Women, Development, and the UN: A Sixty-Year Quest for Equality and Justice

4. Development as if Women Mattered, 1986-1995

102 4 Development as if Women Mattered, 1986–1995 Song of an African Woman I have only one request. I do not ask for money Although I have need of it, I do not ask for meat . . . I have only one request, And all I ask is That you remove The roadblock From my path. —Okot p’Bitek, Song of Lawino • The Impact of Modernization • Understanding the Contours of the Economy • Taming Development • Changing Conduits to Power • New Wings in the Architecture:The UN’s Women-Only Spaces The decade 1986–1995 was one of unusual turbulence.From the early 1980s, laissez-faire policies and “free market” capitalism were prescribed as panaceas for the ills of development by a range of advocates that included Margaret Thatcher in Britain,Ronald Reagan in the United States,and institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.1 The prescription was to “get the prices right”and open markets.2 Structural adjustment policies required decreased government spending and made loans to the less developed countries and the transition countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia only on acceptance of these policies; this clustering of policies is often referred to as the Washington Consensus. These policies were spectacularly unsuccessful.In the“mainstream,”the 1980s and 1990s were seen as“lost decades”for development. The predicted rate of per Development as if Women Mattered, 1986–1995 103 capita growth for developing countries in the 1980s was 2.5 percent, but the median growth rate was less than 0.5 percent.The 1990s were even more dismal; the predicted rate of per capita growth was 3 percent, but the median growth rate was 0 percent.3 One commentator, in what is perhaps the understatement of the decade, noted that the economic performance of countries that agreed to adopt Washington Consensus policies was “distinctly disappointing.”4 Another significant change was the end of the Cold War, symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989,which changed configurations of power within the UN.5 The disintegration of the East and West blocs critically impacted the approach to development. The Socialist bloc had supported approaches that required a strong state, a thrust toward public provision of basic services, and a more equitable global economic program such as the New International Economic Order. It was often an ally of the newly liberated states as they attempted to forge coalitions such as the NAM or the Group of 77 to negotiate with their former colonial masters. The increasing role of the Bretton Woods institutions in global economic governance was accompanied by a decline in the role of the UN and its structures in negotiating global economic justice. The neoliberal paradigm, the market -led approach, weakened the role of the state, and since the UN is a parliament of states its access to influence was reduced. Changes such as the entry of twenty-eight new states into the UN between 1990 and 1993, which could have initiated the emergence of an era of smaller states and added to the strength of the South, were clouded by new coalitions and clubs.“Unions of states”such as the European Union (1992), the Commonwealth of Independent States (1991), and the North American Free Trade Association (1991) emerged at this time. Women’s journey with the UN in this period in many ways marked a watershed .The momentum built up in the International Women’s Decade continued, and women continued their work of engaging with the intricacies of inequality, critiquing development design (both at the overall level and with particular reference to women), and enlarging grassroots networks. The explosion of knowledge continued and women’s studies was recognized as a discipline. It provided one more space, this time an intellectual space, for women to develop their understanding and their advocacy. Alternative measures of progress emerged, the most vivid being the human development indices. Attention to position in the economy increased.The informal sector moved from being a residual and undesirable sector of the economy to a vital economic force. A dominant characteristic of the UN during the decade was the mobilization of women to influence policy and the emergence of women as leaders. For example , women took over leadership of six important agencies: Nafis Sadik was Women, Development, and the UN 104 the first woman to head a major agency, UNFPA (1987–2000); Catherine Bertini headed theWorld Food Programme (1992–2002);Gro...