WUNRN
WIDE Network - Women in Development
Europe
WIDE News - September-October 2011
A "NEW DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER:" WHERE IS THE EU'S DEVELOPMENJT AGENDA HEADING? RE: WOMEN'S
RIGHTS & GENDER EQUALITY
By Kasia Staszewska & Luisa
Antolin
......The new EU agenda means a
clear shift in the language relating to development, one which is much more
oriented to business and economic growth than the previous "EU Consensus
on Development.".....
Should human rights and feminist
organisations be concerned? The "Agenda for Change" refers to gender
equality and women's rights. Yet, even though both are made high priorities for
development, they EVAPORATE as one looks at implementation.......Furthermore,
the approach to gender equality is highly instrumentalist: Gender equality as
smart economics is back.......
The launch of "a new chapter in
EU development policy" is a worrying sign for the EU's joint position for
the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. After the progressive EU
stand on human rights and gender equality in Accra, one might have expected the
same at Busan. Indeed, the EU had recently dropped its objection to development
as a condition for aid effectiveness reform. However, it appears that the
development effectiveness language has been co-opted, dropping human rights in
favour of inclusive growth......
WIDE, as a network of women's
organisations in Europe, regrets to see that the document outlining the basis
for the joint EU position for the Busan Aid Effectivenesss Forum, fails to
address gender equality as a goal in itself as well as a cross-cutting issue in
development cooperation......
The future of European development
cooperation? Today aid is threatened in an EU badly weakened by the current
financial crisis.......It seems that the "traditional" poverty
reduction MDG's approach can no longer be defended in Europe, either in the G20
process or at HLF-4 in Busan. Instead, the modernisation of EU development
policy refers to development as a catalyst for growth, best value for money,
incentives for government reforms and creating market opportunities for private
European stakeholders. Development objectives are becoming increasingly
subordinated to the neo-liberal market agenda, and human development and
women's empowerment are being streamlined towards market integration.......