Linked with New social justice movements in a changing reality, with The WDM Death Counter, with The International Gender and Trade Network IGTN, and with The World Development Movement WDM.
She says: ”The Collapse of the WTO Doha negotiations are good for Africa and Women. This is an opportunity for Africa to move away from the myth that the Doha Round was a ‘developmental round’. Nothing could be further from the truth. From the start, the aim of the developed countries was to push for greater market openings from the developing countries while making minimal concessions on their part. Invoking development was a cynical ploy to make the process less palatable. The break down of the talks, is a turning point for Africa to contribute to developing a multilateral trading system based on developing Africa, women’s rights and sustainable development ». (Read the whole, on July 2006, on International Gender and Trade Network/ see also their Homepage ).
Read: THE NEW AFRICAN INITIATIVE IS A TRAGEDY FOR WOMEN.
Mohau Pheko – South Africa
Go to: The Ethical Globalization Initiative.
She asked the following questions (October 2002, but still valuable): I will try to address the following questions:
Why should Africa and African feminists be concerned about Europe’s move to the right? How are right-wing policies influencing the trade & economic discourse in Africa? What are the policy implications, in terms of gender justice?
What is the response from the African women’s and feminist movements, as well as emerging African social movements in general? Where are the strategic points of engagement for feminists in Europe? (Read all on WIDE).
Mohau Pheko is Coordinator of the African Gender and Trade Network (GENTA). Based in South Africa, GENTA delivers economic and social research to parliamentarians, women’s organizations and civil servants. As an independent political economist she has advised governments, corporations and international aid programmes.
Since the World Trade Organization came into being in 1995, global trade in food has been distorted by agricultural subsidies. New trade agreements encourage subsidized farmers in rich countries to produce surplus crops.
These are then sold, or dumped, on the international market at artificially depressed prices. Farmers in the developing world, lacking subsidy, are unable to compete. In consequence, African employment in the food industry has suffered, particularly affecting women. (Listen to her 3.48 minutes video, recorded in September 2006, on Big-Picture).
Mohau Pheko, Gender and Trade Network, highlighted the need to harmonize the MDG with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, and stressed that the liberal paradigm of globalization does not reflect the policies needed to fulfill the MDG. She said that African countries need to create African centers of excellence, foster research and increase civil society participation. (See on ‘Special Report on Selected Side Events’, published on International Institute for Sustainable Development).
Her Profile on dropping knowledge.
She says also: « It was about when the HIV crisis hit New York. For me it became a valuable quest in determining how we prioritise people’s lives and expenditure ».
She says also: « In a male-dominated field, women economists need to have the guts to stand up and go against the grain. I would love to see more young women influencing international trade in the future ». (See both on IOL).
« The loss of government revenue will seriously limit the already resource strapped African governments in their efforts to sustain delivery of basic services, such as health and education. This will be devastating for millions of poor people in Africa – and women and children in particular », said Mohau Pheko from Gender and Trade Network in Africa. (Read all on EPA Watch)/ and their Homepage).
Mohau Pheko, a South African businesswoman, says it is ”necessary to challenge the gender blind approach to NEPAD with passion and revolutionary zeal and to transform the power relations it presents us with.” NEPAD, a programme to kick-start Africa’s development, aims, among others, ”to promote the role of women in social and economic development by reinforcing their capacity in the domains of education and training by the development of revenue-generating activities by facilitating access to credit”. It also ”assures their participation in the political and economic life of African countries,” she says.
Pheko says other development summits like the Beijing Platform of Action, adopted the call for the participation of women as equal partners in economic, social and political development as well as in all sectors of economy in decision-making and in the areas of science and technology. ”NEPAD is far behind when it keeps women in areas of the economy that perpetuate exclusion from the macro economy. NEPAD’s lack of reference in terms of analysis and experience of the African women and people regarding these policies is a glaring omission,” she says.
Pheko also regrets that NEPAD treats Globalisation as a ‘fact’ and ‘reality’ without a deeper probing of the experience of globalisation, which has existed for centuries in various forms in Africa. She says women need to clearly define globalisation as a new world for ‘imperialism’ and the manner in which is served to consolidate economic and political domination to the west.(Read all on Global Policy Forum).
links:
Solidarité internationale et luttes sociales en Afrique subsaharienne;
Fighters for Freedom;
La Cumbre de Johannesburgo analiza el papel de la sociedad civil.