Blog

Are there gender-based reasons for current account imbalances?

An interesting new paper from Columbia University investigates the link between the growing surplus of men relative to women in countries such as China and current account surpluses, which are acknowledged as having contributed to the current financial crisis. The paper demonstrates that countries with a higher sex ratio also tend to have a higher private sector current account to GDP ratio. It finds that when sex ratios are out of balance - as is happening in China - obtaining a marriage partner becomes less assured, leading men to save more. The result is a higher savings rate and a larger current account surplus. Global ramifications of these trends could be large - for example, when the sex ratio rises, the global interest rate becomes lower!

The Women's Empowerment Principles - Promoting Gender Equality in the Private Sector

As we've covered on our website, the UN Global Compact and UNIFEM launched their Women's Empowerment Principles on March 9, which offer guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, the community, and the marketplace. Their website now includes background materials and details from the launch event. The next step for the project is to encourage wide support for the principles among private sector participants. If you'd like your organization to participate, take a look at their website for details on how to do so.

Disseminating good practices on gender equality

OECD has just collected a series of best practice notes, compiled by the members of the DAC Network on Gender Equality (Gendernet), that provide guidance on addressing gender equality issues in development co-operation. The subjects covered range from economic empowerment and finance, to climate change, conflict situations, governance and human rights, among others. As such, the notes are a useful reference guide for those needing a quick overview and guidance on addressing gender concerns in their programming. You can read them on the OECD Gendernet website.

WEConnect International and WEConnect Europe Events

WEConnect International, WEConnect Europe, and our forum member Accenture are organizing a series of supplier diversity events on April 20-21 in London - mark your calendars! The conference on April 21 will focus on the business case for supplier diversity, how to move women entrepreneurs from the margin to the mainstream, how to leverage the WEConnect network for business success, among other issues. WEConnect International works to increase opportunities for women-owned businesses to compete in global value chains. Our forum member Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, which has been a leader in ensuring a diverse supplier base, including women-owned businesses on tender lists whenever possible.

Women's business associations as mechanisms for positive change

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) has just published an interesting brief research article on how women's business associations and non-governmental organizations can best work to empower women. Given the continued barriers to women's full economic participation across the globe, this research makes the case for using women's business associations as a mechanism to defend women's interests, remove barriers to participation and give them the needed intellectual capital for business growth.

Saudi women breaking barriers

For the first time in Saudi Arabia's history, a woman was elected to the post of Deputy Chairman to the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In a country where women make up 60% of university students but just 15% of the labor force, this is big news. Lama al-Sulaiman's appointment is part of a growing shift in this country's awareness of the need to provide its women with greater economic opportunities, to increase productivity and diversify the economy.

Program to empower adolescent girls in Liberia launched

On March 31, Liberia's President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf officially launched the Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Initiative. Implemented by the Liberian government, the program's partners include the World Bank and our forum member the Nike Foundation. The three-year program seeks to provide a platform for young women aged 16 to 27 for productive employment and income. It will eventually target 2,500 young girls and women.

Global Pulse 2010

A new effort by the U.S. government to engage and partner with the international community, Global Pulse 2010 is a 3-day online brainstorming and collaboration event where participants from around the world can voice their views and ideas on 10 challenges facing the global community. Empowering women and girls is one of the topics of discussion. The online discussions are moderated by a number of experts, including the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer. Registration is free and diverse views are encouraged. To find out more and register for the event, visit the Global Pulse 2010 website. What a great way to brainstorm together on innovative solutions to issues facing the global community!

Women | Tools | Technology Challenge announces early winners

Earlier this year, our forum member ExxonMobil, Ashoka's Changemakers, and the International Center for Research on Women announced a global challenge to identify innovations that use technology to advance women economically. After receiving 64 entries from 25 countries, the challenge announced its two early entry prize winners. They are the Solar Electric Light Fund and Solar Sister. But there is still time to enter the competition and garner prizes - the deadline is April 14th! In the meanwhile, congratulations to the early winners.

Some women in Swaziland gain property rights

Swaziland's High Court ruled on February 23, 2010 that some women will be allowed to register property under their own name. This is a landmark decision in a country where women have been legally classified and treated as minors. Women's inferior status in Swaziland has greatly hindered their progress in the economic sphere and as entrepreneurs, denying them much needed access to resources and credit. When the country adopted a new constitution in 2005, this situation was supposed to be remedied, but not much changed in practice. While the ruling is a positive step, it will only apply to women married in a civil ceremony and with a community of property agreement and therefore will exclude large numbers of women married in the traditional way.