Humanising globalisation
Participants at a Cairo globalisation conference emphasised the need for a more equitable world. Dahlia Hammouda listened in
In her keynote address at the opening dinner of the Fourth Annual Global Development Conference held in Cairo last week, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak said a set of global values emphasising peace, generosity, tolerance and justice must become an integral part of the more humane and equitable globalisation that the world needs.
In fact, "Globalisation and Equity" was the three-day conference's theme. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Director General of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development Abdulatif El-Hamad were amongst the nearly 500 policy-makers, economists and researchers in attendance.
The event was sponsored by the Global Development Network (GDN), an organisation providing support and networking services to research and policy institutions involved in development. The conference is an annual affair bringing together researchers from the developing world to share ideas, methodologies, information and results. Three conferences -- in Germany, Japan and Brazil -- have previously taken place, with this year's Cairo conference featuring the largest number of participants thus far.
GDN provides policy researchers in developing countries with access to financial support and information that will help strengthen collaborative efforts with their counterparts across the globe. By supporting the exchange of knowledge, GDN helps bridge the gap between ideas and implementation.
"The topic is both controversial and timely," said Mrs Mubarak. "It is controversial because many feel that globalisation is beneficial for a few, at the expense of many, and [are thus] actively seeking to change globalisation as it has come to be understood around the world. It is timely because globalisation is still unfolding, and your deliberations and conclusions can help policy-makers maximise the gains, minimise the costs and find equitable ways to compensate those who stand to lose as a result of globalisation."
Mrs Mubarak said that since this year's meeting was about the question of equity and globalisation, introducing a gender-based perspective to the formulation of developmental policy was extremely important. "The reality of women's lives in many parts of the world is harsh," Mrs Mubarak said, and the term "feminisation of poverty" must be addressed because "the gender gap is real".
Egyptian women's determination to close this gap has yielded substantial gains, Mrs Mubarak said, with much progress made in the last two decades. She cited the improvement in school enrollment, which went from a gender gap of 30 per cent in 1990, to less than five per cent at the two stages of basic education today. Close to 40 per cent of jobs in the medical, academic and media professions are held by women, she said, and half of the country's university students are girls.
Also amongst Egypt's major achievements on this front was the establishment of the National Council for Women in 2000, a government body with a mandate to introduce and give priority to programmes for women in national development plans. By focussing on narrowing existing socio-economic gender gaps and addressing women's strategic needs, the council aims to help catalyse a better life for women.
The First and Second Arab Women's Summits in 2000 and 2002 marked the start of a new Arab women's movement, Mrs Mubarak said. The "Arab Women's Organisation" was created to ensure Arab women's effective participation in nation-building and the advancement of women's status in society.
In September 2002, the Women for Peace Movement was also launched in Sharm El- Sheikh as a platform for women's efforts in this domain throughout the world.
"Even as we speak, the threat of a potentially disastrous war hangs once more over our heads," Mrs Mubarak said. "The spirit of the initiative we launched at Sharm El-Sheikh must be manifested in every country. I believe that women working together, through moral persuasion and effective action, constitute a formidable force for peace. Empowering women would, I submit, also help the world move towards cooperation, conflict resolution and peace."
