14 – 25 June 2010 at Miriam College, Quezon City, Philippines
Co-organized by:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Asia institute of Technology
Miriam College
International Working Group on Gender, Macroeconomics and International Economics (GEM-IWG)
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)
with support from Government of Japan
Background
Asia has been achieving rapid economic growth for decades due to the success of East Asian tigers and emerging economies such as China, India and Viet Nam. Emerging Asian exports now account for more than one-third of world trade flows. As for the Pacific Island states, a significant share of their economy depends on remittances from temporary migrant workers, enhancement of which is now part of their free trade and economic partnership agreements. More countries in the region are joining the multilateral, regional and bilateral trade arrangements.
Despite rapid trade and economic growth, the region still faces high poverty and hunger incidences. More than two-thirds of the world’s poor live in the Asia-Pacific. Inequalities between the countries and among different social strata within a country have widened. Women increasingly join the labor force as coping mechanisms during economically difficult times or to respond to opportunities resulting from globalization processes. However, their responsibilities in unpaid domestic work such as caring of family members remains. As a result, women bear the double-burden of work, and gender inequality remains a significant challenge in the region.
Recent global economic crisis triggered by financial turmoil have gender differentiated impacts. For example, changes in unemployment rates show that men were hit harder by the initial financial shock; however, the crisis is now hitting female-dominated industries and services and may affect women more profoundly over the long-term. Moreover, proportion of unpaid family workers or own-account workers is larger among women than men in the Asia and Pacific, and recent economic turmoil is likely to push additional tens of millions of people into this vulnerable employment. Gender-responsive macroeconomic responses are urgently required for the Asia-Pacific countries to ensure gender equality over the course of development.
In January 2010, UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, with support from the Government of Japan through the UNDP-Japan Partnership Fund, has initiated a new capacity development project on gender and macroeconomic issues. The objective of the course is to enhance Asia-Pacific countries’ capacity in gender-responsive policy making, especially on macroeconomic issues such as trade, fiscal and monetary policies, finance, and economic crisis. The interventions will target strengthening capacities of key stakeholders, including government officials, development practitioners, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), research institutes, and academia to analyze, design, implement, and advocate for gender-responsive macroeconomic policies that are consistent with achievement of MDGs.
As one of the key activities of this project is the regional intensive course on gender and macroeconomic issues. Course structure of this regional intensive course in the Asia-Pacific region has been developed based upon the intensive summer course on engendering macroeconomics and international economics organized by International Working Group on Gender, Macroeconomics and International Economics (GEM-IWG).
The course is intended for economists/practitioners in government – e.g., Ministries of Finance, Industry, Trade, and National Planning Commission, development agencies, CSOs, research institutes, and academia. The intensive course would seek to provide the ‘fellows’ with knowledge and information on gender and macroeconomic issues as well as tools and application methods for project designed and executed at national and community levels. It would also provide networking opportunities with experts in and outside of the region.
At the end of the course, the fellows will be equipped with tools and information to analyze, design and implement gender-responsive macroeconomic policies and plans, such as:
- How to design, collect and analyze sex-disaggregated data for national statistics;
- How to design pro-poor tax policies and gender-responsive budget allocation;
- Analysis of the gender differentiated impacts of foreign direct investment and trade liberalization and the policy formulation to mitigate the negative effects; and
- Designing and implementing gender-responsive economic and social policies;
It is expected the fellows make the best use of the knowledge obtained in the intensive course to carry out national capacity development projects on gender and macroeconomic issues in their respective country/community upon their return.
Course Instructors (in alphabetical order):
Marina Durano (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN))
Diane Elson (University of Essex, UK)
Maria Floro (American University, USA)
Maita Gomez (Action for Economic Reforms, Philippines)
Jayati Ghosh (JNU, India)
Margerita Guerrero (UN ESCAP)
Indira Hirway (Centre for Development Alternatives, India)
Shaianne Osterreich (Ithaca College, USA)
Yasuko Muramatsu (Tokyo Women’s Christian University, Japan)
Aphitchaya Nguanbanchong (Oxfam GB in East Asia, Thailand)
Anushree Sinha (National Council of Applied Economic Research, India)
Joseph T. Yap (Philippines Institute for Development Studies, Philippines); and
Organizers
UNDP Regional Centre (Biplove Choudhary, Omar Siddique, Yumiko Yamamoto)
Asia Institute of Technology (Kyoko Kusakabe)
Miriam College (Josefa Gigi Francisco)
Course Schedule
Daily Schedule:
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Session I
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09:00-10:30
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Break
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10:30-11:00
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Session II
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11:00-12:30
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Lunch Break
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12:30-13:30
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Session III
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13:30-15:00
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Break
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15:00-15:30
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Session IV
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15:30-17:00
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Break/Dinner
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17:00-17:30
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Session V
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17:30-18:30
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- Arrival -
Day 1: Monday, 14 June
Opening and Introduction to Gender and Economics
I. Opening session
II. Introduction of Participants
III. (continued), followed by a presentation on the 2010 Asia Pacific Human Development on Gender (Omar Siddique)
IV. Gender-Aware Visions of the Economy (Diane Elson) via video
Evening: Welcome Dinnerhosted by Miriam College
Formal Welcome by Dean Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Ph.D.
