As of mid March 2008, there were 14 UNESCO Chairs plus this UNITWIN Network established in the field of Gender. Here we see Dr. Sonia Bahri, UNESCO’s UNITWIN programme Chief, interacting with Representatives of Permanent Delegations to UNESCO and National Commissions, and various other partners. We are all proud that the UNITWIN programme is moving from strength to strength, with activities taking place in a range of gender disciplines and countries including:
Maria Claudia Echavarria - “It is astonishing to see that countries like
Kimberly Fillion – “The first speaker and professor at 
discussed barriers facing women leaders, primarily in developing countries. Culture and politics, both local and regional, have huge roles in prohibiting women from having equal footage on the frontline in regards to obtaining leadership. While progress is made, there is still evidence of a glass ceiling that all women face, whether in developing or developed countries.”
Anna Miller - “I gained a number of insights during the discussion of whether we are in a new era, of how women are involved in electoral politics. Professor Pippa Norris presented very interesting research that proved that when structural constraints were changed to favor women, as in
not just America. She relayed that women leaders are present in only 12 countries, and not just affluent countries. Some of the poorest countries including Chile, Argentina and Jamaica were among the 12 countries that did have female leaders.”
INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day presents an opportunity to reflect on the level of equality between women and men throughout the world. It is unfortunate that in the twenty-first century, the outcome of such an exercise continues to point to the significant gender gaps that persist in terms of literacy, political participation, employment, and access to property and productive assets worldwide, to name only a few. These formidable challenges demand renewed attention and resources on behalf of public and private entities, as well as civil society, political and traditional opinion leaders, and individuals at the local, national, and international levels.
At UNESCO, the year 2008 represents a promising turning point for gender equality, as the Organization has recently designated gender equality as one of two global priorities in its “Medium-Term Strategy” for 2008-2013. In line with this new priority, the Section for Women and Gender Equality of the Bureau of Strategic Planning – UNESCO’s central coordinating and monitoring entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment – was reclassified by the Director-General as the Division for Gender Equality, and is now fully represented at the Directorate, the decision making body. In light of these propitious occurrences, International Women’s Day takes on a special meaning for us at UNESCO this year.
It is timely that, at a moment when women’s global needs have been growing and the sources of funding for gender equality have been dwindling, the United Nations has set “Financing for Gender Equality” as the theme for International Women’s Day 2008. This decision stems from the recognition that, beyond being a necessary condition for improving the lot of half of the world’s population, mobilizing resources to finance gender equality is a question of smart and just economics, and of social justice.
Research has demonstrated, and experience has shown us, that economic decisions impact women and men differently. For instance, cutbacks on social expenditures hit women, especially poor women, harder than men. Further, women worldwide perform a vast quantity of unremunerated work – work whose invaluable contribution to the national and international economy cannot be gauged, because it goes unaccounted for by national governments. In light of these examples, it becomes clear that channeling resources towards women in the pursuit of gender equality is not an “extra” handout; it is simply just economics. Just because it represents a redistribution of resources towards those who have contributed generations of unpaid work to the world economy. Just because it is aimed towards those who have been disproportionately affected by past and current economic policies. Just because it aims to redress some of the deep-rooted structures that continue to subjugate women worldwide. Also because around the world women earn less than their male counterparts for the same work.
Despite the scarcity of funds invested in pursuit of gender equality, a number of prominent philanthropists and fundraisers have mobilized great resources to promote women’s rights, women’s empowerment, and equality between women and men. This year, UNESCO has the honor to bring some of these distinguished individuals together at an International Round Table entitled “Gender Equality – Make it Your Business.” Specifically, the Round Table emphasizes the important role played by these philanthropists and fundraisers in promoting gender equality, which, for UNESCO, is a fundamental human right, a commonly shared value, and a necessary condition for the achievement of the internationally agreed development objectives including all the Millennium Development Goals.
