Women's economic contribution still unappreciated

JAKARTA (JP): The poorer the family, the more important a woman's contribution becomes, according to a participant in the ongoing Asian Pacific women conference.

Minh Chau Nguyen, who represented the World Bank, told a plenary session of the conference that many poor families in the Asia-Pacific region depend entirely on women.

In India she said one third of the families below the poverty line are headed by women. But even in male-headed households, women's earnings are often critical to the economic survival of these families.

Minh said that given the high proportion of the poor who are women development programs which try to improve women's economic participation and productivity are essential.

She cited Indonesia as a place where this approach is used. After three years of participation in the Unit Desa (village unit) financial service system, the percentage of clients below the poverty line dropped from 15 percent to 4 percent, and women's income rose two and half times.

Considering the crucial role women play in the survival of families, governments and other policy makers should ensure that changes in the economic and political structures do not harm women's interests, she said.

She called on the governments of the Asia-Pacific region to protect women's interests by sustaining or increasing expenditures on social services.

She agreed with the conference's draft plan of action which states that policy changes offer the potential for long term growth and expanded employment opportunities for women in the fast-growing region.

"However, some policy measures can have adverse effects on some parts of the population, which may include women," she said. She added that even economic incentives and opportunities promised by such adjustments may elude women due to their disadvantaged status in the overall economy.

Chaired by Indonesian State Minister for Women's Role Mien Sugandhi, the conference is expected to ratify later today the draft Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action for Women which were drawn up in a five-day preliminary senior official meeting.

During almost all of the sessions, some delegates have attacked the conditions attached to World Bank and International Monetary Fund programs.

Some also expressed opposition to trading agreements, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which they said place a greater burden on women in many developing countries.

A representative of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Beti Astolfi, said her institution helps both international bodies and countries to introduce gender-sensitive approaches to development.

"These perspective will help avoid repeated failures of long term benefits of programs for women," she said.

Her colleague, R. Linda Miranda, lamented the existing national accounting systems which do not reflect unpaid work, like domestic work, and indirectly make women unimportant in the economy.

Recent surveys in developing countries have shown that unpaid work, mostly done by women, makes up 30 to 50 percent of the total national income.

The conference yesterday was marked by protests from an unidentified group of women against the inclusion of France, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands at the event.

"We strongly object to the participation of these countries, and in fact the unacceptable interference of France in defining the rights of women of the Asia-Pacific region," said the "Women of the Asia-Pacific Region" in a pamphlet.

"It's a shame....we are still controlled by the shackles of history and colonialism" the statement said.

However, Makarim Wibisono, an Indonesian delegate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, deflected the accusation, saying the four countries are full members of ESCAP and have the right to attend the conference. (swe/anr)