WUNRN
UN INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON EXTREME
POVERTY REPORT TO THE UN 2011
Click Below to UN Official Language Translation Preferred. Type size is larger.
REPORT FOCUS ON ANALYSIS OF
ECONOMIC/FINANCIAL CRISES RECOVERY MEASURES BY MEMBER STATES FROM A HUMAN RIGHTS
PERSPECTIVE
Examples of GENDER DIMENSIONS of
Report.
32.......Because of ingrained
discrimination and structural disadvantage, vulnerable groups as women,
children, older persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, ethnic
minorities and migrants, have restricted access to services and social
protection, which help to cushion the effects of crises, and they are thus
exposed to increased risk during times of economic shock.
33. These described vulnerable
groups have suffered and continue to suffer the cumulative effects of previous
crises and are in an increasingly weak and vulnerable situation. They have
exhausted their coping mechanisms, such as eating fewer meals, cutting health
expenditures, taking their children out of school and increasing working hours
in the informal sector, and are left with very limited capacity for resilience.
Their situation is further compounded by the current spike in food prices,
which is forcing those living in poverty to buy even less expensive and
nutritious food.
75.......To remove obstacles to
employment for women, States should ensure the availability of care services
(from the State, the community and the market), the redistribution of paid and
unpaid work from a gender perspective and the elimination of all forms of
gender discrimination. States are not only obliged to undertake effective
legislation to this end, but also to take measures to modify social and
cultural patterns of conduct of men and women.
77. Studies by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), have shown that previous and current
stimulus packages in several countries have tended to favour men over women,
despite the fact that women had been more severely affected by the crises. If a
gender approach is not actively considered, there is a serious risk that the
recovery from the crises will also exclude women.
78........States should conduct a
comprehensive and disaggregated gender analysis that assesses the
vulnerabilities of both genders as potential beneficiaries of social policies,
and design responses accordingly. In designing measures, policymakers should
consider the impact of the crises on women's domestic (unpaid) and care work.
79. Recovery measures should
prioritize investments in education and skill development for women and girls,
provide investment in sectors where women make up a considerable proportion of
the labour force (such as export manufacturing) and undertake gender budgeting
to ensure that women benefit equally from public investments. Policymakers must
design, implement, monitor and evaluate initiatives through a gender lens, so
that policies are able to address asymmetries of power and structural
inequalities, and enhance the realization of women's rights.