In tandem with the Round Table, UNESCO is pleased to present a number of colorful and innovative exhibitions and events that pay tribute to women’s participation in fields as varied as peace building, filmmaking, literature, fine arts and music. This year’s events further draw attention to key, gendered, contemporary themes. The breadth and diversity of these endeavors demonstrate that the issue of gender equality pervades all facets of society, that women contribute to all spheres of life, and that there are innumerable ways to celebrate the richness of these contributions. Finally, as the title of the Round Table “Gender Equality: Make it Your Business” suggests, this year’s celebrations urge us to consider the role each of us must play in the collective effort to make gender equality a global reality.
Gülser Corat
Director, Division for Gender Equality, Bureau of Strategic Planning, UNESCO, Paris
Sculpture: © Annette Jalilova
FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Gender: The multidimensional aspect of working in India
ORGANIZED BY
VENUE:
DATES: WEEKEND OF 15-16 November, 2008
REGISTRATION FEE: Rs. 1000/- ; $ 50
1. Interested participants and contributors may send their draft synopsis of not more than 250 words on any of the areas listed in the concept note or in related areas to the coordinators by
2. Interested participants and contributors are requested to bear in mind that Visva-Bharati will be able to provide local hospitality that includes accommodation and meals. UNESCO has contributed $1000 towards the organization of the conference.
Concept Note
Gender has emerged as a key term in political, economic, social, cultural and pedagogical discourses and praxis in
The setting up of women’s studies centres in several universities in
However, as is evident, in its current deployment gender almost always signifies ‘woman’. Perhaps it is time to question this conflation between gender and woman and reiterate that notions of ‘masculinity and ‘femininity’ are both social constructs created through the discourse of ‘naturalization’ that forms the lynchpin of patriarchal ideology and affects the identity formation of men and women. Rooted in the collective psyche and reinforced through various institutional practices, traditional gender identities play a key role in oppression of both sexes. Thus, it is crucial to underscore that like all historically contingent categories ‘gender’ is not a constant or given and subject to revision and change. Indeed, in a hierarchized gendered Indian society it is impossible to dismantle traditional notions of the ‘feminine’ and challenge female gender stereotypes without a reassessment of the notions of ‘masculine’ and the role and function of men both within the family and outside.
Moreover, gender issues are invariably inflected with questions of sexuality; thus gender stereotypes and roles in patriarchy are deeply invested in issues of compulsory heterosexuality, leading to women’s sexual exploitation, whether within the home or in the work place. Indeed the normative power of heterosexuality still continues to dominate discussion of gender often occluding the significant presence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) movement in
Having stated this it is important to acknowledge that delving into all or several of these aspects is a mammoth task and impossible to undertake given the constraints of time and resources. Thus we think it prudent to focus on a limited number of issues that have been indicated above hoping that deliberations and discussions will contribute to affirmative action.
With this end, we have decided that the conference will have two components: a set of formal academic sessions with valuable inputs from invited researchers/ scholars engaged in the fields and an informal interactive session with activists/ social workers/ members of NGOs, women in local governance as well as students from the various departments in Visva-Bharati.
A tentative list of issues that may be taken up for deliberation is given below. Some of these may be clubbed together as sub themes depending upon the response from the participants. It would be worthwhile to take up specific instances instead of general overviews. The two broad categories which may be addressed are those relating to ‘women’ and those concerning ‘gender identities’:
I. The ‘woman question’ in policy, program and polemics
(a) Women in the political process: representation and agency
(b) Women and development: government policies and roles of NGOs
(c) Women and Law: legal reforms, and problems of implementation
(d) Women and violence with reference to both domestic & public spheres
(e) Women and labour focusing on the invisibility of women’s work
This category will inquire into the discursive formation of gender identities, both masculine and feminine, through various social institutions and its representation in cultural productions, interrogate the ideology of such identity formation and explore possibilities of alternative models. We have deliberately indicated only broad categories at this stage to keep options open for diverse nature of interventions.
(a) Gender and pedagogy
(b) Gender and literature
(c) Gender and the media
(d) Gender and the performing and visual arts
(e) Gender and films
We wish to reiterate that this is only the initial stage of our attempt to conceptualize the conference. We hope to be able to make more specific formulations as responses come in.
Coordinators:
Kumkum Bhattacharya
Swati Ganguly
Asha Mukherjee