Global Machinery to Allocate Budgets for Positive Discrimination on Women - For Oil Income Countries

SUBJECT: What are some of the barriers/challenges and recommendations to ensuring that gender-sensitive language has deeper societal impact

Deprivation often works through processes of exclusion, from livelihood, from free thinking, free speech, exclusion from access to knowledge, exclusion from basic health and security are the process of institutionalized poverty and deprivation. Religious intolerance and fundamentalism generating widespread exclusion, is about to intimidate our civilization. As we are getting closer through globalization.

The global serious issues such as over population, the issue of our responsibility in preserving environment for future generation, the quantity of food available for poor and the danger of using pesticides to increase production, the question of our responsibility toward preserving quantitative or qualitative human lives and so on; shouldn’t we as development practitioners advocate wiser emotional paradigms for women??? I think decision makers are completely losing the sight of what will happen to our children only 20 years later….. to this end we should question the idea of cherishing motherhood role for women as it is practiced.

The instrumental approach to women under hegemony of fundamentalists is just the same as what they have been convicting the developed countries for. The out of date thinking that have brought women only 1% of assets and 10% of social income while they are taking the burden of 2/3 of work load. It is necessary to reduce women’s male dependence, particularly financial dependence by funding women’s participation in economic affairs and formal employment. National budget allocation for A social support system must be institutionalized and audited in World's Security Council to prevent women’s physical and mental vulnerability in hands of abusive men.

In the acts of Iranian Constitution clear discrimination in cultural, social, economic affairs is elaborated and submissive role is assigned to women. Women are not expected of any creativity other than their motherhood or sex slavary. This is oppressive language that dictates hard line abusive behavior not only on women but also on other men by minor hardliners.

What we practicaly need for empowering women is to legalise their rights and set up global auditing establishment to monitor this. Further more universal machinery should be set (perhaps through use of oil income) to allocate national budgets in programing and providing financial facilities to educate potential women as lawmakers, legislators, researchers, philosphers, thinkers, governers, innovators and ultimately strategizers - wider quota system.

There is a need for positive discrimination to cover for suppressions exerted on women in developing countries. Women are systematicaly cut off from accessing financial resources at all level. How do you expect them to flourish or raise their awareness when they lack minimum resources. Let us be practical, that for an inclusive development program, commitment of resources prioritizing women is a must. This policy should be brought to global awareness for integration in development projects funded by World Bank and IMF.

Under patriarchy governance women do not have other choice than to act innovately in order to pass men as well as women out of the boundaries. The male mind-set in patriarchial systems is rigid and short sighted, therefore the use of technologies, and use of new methods are unfamiliar for authocratic rulers and it takes time for them until they be able to react and respond. Women oppressed by fundamentalist rulers are judged as vulnerable, weak, emotional individuals easy to bring under control. As such, it is difficult to merely focus in transformation of their thinking; what we need is to use technology and innovative ways to use the resources to the advantage of women and influence decision makers without overtly emphasis on who controls who. In simple language is like talking through things with stubborn child when he insists on having his own way.

As we are living at a time that powerful forces are changing the world history, there is no other solution but to respond by creating drastic changes in economy, changes in social arrangements. Measures should be taken by the World Bank and donor agencies triggered by external pressures from NGOs as well as, policy makers, researchers, and women activists to give a higher profile to the gender differentiated impacts of economic policy reform and to modify policies on this basis. New areas of income generating projects to alleviate poverty such as 'affordable' training courses in ICT, life skills, and knowledge management as well as funding in setting up Training and Cheap Public Computer Centers should be introduced for wide population for income generation activities. The establishments of public places practicaly enhances civil culture particularly in Islamic countries in which basic social foundations are revolved around family establishments and limited to mosques. Public gatherings in art centers, street theatres, epic poetry readings, cafes, cheap restaurants, public internet cafes will pull out people from their homes and encourage social inclusion of both sexes prior to their more meaningful social activities.

ICTs had enhanced ongoing development activities, the ICT activity could be replicated without sizeable investment, and evidences show that there is a measure of sustainability that involves a combination of factors, including among others financial return, local capacity and development benefits. Increasing the level of understanding of Information Technology and its role in society is what will give us real face of modern approach to men and women’s issues in developing countries.

The traditional and common theories of leadership has not proved to be workable for women living under fundamentalist rulings. For instance to persuade a man head of household purchases a personal computer for home, the debate that it will increase awareness wont do any good, rather the argument should revolve around the idea that it will keep your daughter to stay home and keep safe. To this end, women leaders are expected to use their management skills in a creative manner to negotiate and carry out life long debates to pursue their rights.

It is important to advocate the new issues of concern through radio and media. If all the financial resources that is used for publicity of religious establishments would simultanously strengthen bahviour concerning preserving environment, we would have been certainly living in much healthier environment, working for environment friendly business activities, surplus population would diminish, relevant education and vocational trainings and technologies would flourish and perhaps as human being we would have contributed our fair share to nature instead of current over abusive behaviour toward natural resources. Originaly different beliefs were created by gifted individuals for safeguarding human from fear of natural and uncontrolable forces. Now man (human being) overcomed his fears, should focus on establishing popular sacred beliefs to preserve environment as ethical act and avoid polluting homes and lives. The debates of 'good and bad' should be redefined in terms of our contemporary needs and issues - that is rethinking ideas and aspirations - tolerrance (tolerating others as well as other specisies), democracy (democratique approach to issues that is more inclusive, non discriminatory and ethical) and wiser use of resources should be advocated, much wiser.

Nasrin Azadeh
15 Feb 2005