Video

1. Development Implications for Gender Based Violence: Opening Session Watch Video Connection Speed: High Speed Low Speed Audio    Event Title : Development Implications for Gender Based Violence: Opening Session Date : 11/9/2004 Duration : 01:27:15 minutes Language  : English Country/Region : World Keyword :  Human Development  Gender  Social Protectionand Labor Presenter : Mary Ellsberg Claudia Garcia-Moreno Mary Robinson James Wolfensohn | Related Material | Recommendations |Related B-SPAN Videos |  DESCRIPTION  The workshop on the Development Implications of Gender-Based Violence was part of an ongoing initiative of the Gender and Development Group, the Gender and Development Board and various other World Bank units to raise awareness about gender-based violence (GBV) and highlight the impact it has on the World Bank’s work. The workshop sought to inform Bank staff about the issue of GBV, to provide them with the most current information pertaining to the causes and development impacts of the issue, and to spark debate and action as to ways in which the World Bank can address this issue in its work. The all-day event opened with addresses from James Wolfensohn and Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and was followed by panel discussions, presentations and break-out sessions on different aspects of GBV. The speakers came from both within and outside of the World Bank and were carefully selected to ensure broad regional and topical representation and to provide participants with the necessary depth and breadth of information about GBV. In his opening remarks, World Bank President James Wolfensohn discussed the pervasiveness of violence against women, noting that in much of the world GBV is not just a moral issue but a development one. He described the issue one of the “most difficult” that he has come across in his tenure at the Bank. Wolfensohn called for a scaling up of efforts on behalf of the Bank and other international organizations to combat the problem. While the Bank is engaged in a number of projects related to GBV, Wolfensohn said that the majority of them are “feel good” projects which are episodic in nature and that barely scratch the surface of the issue. In closing, he noted that the main challenge to the Bank and others is to identify the flaws of the current mechanisms for attacking the problem and scale up efforts aimed at affecting change. Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke next. She complimented President Wolfensohn on his candidness with regard to the need for increased effort on behalf of the World Bank in curbing GBV. She added that one reason to focus on GBV as a development priority is economic cost. She cited a WHO study that determined that Nicaragua and Chile forgo one to two percent of GDP annually due to GBV. Robinson called GBV the most virulent form of gender inequality and said that one in three women in the world has experienced some form of violence at the hands of their intimate partner. She noted that it is important to understand how GBV can exacerbate other human rights problems. To illustrate this, Robinson drew examples from the HIV/AIDS experience in Africa. Robinson ended her remarks with a three item “wish list” for the World Bank in 2005: Firstly, the Bank should do more to measure and assess GBV; secondly, the Bank must do more to target GBV in judicial reform; and finally, increased dialogue on the subject is essential. After a brief question and answer period with Wolfensohn and Robinson the focus shifted to the causes and costs of GBV. Claudia Garcia-Moreno, Coordinator of the Department of Gender and Women’s Health at WHO, presented on the prevalence of GBV and its impact on the health of women and children. She advocated for enhanced health sector response, including training to better address issues relating to GBV and greater research efforts to identify the causes of GBV. She also called for community-based education and improved intervention strategies. Next, Mary Ellsberg, Director of Gender, Violence and Human Rights for the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), spoke on the risk factors for violence against women in developing countries. She addressed many barriers to breaking the cycle of violence in the developing world, including social norms and the lack of resources available for women. Ellsberg asserted that social, political, and economic empowerment of women is key to ending violence against women. Education is another necessary element, she asserted, stating that community norms about GBV must be changed. Judicial reform and community outreach to men are other areas that must be addressed, she said, and cited the example of Brazil’s White Ribbon Campaign.  RELATED MATERIALS   Website for the Event on the World Bank Homepage Presentations from the Workshop Gender and Development on the World Bank Homepage RELATED B-SPAN EVENTS Human Development (150) Gender (44) Social Protectionand Labor (9)