environmental sustainability and food security, and fiscal policy crisis, which itself combines multiple development commitments around formulations in terms of framing crises – a global economic recession, the the world. The inclusion of women 5 adequate responses to contain both the devastating effects of climate change, and gender equality within a financial sector crisis, and the meltdown and an ongoing food and energy crisis. framework of human rights is of production and employment all All of this is compounding increasing central to these processes, and around the globe. The crisis also poverty and inequality in different parts an indicator of both the seriousness provides an opportunity to rethink macro of the world, as well as increasing the as well as the efficacy of proposed and micro-economic policies. For those vulnerability of women in particular responses. advocating a gender based approach in where adverse health and nutritional designing policy frameworks, the crisis In this context, there are only a few impacts are concerned. The current is an opportunity to advance proposals studies focusing on the gendered situation, however, has to be understood that promote jobs, economic security impacts of the global financial and within the larger historical context of and human rights, and equality by economic crisis on the South Asian an aggressive promotion of neo liberal class, gender, and ethnicity. Reviving countries. Common economic analyses policies in the past decades. The crisis the global economy will require policies highlight the social impact using financial is not new for most of the developing that focus heavily on job creation and indicators. However, this approach countries that have struggled with ensure a more equitable and sustainable ignores women and other sections of crises right from the 70’s, with women’s development process that protects society, who function outside the neo- groups in particular, emphatically voicing and enhances women’s livelihoods. liberal economic framework. There their protest and resistance to such As the crisis is now a driving force is seemingly a gap in policymakers’ policies in terms of its destructive behind many development choices understanding of the issue and, more importantly, in women’s ability to Foundation (HBF) hosted a two day a rights-based framework. The sessions ensure protection and enforcement of South Asian Regional workshop. The that followed covered a wide range of their rights. Further, there is a growing workshop was intended to enable issues from food security, livelihoods, concern that without an integrated experts to develop policy and advocacy natural resource management and gender and human rights approach, the tools in order to address the negative women’s economic rights from a alternatives proposed to address the impact of the crisis from a gender and gendered perspective, with a human crisis will continue to increase women’s human rights perspective. The challenge rights-based approach towards policy marginalization and vulnerabilities rather before us was not only to identify gaps issues and concerns. Towards the end of than address it. in the current discourse in terms of the workshop a concrete policy agenda what was needed from the state as well ‘The Way Forward’ was drafted, drawing A gender analysis of the human as from other actors, and to incorporate upon suggestions made during the rights situation is therefore necessary those alternatives into the state agenda, conference. in order to understand the impact but also to bring out the possibility of of the crisis on women and their incorporating economic rights within We hope the experiences and ideas livelihoods. In South Asia, there is an the framework of human rights while discussed in this meeting will be of urgent need for engaging, sharing, developing a comprehensive social interest to a wide range of audiences. discussing these issues and formulating protection system. alternative policies, strategies and recommendations. Hence, the PWESCR The two day workshop began with an Priti Darooka 6 (Programme on Women’s Economic, opening session, which set the context Executive Director Social and Cultural Rights) in partnership in terms of a global and regional PWESCR with UN Women and Heinrich Böll perspective on ‘Women in Crisis’ within Message from Our Partners UN Women (Formerly UNIFEM)1 Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBF) UNIFEM believes the crisis provides an opportunity to revisit Gender policy, feminist analysis and strategies have a existing micro and macro-economic policies and review permanent place and are of key importance to HBF’s activities. policies that rely heavily on job creation in order to ensure It was hoped that the workshop could use the crisis to a more equitable and sustainable development process that critique the neo-liberal paradigm and formulate a ‘gendered’ protects livelihoods of marginalized women and men. A position. A critical assessment of the current economic system gendered