UN Women’s new report: Transforming economies, realising rights

On Monday, the UN Women’s new flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women 2015-16: Transforming Economies Realising Rights, was released in London.

The publication argues that the current economic framework is not working for women and has ‘shifted power relations in ways that undermine the enjoyment of human rights and the building of sustainable livelihoods’. Usefully, it goes on to provide some very concrete examples of what governments (and donors and even INGO’s) can do to tackle these challenges (for more on this see the infographic on pg 10 of the executive summary).

DFID’s approach to economic development: answering David Kennedy’s call to engage

On Monday I was the lucky recipient of a last-minute ticket to the PWC International Development Conference when a colleague wasn’t able to attend any more. David Kennedy, the newly appointed Economic Development Director General, gave an impressive-20-minute-no-notes opening address focussing on DFIDs approach to economic development.

David Kennedy speaking at the PWC International Development Conference, 24 November 2014. Source: twitter

He emphasised throughout that DFID are still developing much of their thinking and that they would welcome discussion on this. He ended by saying, “if you have any other questions or thoughts, send me an email, I’d love to engage” – and so, taking this offer at face value, here are my three points:

Thinking small about inclusive growth

Today I’m posting my fourth and final blog in this inclusive growth mini-series (you can click here for the first, second and third blogs).

Working on economic justice issues here at CAFOD one of my main areas of work is on small businesses: the role that these play in economies and to the lives of the poorest women and men and the support that they need (you can see some of our other small business blogs here). So what’s the connection…? Do small businesses have a role to play in inclusive growth?

Inclusive Growth – some steps in the right direction

Last week I emphasised the need for strong definitions when using ‘inclusive growth’ in strategies and work plans. I also highlighted some possible ingredients that should be considered for this.

But once we are clear what it is, what are the steps that we should be taking towards achieving inclusive growth?

Given the diffuse and varied definitions of inclusive growth, it is surprising that there is considerable consensus in the literature on how to achieve or operationalise it. As our working definition highlighted, growth will not automatically be inclusive. Proactive intervention and strategies are needed to ensure wider development outcomes. Briefly, these include 7 aspects:

Definitions matter

Attempting to pin down the (seemingly) secret ingredients of ‘inclusive growth’

When it comes to policies and strategies, definitions matter. They provide the boundary lines for what will be tackled. They set the objectives that will determine spending choices. Importantly, they are a vital step towards greater transparency and accountability.

Inclusive Growth is a widely used term. In 2014 the IMF, European Commission and DFID have all used this term in their work plans or strategies and the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals has included it as a part of the post-2015 development agenda.

For such a ubiquitous term, the meaning of inclusive growth is incredibly hard to pinpoint. There are also surprising differences in approach amongst organisations and institutions. At times, the word ‘inclusive’ is inserted before ‘growth’ but the approach looks unexpectedly similar to a standard economic growth package.

What’s so inclusive about growth?

Franklin Roosevelt once said “We are trying to construct a more inclusive society…. We are going to make a country in which no one is left out”.

Fast-forward to 2014 and it would seem that an ‘inclusive society’ is harder to achieve than hoped with US inequality levels soaring.

So back to the question – What’s so inclusive about growth?

Historically? Well as the case of the US shows(along with many other experiences from around the world) nothing really. As the OECD highlights, there are three problems that even the record levels of growth of the 1990s and decade of 2000s failed to tackle: poverty, unemployment and inequality.

Damp start or bright future? Some next steps for the new World Bank strategy

By Tina Chang and Sarah Montgomery

As another downpour drenches us in a very wet Washington, DC, it is very tempting to say that it is a damp start for the new World Bank strategy, launched this week at its 2013 annual meetings. But it’s been a very interesting few days for CAFOD’s economic justice team (both of us!) who are here to discuss ideas of how the Bank’s new, noble aspirations – of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and ensuring that the poorest get their fair share in prosperity gains – can be realised.
There are a lot of new and not so new buzz words flying around.

Poverty rates will not fall enough, we are told, unless there are top growth performances in developing countries and unless the poorest men and women benefit from those gains disproportionately – so the Bank needs to be “transformational”, take “smart risks” and promote “inclusive growth,” adopting the jobs mantra of the G20 governments. Just one disaster, we hear, can undo all progress, so we also need “resilience” and, of course, “sustainability”.

It is easy to be cynical about the World Bank. It is a large institution, contradictions are rife and change is difficult. As President Jim Yong Kim announces that one of the three pillars of the Bank’s climate agenda is sustainable energy for all (the other two are climate smart agriculture and low carbon more liveable cities), we learn that the Bank’s spending on fossil fuel projects, that have had at best mixed results for energy access for the poorest, rose again last year (Bit.ly/15udzv9). A major tool for the new inclusive growth agenda, is the old and highly-flawed Doing Business project.

But there are reasons to be optimistic this time around. Jim Kim has launched the first major reorganisation at the Bank for more than a decade, partly to promote the Bank as a facilitator to help countries learn from each others experience and to pull together evidence of what has worked. A big change for an institution often accused in the past of peddling ideologies and using its financial clout in developing countries to tell them what to do. One of Kim’s first actions as President was to launch an independent review of Doing Business, which has resulted in a radical agenda to overhaul this flagship project.

Of course, it is early days and CAFOD and civil society groups from around the world are here to try to ensure that the new impetus for change results in real improvements for poor men and women.

That’s why we gathered together experts from inside and outside the Bank to discuss how it can get better at “thinking small”.

Small and micro firms play a key role in economic development, inclusive growth and poverty alleviation (see our new Think Small report which will be online soon). Unless we include them as a target and support them as an important contributor to development we will continue to exclude the poorest from economic development and ‘shared prosperity’.

The Bank recognises the importance of small and micro enterprises (see their World Development Report 2013: Jobs) but does not have a coherent strategy for these key players in achieving its new corporate objectives. It does not even have a decent standard definition of what a small business is, it varies from study to project to department, with one working definition being a firm receiving a loan Dampof less than $15 million!

There is still much for the Bank, CAFOD and others to do. The process for reform of Doing Business is not yet mapped out and the discussion on a possible strategy on small businesses has only just started. Looks like there will be more trips to rainy Washington for us.