In September 2015, with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Member States committed to a renewed and more ambitious framework for development. This agenda, with a deadline of 2030, emphasizes inclusion not just as an end in and of itself but as critical to development effectiveness. At the center of this agenda is the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls (SDG 5). In addition to governments, the private sector is increasingly committed to reducing gaps between men and women not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes business sense. Gender equality is also central to the World Bank Group’s own goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. No society can develop sustainably without transforming the distribution of opportunities, resources and choices for males and females so that they have equal power to shape their own lives and contribute to their families, communities, and countries. Promoting gender equality is smart development policy.
This seminar featured World Bank’s Gender Group Senior Director Caren Grown to discuss key challenges and perspectives of gender equality, poverty reduction and inclusive growth, and the role played by the World Bank Group.
Program
Opening remarks
Masato Miyazaki
Special Representative, Japan, World Bank
Keynote speech
Caren Grown
Senior Director, Gender Group, World Bank Group
Presentation Material: Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment: the Role of World Bank Group (PDF)
Comments
Haruko Kamei
Senior Director, Office for Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction, Infrastructure and Peace Building Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Presentation Material: Integrating Gender Mainstreaming into JICA's Operation (PDF)
Tatsufumi Yamagata
Professor, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Presentation Material: Gender Equality, Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth (PDF)
Panel discussions
Moderator：
Izumi Ohno
Director, JICA Research Institute, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Q&A
Speaker
Formerly, she was Senior Scholar and Co-Director of the Gender Equality and Economy Program at The Levy Economics Institute at Bard College, Director of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Governance team at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), and Senior Program Officer at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She contributed to placing gender equality and female empowerment at the core of the MDGs as Senior Associate of Task Force 3 of the UN Millennium Project. As the longest-serving member of the External Gender Forum of the Asian Development Bank, she advised on many aspects of mainstreaming, research, and results measurement. Dr. Grown’s recent books include Taxation and Gender Equity, co-edited with Imraan Valodia (Routledge 2010), The Feminist Economics of Trade, co-edited with Irene Van Staveren, Diane Elson, and Nilufer Cagatay (Routledge 2007), and Trading Women's Health and Rights: the Role of Trade Liberalization and Development, co-edited with Elissa Braunstein and Anju Malhotra (Zed Books 2006). She is the author (with Geeta Rao Gupta) of Taking Action: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women (Earthscan Press 2005) and co-author with Gita Sen of Development, Crises and Alternative Visions: Third World Women's Perspectives (Monthly Review Press 1987). Her articles have appeared in World Development, Journal of International Development, Feminist Economics, Health Policy and Planning, and The Lancet. Dr. Grown was an Associate Editor of Feminist Economics (2007-2014), a founding member of the International Working Group on Gender and Macroeconomics (GEM-IWG) (1993-2007), and a member of the Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Hub, Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (2006-2007). She holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the New School for Social Research and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. |
