Gender equality and post-2015: what's new? Perspectives from the 11th OECD Gendernet meeting

Last week, Wikigender attended the 11th meeting of the OECD DAC Network on Gender Equality. Among the discussion topics on the agenda, participants exchanged their thoughts about the “unfinished business” of the MDGs and the post-2015 development agenda. Here I would like to share with you some of the points and questions raised during the meeting and invite your comments below this blog post.

Participants capitalised on the positive lessons learnt from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and identified areas of improvement for the post-2015 agenda.

On the positive side for example, it was mentioned that MDG3 was at the heart of poverty reduction strategies and therefore helped to get the dialogue started on gender equality issues - for example we have seen very good results in terms of girls’ education, especially at primary level. Many participants agreed that having a standalone goal on gender equality as well as comprehensive mainstreaming of gender equality across all of the goals was the best way to achieve visibility in the post-2015 framework. This should be accompanied by concise and strategic language around the goals as well as key partnerships. Also, goals should reconcile the human rights based approach with the development practical approach – so that, through the intrinsic value of gender equality and women’s empowerment, we can reaffirm policy commitment and funding and continue to rally gender equality advocates.

In terms of what could be improved, it was mentioned that there should be more focus at sub-national level, in particular to address the needs of specific populations such as ethnic minorities. On content, it was agreed that MDG3 was too narrow and there were serious omissions, such as gender-based violence for example. Some priority areas outlined for post 2015 included women’s choices and capabilities, violence against women and women’s participation in the household, including unpaid work and decision-making in both the public and private spheres.

Overall, there was agreement that we need to address the structural drivers of gender inequality (such as violence against women, early marriage, etc.) now  (why wait until 2015 when we can act now?); use what worked as “pivot points”, as some can have a multiplier effect and can help in prioritising the actions needed; and further improve data collection, reporting as well as quality and coverage.

What are your experiences in your country? Which areas of the MDGs can we build upon and where can we be transformative or innovative?

Estelle Loiseau

Wikigender Co-ordinator

Highlights of the week: Governance and more!

Welcome to another Week in Review! This week’s post includes a ‘Resource Governance Index’, a ‘World Health Statistics’ report and World Telecommunication & Information Society Day.

State of Civil Society Report 2013 by CIVICUS calls for an enabling environment for civil society, it includes nearly 50 contributions from experts and civil society leaders from around the world.  These experts highlighted good practices and challenges on the horizon for citizens and civil society globally. 

"57% of the world’s population live in countries where basic civil liberties and political freedoms are curtailed" State of Civil Society Report 2013

The 2013 Resource Governance Index Report measures the quality of governance in the oil, gas and mining sector of 58 countries. The RGI scores and ranks the countries, relying on a detailed questionnaire completed by researchers with expertise in the extractive industries. According to this year’s study there is a major governance deficit in natural resources around the world, and the deficit is largest in the most resource- dependent countries, where nearly half a billion people live in poverty despite that resource wealth.

Wikigender Special Focus: Women and Elections – As part of our focus on Governance, Wikigender is currently spotlighting the critical role that women have to play in elections to have their voice heard, both as voters and elected representatives. This ‘Special Focus’ looks at the role of women in elections, drawing on articles from various situations around the world.

World Health Statistics 2013 – this report contains WHO’s annual compilation of health-related data for its 194 Member States, and includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and associated targets.  

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day  (WTISD) is on 17 May - The purpose of  WTISD is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. Make sure you follow the #WTISD for updates!

Finally, don't miss World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development - The day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and raise awareness about the importance of intercultural dialogue, diversity and inclusion.

We look forward to checking in next week to bring you more highlights from the world of well-being and progress.

Robbie Lawrence

The Wikiprogress Team
Wikiprogress, Wikgender and Wikichild

Can good governance solve youth unemployment?

This article by Robbie Lawrence, highlights how young people are very much part of the solution to youth unemployment. This post is part of the Wikiprogress Governance and Civic Engagement Series

“Education is our top priority but, once educated we want to be trained, enabled – and funded – to take action to address the challenges faced by our generation through youth-led development. We want, in Gandhi’s words, to ‘be the change’ we want to see in the world…” World Youth Congress, Hawaii, 1999

On the same day that the Bank of England upgraded its economic forecast, stating that inflation is expected to drop within the next two years, the Trades Union Congress reported that UK unemployment figures grew by 15,000 in the first three months of 2012 to 2.52 million. Rising employment numbers in the latter months of 2012 had offered a level of respite for the British government following a bruising financial year, however, today’s findings show that joblessness is still extensive.

