Dubai, November 17, 2008: A two-day conference on "Gender and Economics in MENA: from Theory to Policymaking" got underway in Dubai on Sunday, November 16. Organized by the Dubai School of Government (DSG) in partnership with the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) and the World Bank, the event features participation from a number of governmental, non-governmental and international organizations, as well as Arab and international experts.

Economics Nobel Laureate Professor Gary Becker from the University of Chicago gave the keynote speech on "Women in Higher Education." Becker spoke on the notable and rapid increase of the percentage of women in higher education over the past 30 years, whether in high- or low-income countries.  He attributed this increase to supply and demand rules which influence the willingness of women to pursue their higher education as a response to the requirements of the job market. Becker argued that the gap between men and women has been reduced as a result of the competition created by globalization, which requires better skills from women and thus motivates them to pursue higher education to meet these requirements.

He also tackled the issue of the increasing willingness of girls throughout the world, including in the Middle East and North Africa region, to study science and technology.

In his speech, His Excellency Mr. Nabil Alyousuf, Executive President and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai School of Government, emphasized the importance of gender-sensitive policies due to the effect of gender inequality on national social and economic development.

Alyousuf talked about the role of the Dubai School of Government as one of the most prominent educational institutions devoted to public policy research and the reform of public management institutions throughout the region. The Dubai School of Government is a research and teaching institution focusing on public policy in the Arab world.  Established in 2005 under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, in cooperation with the Harvard Kennedy School, DSG aims to organize policy forums, research seminars and conferences to encourage the exchange of ideas and promote critical debate on these topics on the regional and international levels.

On the other hand, Dr. Sekina BuRawi, Executive Director of The Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) highlighted the importance of "institutional memory," and noted that the establishment of a center devoted to Arab women's issues came in response to an initiative from Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, which was then adopted and activated by His Highness Prince Talal Bin Abdel Aziz, Chairperson of the Arab Gulf Program for the support of UN Development Organization, which the UN Population Fund, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Union for Family Planning joined later.  Dr. BuRawi considered the conference topic to be a dynamic issue on CAWTAR's agenda, as the economic participation Arab women is one of the CAWTAR's priorities and top research and training concerns. 

Her Excellency Dr. Mariam Mohammad Matar, Director General of the Community Development Authority (CDA), said:  "Due to the philosophy of equality shared by Dubai's citizens and increased political will, more and more women are participating in all facets of society. The CDA is working with a number of government and non-government institutions to research and develop policies to further increase the role of women in the UAE and to provide a social safety net for all."

Dr. Mustafa Al-Nabli of the World Bank applauded the cooperation between the World Bank and CAWTAR since its establishment in 1993, describing it as "fruitful and productive."  He noted the challenges facing organizations and research centers in the Arab world, the Middle East and North Africa concerning the analysis of reasons behind gender inequality and its effects on the job market even though women achieve educational results superior to men both at the university as well as other educational levels.

Dr. Al-Nabli highlighted demographic and environmental issues--specifically the scarcity of water in this area--as two of the more complicated challenges facing the region.  He emphasized the need to support efforts to close the gender gap, drawing attention to gender inequality and the lack of knowledge on this issue, and called for a long term vision in order to reach clear-cut results in the near future.

In the same context, James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank, described the economic crisis which has swept the world since September as one of the worst crises the world has faced since the 1930s. According to Mr. Wolfensohn, the crisis can neither be overlooked nor hidden. Wolfensohn highlighted the influence of this crisis on the Arab world and pointed out the decrease of oil prices and the impact of this decrease on various aspects of the regional economy, including the labor and real estate markets. He added that women have a more fragile situation in the job market, as men see themselves as more important and qualified to find jobs, in addition to the other challenges that young educated women face.

Wolfensohn emphasized the need for men and women in the region to realize that the region will not achieve its true potential for economic development without empowering women to play an equal role in this development. He stressed that that this should not happen upon the initiative of international institutions, but rather from the initiative of local leadership supportive of women's participation in the workforce.

The conference attracted a number of important Arab and international political, economic and academic figures.  These included Her Excellency Dr. Fatima Al Beloushi, Minister of Development and Social Affairs in Bahrain, Mr. James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank, Mr. Mustafa Al-Nabli, Director of the Economic Affairs Department for the MENA Region at the World Bank, and Dr. Gary Becker, Economics Professor at the University of Chicago, in addition to a number of members of the Arab Network for Development and Gender (@NGED) GERPA initiative, and the Gender and Public Policy program at the Dubai School of Government.

The conference agenda addressed topics including health and education, poverty and participation in the employment market, the opportunities and challenges which women investors face, the teaching of gender and public policy in the Arab world, improving the process of data collection in the Arab World, establishing linkages between governmental agencies and research centers, and fostering the role of national women's authorities in the GCC.  On the second day of the conference, a roundtable discussion was held during the afternoon to discuss the research findings of the GERPA initiative to enhance the empowerment of women.

The conference concluded with a number of recommendations. Specifically, delegates urged the creation of a digital database on gender research in the Arab world in order to facilitate information sharing among the academic and policy making communities. Likewise, they recommended establishing a network connecting university programs on gender in order to enhance regional understanding and awareness.

The main conference goals were the coordination of efforts and collaboration between @NGED and the GERPA initiative in general, and the utilization of the experience of the members of the @NGED network, both as individuals and institutions and the investment of their efforts and programs in order to reach policy makers for the streamlining of gender in economic studies, thereby improving women's access to available economic opportunities through the establishment of policy plans and agendas that ensure equal access to opportunities and resources between the sexes.

The Economic Research Initiative Sensitizing Gender and Policy Analysis is an initiative launched by the World Bank in 2005. In the same year, the World Bank chose CAWTAR to act as the scientific and executive agency for its projects. In light of the strategic nature of this initiative aiming to streamline gender into existing programs and projects, a mechanism calling for research and scientific studies on the initiative topics was used as a precedent to benefit researchers In the MENA region.  The results of the first round of this competition were announced in December 2006, when 27 research proposals out of 60 were selected for funding by the World Bank as a response to this call.

In order to encourage the production of further economic research sensitizing gender and focusing on the role of women in the economic process, the second round of the GERPA competition was launched in 2008 for the selection of the best research in the MENA region. The main research areas suggested were: the support of the role of women in the job market in the MENA region, education and training as a tool to empower women, the improvement of the health system, the role of women as a performer and end user of health services, health and the development of the role of women as suppliers and beneficiaries, the role of civil society to promote the status of women and globalization and new opportunities for women.

-Ends-

For additional information:
Selma Nagbou,
Outreach Manager,
Dubai School of Government
Phone:+971-50-394-8835
Email: selma.nagbou@dsg.ae

© Press Release 2008