Conference on Gender and Policy Considers Impact of Global Trends
“There is a need to address key issues that are confronting women and the goals of gender equality and women’s empowerment,” says Yasmine Ergas, director of SIPA’s Gender and Public Policy Specialization. “But you can’t just think of this as a national issue—there are many transnational issues.”
Ergas joined with Eugenia McGill, who is associate director of SIPA’s concentration in Economic and Political Development, to organize a recent conference that addressed these issues. “Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment and Globalization: from Goal to Governance” took place on March 13.
Ergas and McGill shared thoughts with SIPA News as they looked forward to the conference.
“It’s an international event, in the context of major international events,” Ergas said.
Indeed, the conference took place the same week as the ninth session of the UN Commission of the Status of Women. That summit evaluated the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a framework for gender equality and empowerment.
“It seems like an opportune moment,” said McGill, observing further that the UN is working to establish new development goals later this year.
“Gender equality is a fundamental element of the development agenda,” McGill added. “These are daunting, complex issues, but we have terrific perspectives from those who are active in the policy arena.”
“Our contribution from the Columbia University perspective is to look at the global and transnational trends that are going to affect further progress toward gender equality,” she said.
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The all-day event at the Columbia University Club of New York, in midtown Manhattan, was split into five panels, with opening remarks by Dean Merit Janow of SIPA and Daniel Seymour, UN Women’s acting director of programs.
Panels on “Strategies for More Inclusive Economic Development and Stronger Social Protection Schemes” and “Globalization of Production” featured speakers from the International Labour Organization, Women Thrive Worldwide, the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and the United Nations Global Compact, among others.
Women are subject to global economic processes, Ergas noted in describing the rationale for the various panel topics. “We need to think about what that means in terms of ensuring women are integrated,” she said.
One goal of the conference was to develop forward-looking strategies that are more inclusive, said Ergas, noting the importance of not just identifying challenges, but addressing them.
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A luncheon discussion of “Gender Issues in Global Migration” explored the perpetuation of discrimination and violation of women’s rights created by global migration.
Migrant workers are always vulnerable, and even more so if they’re women, said May-I Fabros, board member of the Philippine Commission on Women and coordinator of Young Women’s Collective.
Other panelists emphasized the need for comprehensive programs that provide protection mechanisms as well as local employment.
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At the panel on “The Globalization of Reproduction: Commodifying Care and Procreation,” Elizabeth Tang, international coordinator of the International Domestic Workers Federation, said she sees issues and challenges—and, therefore, the need for action—everywhere.
Migrant workers lack proper protection and rights, and are even treated like machines, said Tang. “They come and fill gaps and provide services to a country that does not want to invest in these needs.”
The home is a particular type of workplace that adds surplus emotional value, said Sonya Michel, a history professor at the University of Maryland. “The expectation is that these workers will deny their own emotional needs, and the needs of their families back home, for the ones they provide these services to.”
Panelists also discussed the traditional women’s roles and how they have been transformed by globalization. This topic was explored further during the last panel, “Promoting Freedom from Violence across Borders.”
With globalization as a theme, participants explored potential approaches to combatting gender-based violence in the context of displacement and conflict.
With the opportunities globalization provides, also come vulnerabilities, with regards to gender equality, said McGill. “Concrete strategies on how to advocate and develop global policies are necessary.”
SIPA and UN Women were the conference’s primary sponsors, but co-sponsors included Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights and SIPA’s Center on Global Economic Governance, as well as a number of departments and groups at SIPA, including the Gender Policy Working Group, Gender and Public Policy specialization and Economic and Political Development concentration.
— Tamara El Waylly MIA ’15