The issue remains embedded among young people, with jobless rates soaring towards the one million mark and standing at 21.2% across the country. The TUC is concerned that while employment prospects for older workers have been improving, those for young people are far worse, and have deteriorated further since mid-2010. The damaging effects of unemployment on young people are well documented, and there is an increasing risk that the UK’s current 15-24 year olds will suffer lasting damage to their earnings potential and job prospects throughout their lives.

Global figures are equally gloomy. Over the last few years we have been inundated with statistics on the deteriorating situation in Europe (particularly Spain) for young job seekers and in Africa well over half of 15-24 year olds are currently out of work. According to a UN led report released last week, the weakening world wide recovery has further aggravated the youth job crisis and as a result the problem will continue growing over the next five years. The International Labour Organization’s ‘Global Employment Trends forYouth 2013: A generation at risk’ estimates that 73.4 million young people (12.6 percent) are expected to be out of work in 2013, and by 2018, this will have reached 12.8 percent.

Graph taken from ILO Report 2013

The report stipulates that young people face persistent unemployment, a proliferation of temporary jobs and growing discouragement in advanced economies; and poor quality, informal, subsistence jobs in developing countries:

“The economic and social costs of unemployment, long-term unemployment, discouragement and widespread low-quality jobs for young people continue to rise and undermine economies’ growth potential,” ILO - Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013 report.

Despite vocal concern around the issue, it seems that governments and organisations have struggled to find an effective means of combating youth unemployment. The recent World Economic Forum in Davos touched upon the subject on a number of occasions with some leaders suggesting that a global fund for unemployment be implemented. Yet there have been murmurings among critics that such steps are simply inadequate when faced with the ‘tidal wave’ of jobless young people sweeping the world’s nations. Lynda Cratton of the London Business School believes that in a similar way to global warming, the sheer complexity of the challenge renders it almost impossible to solve.

Following the release of ‘A generation at risk’ the ILO’s assistant director-general for policy José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs stated, ‘These figures underline the need to focus policies on growth, massive improvements in training systems and targeted youth employment actions’. 

Two recent Wikichild Spotlight reports look at tackling youth unemployment through effective governance.

- Developed by UNICEF and Save the Children, Children's Rights and Business Principles provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing the impact of business on the rights and well-being of children. The Children’s Rights and Business Principles are built on existing standards and practices and helps to explain the opportunities for business of investing in children.  

- First published in Nairobi last year, UN-HABITAT’s State of the Field in Youth Development sheds light on how youth are positively impacting communities around the world. As part of wider series, this particular report stresses how young people can be beneficial to communities, and how local, national and international governments can implement, engage and support youth and youth led initiatives.

Both reports look to brand young people as ambassadors of change. ‘Children’s Right’s and Business Principles’ recognizes that children are among the most marginalised members of society, yet when provided with the agency to participate, they have shown that they can offer vital alternative viewpoints and make effective contributions. Similarly, ‘State of the Field’ emphasizes the need to have faith in the power of young people to contribute constructively to the good of society. It seems that both publications hope to change the attitude of governing bodies towards young people by showing that they themselves have placed youths at the center of their own projects. The ‘State of the Field’ report lists countless examples of how initiatives led by young people have positively benefited society.

Youth unemployment is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges facing governments this century and will worsen as populations swell and education becomes more readily available. However, the two publications featured provide hard facts about how the integration of young people in a country’s workforce can catalyse economic prosperity. With the development of more projects similar to the ones mentioned in the ‘State of the Field’ it seems that we can go someway to combating the problem.   

Robbie Lawrence 

Wikichild Coordinator 

Eradicating Extreme Poverty - But How do we Measure it?

This post by Emma Samman of the ODI,  profiles the ODI's Development Progress Debate on how to measure poverty within the post-2015 framework and is part of the Wikiprogress post-2015 Series.

ODI’s Development Progress project has just kicked off a debate over how a post-2015 framework ought to measure poverty AND you are invited to join the discussion  - with a blog by Martin Ravallion arguing that a new poverty target should continue to be based on a $1.25 a day poverty line alongside a ‘weakly relative’ poverty line, so that absolute poverty is given primacy but relative poverty is also taken into account.

Further contributions will argue for:

• higher international poverty lines (Lant Pritchett),
• a focus on internationally coordinated national poverty lines (Stephan Klasen),
• a poverty measure that includes both the headcount and depth of multidimensional deprivation (Sabina Alkire), and
• a focus on relative poverty that distinguishes across different types of poor people (Amanda Lenhardt and Andrew Shepherd).

