This Week in #SouthAsiaDev: March 11, 2016
Equal opportunity to women benefits all
Also available in: 日本語
As we today mark UN Women’s Day, it is worth considering what the inequality between men and women costs South Asian countries and what can be done about it.
One big cost of inequality is that South Asian economies do not reach their full potential. In Bangladesh, for example, women account for most unpaid work, and are overrepresented in the low productivity informal sector and among the poor. Raising the female employment rate could contribute significantly to Bangladesh achieving its goal in 2021 of becoming a middle-income country. Yet even middle-income countries in South Asia could prosper from more women in the workforce. Women represent only 34 percent of the employed population in Sri Lanka, a figure that has remained static for decades.
Economic opportunities for women matter not just because they can bring money home
. They also matter because opportunities empower women more broadly in society and this can have a positive impact on others. If women have a bigger say in how household money is spent this can ensure more of it is spent on children.
Improvements in the education and health of women have been linked to better outcomes for their children in countries as varied as Nepal and Pakistan. In India, giving power to women at the local government level led to increases in public services, such as water and sanitation.
Just as the costs of inequality are huge, so is the challenge in overcoming it. The gaps in opportunity between men and women are the product of pervasive and stubborn social norms that privilege men’s and boys’ access to opportunities and resources over women’s and girls’.
機会均等ですべての女性に恩恵を
Also available in: English
国連の「国際女性の日 」の今日、南アジア諸国におけるジェンダーの不平等がどれほどの弊害をもたらし、その解消のために何ができるかについて考えてみたい。
不平等がもたらす大きな弊害の一つとして、南アジア諸国が本来備えている力を最大限に発揮することができない点が挙げられる。例えばバングラデシュでは、 無報酬の仕事に就いている人は大半が女性であり、生産性の低いインフォーマル・セクター や貧困層でも女性の割合が多いのが実情である。女性の就業率を高めれば、2021年までに中所得国入りを果たすというバングラデシュの目標達成に大きく貢 献するだろう。それだけではなく、すでに中所得国である国 も、労働人口に占める女性の割合が増えればさらなる繁栄を期待できる。スリランカでは、就業人口に占める女性の割合が、何十年にもわたって、わずか34％ にとどまっている。
女性の経済的機会が重要なのは、家計収入が増えるという意味からだけではない。そうした機会を通じ、女性はより幅広く社会的な力を身につけ、それがひいては本人以外にもプラスの影響をもたらし得るからだ。例えば、 家計支出について女性の発言権が高まれば、子供のための支出拡大につながる可能性がある。ネパールやパキスタンなど様々な国で、教育や保健に恵まれた女性 の子供は、より充実した人生 を歩んでいることが多い。インドでは、現地政府のレベルで女性の権限を高めたところ、水や衛生などの公共サービス向上につながった。
不平等は、それがもたらす弊害が大きいだけでなく、その克服に向けた課題もまた極めて大きい。ジェンダーの不平等 は、機会や資源へのアクセスにおいて男性や男子を女性や女子よりも優遇するという、広範で根強い社会的通念の産物だ。
従って、ジェンダーの不平等を断ち切るには、持続的で総合的な取組みが求められる。具体的には、家庭、仕事や製品市場 、さらには公式・非公式の組織において、格差を助長する複合的な障壁の解消が必要となる。
The tyranny of the kitchen spoon for Sri Lanka’s women
A common Sri Lankan proverb states that a woman’s wisdom only extends to the length of the kitchen spoon’s handle. With near universal female lower secondary school completion, and more girls than boys receiving tertiary education, the knowledge of Sri Lankan females has clearly moved beyond the length of the kitchen spoon’s handle. However, the evidence suggests that ties to the kitchen spoon may still be keeping Sri Lankan women out of the workforce
.Sri Lanka’s population has more women than men; there are 106 women for every 100 men. But when it comes to the labour force, there are only 54 women per 100 men, and 52 women employed for every 100 employed men. In the last 10 years, the female labour force participation rate has declined slightly from 39.5 percent to 34.7 percent, and the female unemployment rate has been consistently twice that of males during this period or longer[1] So why aren’t Sri Lankan women – who are on average more educated than Sri Lankan men – engaged in the labor force in similar proportions? This question has been raised and discussed in policy circles, gaining momentum in recent times.
インド：防災面で広がる女性の役割
Also available in: English
【概要】
3月8日は国際女性の日だ。インドにおいて女性は伝統的に家庭を守る立場であることから、防災面での役割は見過ごされてきた。しかし、インドの沿岸地域を バスで巡り、各地の防災プロジェクトを支援する「強靭性構築への道（Road to Resilience）」プログラムを通じ、防災面でいかに女性がリーダー的役割を果たしているかが見えてきた。
これは、世界銀行と防災グローバル・ファシリティ（GFDRR）が支援する、インド沿岸部地域の脆弱性改善と防災対策を目的とした、国立サイクロンリスク軽減プログラムと沿岸災害リスク軽減プログラムの成果のひとつである。
しかし、女性は家庭内役割を担うべきという見方がまだ根強く、女性の能力を生かすことは難しいのが実情だ。この旅を通じて、女性を意思決定に巻き込むことが、個人の災害対応力育成につながるだけではなく、女性の力を活かした地域全体の防災力向上につながると考えている。
Road2Resilienceプログラム： 復興への道 （英語）
The growing role of women in disaster risk management
Also available in: 日本語
Women are seen in their traditional role of home-makers, but might their ability to take on managerial roles in disaster risk management be underestimated?
As part of the India Disaster Risk Management team, I travelled on the “Road2Resilience” bus journey along the entire coast of India. Along with the team’s mission to provide implementation support to the six coastal disaster management projects, I also focused on women’s participation in the mitigation activities of these projects.
Women’s participation in Disaster Risk Management in India has been sporadic. However, my interactions with the community - especially women - highlighted how women in coastal India are seriously taking disaster risk management into their own hands.
Can poverty be defined by shelter?
Sangmoo Kim/World Bank
In Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, you cannot miss the slum neighborhoods. More than 5,000 slum communities, accounting for 40 percent of the population, are spread across the city, often located right next to luxury penthouses, hotels, and high-rise office buildings. Most slum dwellers are limited to low-quality housing in precarious areas, often prone to flooding. The limited access to adequate shelter is an important factor that – according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2015 livability rankings – makes Dhaka one of the least livable cities in the world. These communities are among the most neglected in the city in terms of urban policy, planning, and development, although the people who live in the slums make up the lion’s share of the work force, which drives the city’s economy, contributing significantly to the garment and leather industries, construction, waste management, and many other informal sectors.
Living in slums puts enormous social, economic, and financial burdens on households, and it can lead to intergenerational poverty. Many argue that slum dwellers are caught in a poverty trap—that living in slums makes it harder for households to escape poverty. Several slum-related factors contribute to the perpetuation of poverty, including poor health outcomes; an inability to access finance or leverage property assets; and lack of access to basic services. The existence of slums is a symptom of a shortage of affordable housing, the provision of which can be viewed as a valuable goal in its own right and as a critical ingredient in addressing the broader challenges of poverty.