Serenade by the Miriam College Employees Chorale
Day 2: Tuesday, 15 June
Introduction to Gender-aware Macroeconomic Analysis
I. Introduction to Gender-Aware Economics (Maria Floro)
II. [Continued] (Maria Floro)
III. Role of Wage Employment Programmes including public works programme at the macro level: With reference to developing and emerging countries (Indira Hirway)
IV. Public works programmes and employment guarantee programmes in the developing world: Major Approaches (Indira Hirway)
Evening: Group dinner
Day 3: Wednesday, 16 June
Unpaid Work and Care Work: Meaning, Measurement and Use for Engendering Macroeconomic Policy
I. Engendering statistics for engendering macroeconomics - Multiple uses of time use data in developing and developed countries (Indira Hirway)
- Role of time use surveys - concept, methods, data collection, classification of time use activities, presentation of data (Margerita Guerrero)
- [Continued] (Margerita Guerrero and Indira Hirway)
- Gender, work intensity, and well-being (Maria Floro)
- Economic crisis, gender, and time-use survey: Case studies (Indira Hirway, Joseph T. Yap, Naveeda Salam)
Day 4: Thursday, 17 June
Engendering statistics: Paid Work, Conceptual Issues, Measurement and Indicators
I. Employment, wages and welfare (Maita Gomez)
II. What led to informalization of employment? – Definition, summary of debates (Maria Floro)
III. Informalization of Employment – Basic analysis of national data on informal employment, trends and patterns (Margerita Guerrero)
Gender-aware Macroeconomic Analysis: Finance
IV. Asset ownership, Savings, Gender and Credit (Maria Floro/ Aphitchaya Nguanbanchong)
Day 5: Friday, 18 June
Public Forum: Global Economy and Financing Development - Feminist Perspectives
8:30-9:00 Registration
9:00-10:00 I. Opening Session
Welcome Remarks:
Miriam College: Dean Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Ph.D.
Embassy of Japan: Mr. Shigehiro Matsuda, Secretary (TBC)
UNDP Philippines: Mr. Renaud Meyer, Country Director (TBC)
Asia institute of Technology: Kyoko Kusakabe, Ph.D.
10:00-10:30 Coffee Break
10:30-12:00 II. Economic Crisis and Gendered Impacts in the Asia-Pacific
Prof. Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharla Nehru University, India
“Regional Synthesis on the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis”
Prof. Indira Hirway, Centre for Development Alternatives, India
“Global Economic Crisis Impact of the Poor in India: A Synthesis of Sector Studies”
Prof. Yasuko Muramatsu, Tokyo Women’s Christian University, Japan
"The Economic Crisis highlights women's vulnerability in Japanese economy"
12:00-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:00 III. Towards Gender Responsive Macroeconomic Policies
Asia Development Bank, Philippines (TBC)
“Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty”
Dr. Marina Durano, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), Quezon City, Philippines
“How to overcome the economic crisis?: Steps towards gender-equitable public policies”
15:00-15:30 Coffee Break
15:30-17:00 IV. Feminist Interventions in Amidst Contending Views on Financing Development (organized by DAWN)
Ms. Gigi Francisco, DAWN
Dr. Marina Durano, DAWN
Ms. Yamini Mishra, Center for Budget and Governance Accountability (TBC)
Ms. Natividad Bernardino, International Studies Dept, Miriam College
Day 6: Saturday, 19 June
Liberalization, Globalization and Gender – I
- Gender and globalization (Shaianne Osterreich)
I. Migration and gender issues in the Asia-Pacific (Marina Durano)
II. Migration and care in the Asia-Pacific (Marina Durano)
III. Trade and gender - Overview (Shaianne Osterreich)
IV. Trends in export sectors and female-Labour Force Participation Rate (Shaianne Osterreich)
Day 7: Sunday, 20 June Free time for self study and knowledge-sharing/ networking day
Day 8: Monday, 21 June
Liberalization, Globalization and Gender – III
I. Regional economic integration and development (Biplove Choudhary/ Yumiko Yamamoto)
II. FDI, development, and gender (Maria Floro)
III. Trade policies, agriculture, and food security (Marina Durano)
IV. Linking trade, development and gender; methodological issues (Yumiko Yamamoto/ Kyoko Kusakabe)
Evening: Group dinner and sub-regional/ country group meeting
Day 9: Tuesday, 22 June
Gender-aware macroeconomic analysis – Macromodeling
I. Introduction to SAM (Social Accounting Matrix) (Anushree Sinha)
II. Use of SAM: Case studies (Anushree Sinha)
III. Introduction to gender aware CGE (Computable General Equilibrium) model (Anushree Sinha)
IV. CGE model: Case studies (Anushree Sinha)
Evening: Group dinner and thematic group meeting
Day 10: Wednesday, 23 June
Gender Dimensions of Fiscal policy
I. Introduction: Gender and a Fiscal Policy (Yasuko Muramatsu)
II. Gender issues of Expenditure (Yasuko Muramatsu)
III. Gender analysis in Taxation (Yasuko Muramatsu)
IV. Case studies from the Asia-Pacific (Yasuko Muramatsu)
Evening: Fellow’s dinner
Day 11: Thursday, 24 June
Fellow’s Presentations and Closing Discussion
I.-III. Presentations by fellows
IV. Evaluation
Day 12: Friday, 25 June
Networking Day
-Departure-
