“Gender and Development”
Speech by Nadereh Chamlou,
Senior Advisor, Middle East and North Africa Region
Tunis, March 19, 2005

Madame President, Eminent Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is a pleasure to be here today and I like to Thank the National Union of Tunisian Women to for the invitation to participate the event off its 50th Anniversary.

Mme Hatira me asked to speak today about gender equality and development. I like to begin by defining the term gender equality which can mean different things to different people.

Gender equality has three dimensions:
• Equality under the law.
• Equality of voice through inclusion in the decision making.
• Equality of access to opportunity.

In terms of equality under the law, Tunisia is indeed one of the font runners Arab countries. The equality of women and men has been assured under the constitution and in such areas as the personal status code, which gives women equal rights of equality. Other key areas of law such as labor law also preserve woman’s right of equality.

In terms of participation in the public life here too, one sees that the women have the access and the opportunity. Women are represented in all areas of public administration, including women in the legal profession, which is a very important signal for our region. For instance, the proportion of women judges is far higher than any other country in the Middle East and North Africa region.

In terms of to economic access to opportunity, here too, the Tunisian woman has been an important element of the country’s economic development. Women’s participation in the labor force in Tunisia is around 40% which is among the highest in the region and certainly above the average of 32%.

Tunisia is considered to be one of the most successful Arab economies. Since the mid-1980s, Tunisia’s exports have been successfully diversified, moving away from resource based exports dominates by oil and gas to manufactures. The share of oil products in exports have declined from 52% in 1980 to 9% in 2001. Exports of manufactures grew at around 10% a year in real terms.
These exports were mainly driven by textiles. A large part of these industries relied heavily on women’s labor. And without the competitive productivity of these women, the per capita income of Tunisians today would not have been 2.5 times higher than their parents. So, we can say with certainty that Tunisia Women have been a key driver of the country’s well-being.

So where are the main challenges that Tunisian women still face?

A central factor of women’s empowerment in advanced or developing, remain access to economic opportunities that are in line with the capabilities that she and her society have invested in her, with increased education- our capabilities increase.

In all societies, women face practical obstacles that are not always necessarily rooted in laws, or their own capabilities, or even the intention of discrimination. Very often obstacles are tied to realities that surround the dual role that women play in the family and the public and what the should and should not be doing; what they need and what they do not need. These often result in an under analysis of gender issues and policies that are not well designed to meet the needs of women.

So, what can be done more specifically to develop gender intelligent policies that could promote women’s economic rights and improve women’s opportunities. I like to suggest three areas:
First, improve women’s access to public resources: this refers to decision/ to incorporate gender disaggregated studies and analyses at he planning and policy levels which lead to the aligning of budgetary expenditures to address men’s and women’s different needs. The most typical areas are education and health. But good infrastructure, public transportation is just as important for such access, and impact woman’s horizon and time use. Even for women who enjoy equality under the law, the inadequacy of good child care or elderly care is a significant barrier to have a job outside.
Increasing, policymakers in many countries are realizing that developing an environment to balance work and family is critical for women to fully utilize their capacities.

Second, improve women’s access to wage employment and benefits. Legal regulations that are to help households balance work and family, are normally denominated in the name of her maternal functions. Employers, certainly in the private sector, view these benefits often as a nuisance which discourages them from hiring women. To overcome such attitudes, it is important that these family provisions refer to men as well as to women because increasingly men may also need to have access to such benefits but for creating. These will also reduce the male and the female job applicant. In the private sector, one sill finds pockets of discrimination.

Hence, removing actual and perceived negative incentives in labor regulations, increase the talent pool for business and provides diversity in the workforce, which is increasingly being recognized as a driver of profitability for the bottom line.

In many countries there is that women works away jobs from men, increasingly women crate their own jobs and jobs for others? Women face the same impediments as entrepreneurs as men do and some additional one as women. Across the world, women-owned business are the fastest growing segments of the private provides tremendous potential for women but also for job creation and the development of a diversified economy.

I like to summarize Tunisia is doing better than many of its neighbors because its women have a more equal opportunity to participate. The gender equality and economic performance is not simply a coincidence. There are firm linkages between the two. The underlying reason is that gender equality ensures that individuals make the contributions they are capable of doing to the society. These are fundamental success factors in economies that want to be agile and compete effectively in a globalized world. Yet, globalization poses constant challenges to any country and economy. The rules of the game are being constantly re-written for men and women. They need to be addressed with effective policies. These policies are likely to affect men and women differently, if their impact is not adequately analyzed and taken into account.

In closing, I congratulate UNFT on its 50th anniversary. I also congratulate the Tunisian women for the progress they have achieved so far.

Thank you.