On June 2, 2005, the Legal Vice Presidency and the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Gender Unit of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) held a day-long conference entitled “Equitable Development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Addressing Equity Challenges in Labor and Trade Agendas.” Held at World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, with some experts joining the discussion via videoconference from Geneva, Switzerland, and Quito, Ecuador, the event provided a forum for examining the best practices and effective interventions necessary to build gender equality into the global trading system. Participants considered how the Bank, through its development assistance and policy advice, can harmonize the policy and legal objectives of the global trading communities and achieve regional and international gender standards.
The third session, chaired by Daria Goldstein, Counsel in the Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency, featured the responses of audience members to remarks made during the first dialogue (second session). In particular, attendants inquired about gender performance assessment, the roles of international organizations in promoting gender equity, differences among world regions because of varying social values and religious practices, and the prospects of regional trade agreements—particularly the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—with regard to labor conditions.
The fourth session, entitled “How Equitable Are the MDGs: What’s Missing? The Practitioners’ Views,” focused on gender equity issues and opportunities in Central America. Marijke Velzeboer-Salcedo, Chief of the Latin American and Caribbean Section of UNIFEM, discussed the MDGs, the opportunities they provide, and their shortcomings. Mary Cornish, Senior Partner at Cavalluzzo, Hayes, Shilton, McIntyre and Cornish, offered a perspective on the impact of global trade integration. Rocío Rosero, Director of Office of Women’s Affairs in Ecuador, and María Gabriela Núñez, Minister of Women’s Affairs in Guatemala, addressed the impact of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on labor issues in their respective countries. Rosero joined the panel from Quito via videoconference. Finally, Welber Barral, Professor of International Economic Law at the Universidade Federal de Santa Cantarina and Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center, examined the Southern Common Market (Mercado Común del Sur [MERCOSUR]) framework and its effects on regional trade integration.
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