Blogs will be uploaded every few days throughout May, so watch the site!

Context

Despite a great deal of debate over what a post-2015 framework should encompass, there is a general consensus that ‘eradicating extreme poverty’ should continue to be a fundamental tenet. Less agreement prevails over how this ought to be measured. The MDG target sought to halve extreme poverty over 25 years and defined the poor as those living on $1 a day or less (later updated to $1.25) in international dollars adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).  The $1.25 measure is the average poverty line among the world’s fifteen poorest countries, and the PPP adjustment is designed to enable comparison of purchasing power across countries and over time. One dollar (PPP) in Madagascar should, in principle, have the same value as one dollar in Indonesia.

But it is not clear that this is the best way to think about and measure poverty. Some have advocated higher international income poverty lines, arguing that they hold greater meaning in rich and poor countries alike. Others have argued that PPP measures may not reflect national incomes well and that national poverty lines would offer a better solution. Others still have taken issue with an income-based poverty metric and argued that poverty should be measured in a multidimensional fashion. And it has been reasoned that measures ought to disaggregate across groups of the poor in the view that not all experience poverty equally. 

Make sure your voice is heard, join the debate, either by proposing a blog advocating a particular measure or by commenting on the proposals being advanced.

Please direct your contributions to Development Progress Communications Officer, Katy Harris, at katy.harris@odi.org.uk.

Governance Week in Review

This Week in Review by Robbie Lawrence is part of the Wikiprogress Governance Series

‘Good governance is the foundation on which a society is built, and thus it is indispensable for the development of a country.’ Dirk Niebel, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

As you all know we are focusing on Governance this month, so today’s Week in Review will provide you with an insight into a number of key reports (and a video!) related to the subject. The article includes overviews of the current Wikichild Spotlight, UN Habitat’s State of the Field in Youth-Led Development, UNDP’s Global Consultation on Governance and the Post 2015 framework and Beth Noveck’s Ted Talk, ‘Demand a more open-source government’.  

First published in Nairobi last year, UN-HABITAT’s State of the Field in Youth Development sheds light on how youth are positively impacting communities around the world. As part of wider series, this particular report stresses how young people can be beneficial to communities, and how local, national and international governments can implement, engage and support youth and youth led initiatives. ‘State of the Field’ then goes further and identifies youth led organizations that need more support, financial and otherwise, that could in the future make the most difference. This framework of initiatives was first put in place at the World Youth Congress in October 1999 and since then has expanded to a global form of youth led participation.

Developed by UNICEF and Save the Children, Children's Rights andBusiness Principles provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing the impact of business on the rights and well-being of children. While most businesses are aware that 'children are our future,' the voices of young people are often ostracized when it comes to the corporate sustainability movement. The Children’s Rights and Business Principles are built on existing standards and practices and help to explain the opportunities for business of investing in children.  

The UNDP is currently running a global thematic consultation on governance in the lead up to the post-2015 framework. Similar to Wikiprogress, Wikigender and Wikichild online discussions, this is an open forum for individuals, policy makers, NGOs, UN staff and other stakeholders to discuss how governance can be used to tackle the most pressing issues (inequality etc) facing the post-2015 panel.  Make your voice heard!

The Human Development Report 2013 examines the noticeable transition in global dynamics catalysed by the fast-rising new powers of the developing world and its long-term implications for human development. The report series provides an overview of health, education and basic living standards across the world so that governments and decision makers can make more accurate and comprehensive decisions to boost progress.

What can governments learn from the open-data revolution? In this striking talk (below), Beth Noveck, the former deputy CTO at the White House, shares a vision of practical openness - connecting bureaucracies to citizens, sharing data and creating a truly participatory democracy.

We look forward to bringing you more Governance related articles in the coming weeks!

The Wikiprogress Team

The changing definition of well-being at work

If you were stopped on the street and asked what well-being at work is, maybe you could answer the question. But what are the new trends and in what direction is working life developing?

There are many questions such as, how do leadership and well-being methods help individuals to invest in their own personal well-being at work, and in their leisure time? Where does work time start, and leisure time end? Does this difference exist anymore?

Work goes everywhere and we are always within reach. With modern technology and flexibility it is possible to work at home and even at the beach. Who is responsible of well-being at work when working is possible anywhere?

How will new leadership and well-being actions cover working life, so that it fits all areas of work and everyday life?

