004 Substantive Equality for Women: Towards an Enabling Macroeconomic Environment—Panel IV

UNRISD Podcasts

In this podcast human rights and policy specialists quit their silos and dialogue productively across disciplines in the fourth panel, entitled Towards an enabling macroeconomic environment, of the research-advocacy-policy workshop Substantive Equality for Women: Connecting Human Rights and Public Policy organized by UNRISD, UNWomen and OHCHR on 15 June 2015. The speakers in this panel argue that: - human rights obligations should be applied to macroeconomic policies and guide policy formulation; however there is resistance to applying human rights to macroeconomic policies. - states have human rights obligations that are extraterritorial; policy coherence is also essential. - macroeconomic policies create an enabling environment for other policies, including social policies. Social policies have implications for macroeconomic policies. - it is possible to create fiscal space for the implementation of human rights because countries can choose where to make their expenditures; there are eight avenues that countries can pursue in order to collect revenues for human rights. - economic policy decisions should not be taken behind closed doors, but civil society should be able to participate and be informed. - tax policies are crucial for getting revenues to support policies and measures which promote gender equality. - we need to support women activists to enable them to mobilize around macroeconomic themes. This panel took place during the research-advocacy-policy workshop Substantive Equality for Women: Connecting Human Rights and Public Policy organized by UNRISD, UNWomen and OHCHR on 15 June 2015. Inspired by the UN Women Report on the Progress of the World’s Women Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights, the workshop connected the normative content of human rights to policy design and implementation, integrating gender equality considerations more strongly into the work on economic and social rights, and ensuring that issues like employment, macroeconomic policy and social protection are given greater prominence in work on women’s rights. The workshop was an opportunity for a dialogue between members of human rights bodies, OHCHR staff and policy analysts to creatively explore how collaboration between specialists and across silos can be enhanced to advance women’s economic and social rights within the UN system and beyond. For more information on the workshop go to: http://goo.gl/5gytjY