Women Agree New Areas for Action

This article discusses some of the conclusions of the conference "Owning Development: Promoting Gender Equality in New Aid Modalities and Partnerships" hosted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the European Commission in Brussels from November 9-11 2005. Over 130 gender equality experts from developed and developing countries, and representatives from government and donor bodies gathered in Brussels for the three-day meeting.

According to the article, the conference identified five steps - political space, participation, a secure knowledge base, accountability, and the simplification of key issues - as being essential for women's rights not to be lost in growing development cooperation.
It also mentions that in recent years there has been considerable reshaping of the structures and financing of development co-operation. Aid allocation is increasingly driven by partnership between donor and recipient countries, and ownership by the recipients of aid.
UNIFEM says such shifts in development have raised important questions about aid implementation and the accountability of development actors, while presenting new opportunities to advance gender equality and the poverty eradication agenda. However, they warn that to date gender equality has not been addressed explicitly, and that such opportunities could be lost unless serious efforts are undertaken. The five measures agreed are necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), conference delegates said.

Delegates to the conference also concluded that a greater knowledge base with technical expertise and an increased political leverage of supporters of gender equality are essential to effectively engage with the new aid modalities. It is important to ensure that gender equality is "integrated in the policy instruments rolled out in the implementation of the Paris declaration on aid effectiveness" and to situate this declaration "in the context of globalisation, trade negotiations and other processes that have an impact on gender relations and on the nature of national ownership." Delegates said increased accountability and the simplification of gender issues should also play a key role in the advancement of women's rights.