Since industrialization began in Scandinavia we have long separated work and other areas of life. Balancing work with family life, society involvement, coping in the culture we live in, or developing our own personal self-image did not belong to the discussions of professional identity and professional self-esteem. When we do reviews at work we still find it a taboo to talk about how we or our family is coping with the way we work!

According to the definition of The Finnish Institution of Occupational Health, well-being is an entity that combines work, health, safety and welfare. Occupational well-being is a broad concept, where labor, health, safety and well-being issues and their various features are simultaneously examined. Well-being at work can be examined, for example, through objective working conditions, the subjective experience of well-being, and through compensation perspectives. The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, defines well-being at work to mean that the work is carried out in a meaningful, well flowing, safe, health-promoting, career and community supporting environment. Well-being at work can be measured. Wellbeing at work is closely related to the concept of quality of working life.

Several definitions of well-being at work still examine it as a ‘stand alone’ entity that takes place only at work premises.

We should be looking more than just our working environment, at all levels of society:  

• individual lives during work and outside work hours (almost impossible to separate in a lot of professions)
•  groups we are involved in (at work and outside),
• at our work place/organization in its entirety (we tend to look at only our immediate collaborators)
• the society and culture we live and grow in

Still substantially the missing areas are the individual's relationship to family, communities and cultures. Individual's relationship to their closest collaborators at work is examined, but the relationship to people and the environment outside the work is missing.

Well-being at work in health care is often understood only to cover working time in specific working areas where work is performed. This way we only look at work related problems when they arise at work. We do not look at factors that arise outside workinghours. It overlooks each employee as an individual participating in a wider environment, in groups, organizations, community and society.

The way and where we work is changing so we need to change the definition and actions of working life as well. Since we can´t separate working and free time, we have come to a time where well-being at work should have more holistic approach.

Let’s look at Finland

Every  3 out of 10 workers in Finland work remotely at least once a month, every fourth work remotely sometimes. Every twentieth worker is a full time remote worker. Men work remotely more than women. Of men 45 % and of women 34 % say they work remotely sometimes. To work remotely is more common around the capital city of Helsinki. In Helsinki and surrounding areas 46 % work remotely from home sometimes, when the rest of the country percentage is 39 %. Distance to work has an effect, but according to the study it is not a substantial factor. People want to work remotely, since it brings flexibility to their everyday life. According to the study (below) working at home is a more peaceful environment to work, and involves less commuting, time and money. This Study was done during August and September 2012 for an Insurance Company that introduced a new insurance for remote workers. There were 1,094 working persons who answered the study.

Let’s look at Microsoft in Finland

They have a new concept called “Läsnätyö”. Translation does not exist yet in English language so let’s separate the word in two parts. “Läsnä” means to be present and “työ” means work. So it is freely translated “work being where you are present”. You can give full work input regardless of where your location is. New technology is making this possible, and the agreed rules of the game.  It needs new examination of how we manage and organize our work and leisure time.

More and more work and leisure activities are merged into a single entity of human life. Thus, it is time to deal with well-being as a whole. Well-being at work is “where you are present”. Therefore, the concept of well-being at work should be transformed to the well-being of people of working age, to cover all four levels of society (individual, group, organization and society), which are more and more integrated in the work.

The key issues at work, as in life, is to be part of  a meaningful environment that is promoting openness, self-direction, intentionality, sense of community and common purpose.

We need to look at a more humanistic aspect of well-being, where working is taken into various levels reflecting each other. What affects the individual level is also affected by the other levels of the society and vice versa.  If the entity is not feeling well individually it is reflected negatively at  other levels (group, organization and society) and in both direction. One level can’t function without the other.

Society of WellBeing – Reflections on four levels of the society

There are various methods and tools to develop the well-being of people of working age. Supervision, coaching, and humanistic management are holistic approaches that count in the areas that are so often still missing.

Helena Kemppainen, supervisor, coach, empowerment trainerÒ, humanistic management specialist, gsm: +358 (0)50 4922161, Email

Ulla Heinonen, Ph.D., Lic.Ed., Master-CSLE®, gsm: +358 (0)50 591 7199, Email

Society of Well-being develops methods and tools for improving working life. We promote well-being on all areas of life, and are part of The Global Humanistic Management Network.

Sources:

http://www.taloussanomat.fi/tyo-ja-koulutus/2012/09/21/nain-moni-tekee-joskus-etatoita/201238350/139

http://www.if.fi/web/fi/yritysasiakkaat/vakuutuksemme/etatyovakuutus/pages/etatyovakuutus.aspx

http://www.ttl.fi/en/pages/default.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/kohtaamispaikka/archive/2011/02/23/kuvia.aspx