News 149 of 223

World Development Report 2006

An animated discussion over how to boost the status and incomes of women in the developing world drew a packed house to the IDRC auditorium on October 19, 2006 to listen to views from the World Bank’s Chief Economist and a noted British academic specialized in gender equality.

The North-South Institute and the International Development Research Centre hosted a panel discussion on the findings of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development. The report identifies gender inequity as the archetypical “inequality trap” and notes that men and women around the world have had starkly different access to assets and opportunities over centuries. The report concludes that “inequality of opportunity sustains extreme deprivation, results in wasted human potential and often weakens prospects for overall prosperity and economic growth.”

The World Development Report’s (WDR) conclusions sparked a debate between the two panelists: François Bourguignon, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank and Diane Elson, Senior Scholar at the University of Essex, UK and codirector of Gender Equality and the Economy at the Levy Economics Institute.

Bourguignon said that promoting equity is a good social objective in itself since it promotes social justice. But, he says, it also helps generate growth in the economy. “When there is a lack of opportunities, you do not have an efficient economy,” he said. “And when you have unequal political rights such as property rights, you can’t realize the full economic potential of a society. Greater equity is doubly good for poverty reduction. It tends to favour sustained overall development and it delivers increased opportunities to the poorest groups in a society.”

He reiterated the WDR recommendations calling for more equitable access by the poor to health care, education, jobs, capital, and secure land rights; for greater equality of access to political freedoms and political power; for breaking down stereotypes and discrimination; and for improved access by the poor to justice systems and infrastructure.

Promoting equality of outcomes

While the World Bank economist emphasized the need to work toward equality of opportunity, Diane Elson argued for a greater emphasis on equality of outcomes. “Liberalization policies have often been captured by elites,” she said. “If you just focus on equality of opportunity you will simply generate new elites and new structures of corporate power. You can’t address gender discrimination by simply providing property rights here and credit there, . . . you need a more holistic approach.”

Elson also thinks that the unpaid work or care that is usually done by women should be better recognized. From her perspective, “we should not just be trying to turn women into men but also make men more like women” by encouraging them to take on more of the burden of care in society.

Elson prefers to look at inequality within households and consider individual income rather than family income. She also wants to add targets for employment to the usual economic targets for inflation or balanced budgets.

IDRC President Maureen O’Neil remarked that gender issues and analysis cut across all programming at the Centre. She noted the launch earlier this year of IDRC’s new program supporting research on women’s rights and citizenship, investigating and addressing how poor and marginalized women are prevented from fully realizing their rights.

“IDRC’s goal is not only to better understand women’s rights, development, and citizenship issues, but to support research that yields concrete recommendations for improving women’s lives,” said O’Neil.

Susan Murray is Senior Communications Strategist with IDRC’s Communications Division.

2006-10

News 149 of 223