World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development— A Commentary

The Long Green Revolution

“…As previous work suggests ), the Gates Foundation has foundered in its thinking about women and, in this, follows broader failures in the international development establishment (Razavi 2012). A recent update to its agricultural development strategy, the Gates Foundation offered this observation:…”

Patriarchy and Property Rights among Yoruba Women in Nigeria

“…For the purposes of this contribution, women's rights to land, housing, and other properties are understood primarily in context of human rights as articulated in international human rights instruments. This study is based on the assumption that "women's rights to property" must be "independent" rights -that is, "rights that are formally untied to male ownership or control, in other words, excluding joint titles with men" (Agarwal 1994b: 3;Amartya Sen 1999;Shahra Razavi 2011). This refers to "effective property rights" (Agarwal 1994b: 19), which is rights not just in law but also in practice.…”

Review Essay: Beyond ‘Smart Economics’: The World Bank 2012 Report on Gender and Equality

“…Similarly, the Report's reduction of the complex issue of social protection to conditional cash transfers misses the reality that stop gap measures are not enough to address chronic poverty, and the current crisis is already beginning to reverse gains made on gender equality (Razavi 2011a). By now we know that market mechanisms are not going to lift people out of poverty.…”

“…Though the Report does stress the pressing need for women's ownership of and control over assets, particularly land, conditional cash transfers and property/land rights for women cannot replace the development of full-fledged social policies to ensure that all citizens and in particular marginalized and vulnerable women have entitlements and access to public provision of social security and protection. As Shahra Razavi (2011b), Research Coordinator of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), comments: 'The unfortunate reduction of social policy to a narrow focus on conditional cash transfers will also reduce the report's usefulness to the "policy maker", as well as its staying power for other constituencies who care about the subject.' The Bank had the opportunity to encourage states to strengthen social policies and to consider what macroeconomic environment can enable social policies and public investment that would close the gender gaps.…”