Facilitate Human Rights from a Feminist Perspective: Economic Justice Trainings

Building on the Center for Women’s Global Leadership’s distinct history within the women’s rights and global human rights community, as well as its contributions over the last two years in the production of feminist perspectives on economic policy, we propose to develop and administer training modules that will promote a strengthened understanding of the relationships between human rights and macroeconomic policies. Understanding the overall gendered effects and concrete impacts of macroeconomic policies on human rights can be an effective tool in feminist activism and the achievement of gender equality.

The Applying a Human Rights Framework to Macroeconomic Policies project comprises two key elements: (i) developing the training modules; and (ii) conducting the training. Overall, the feminist economic justice training will develop the capacities of activists based in feminist and social justice organizations, policy makers, and students to utilize a human rights framework in feminist analyses of macroeconomic policies.

The modules will lend themselves to conducting three and a half days, one day, half day trainings.

Goals:

Applying Feminist Human Rights Perspectives to Macroeconomic Policy: An Economic Justice Training, Istanbul, Turkey: April 18, 2012

As feminists advocating for the full realization of human rights and the achievement of gender equality, women’s rights activists need to have knowledge of macroeconomic policies to fully comprehend systemic issues of inequality. To this end, on April 18, 2012, ActionAid International and CWGL co-sponsored an Economic Justice Training to expose advocates from NGOs to feminist human rights perspectives of macroeconomic policy. As a take away, a participant noted, “We advocate for women’s employment, for example, but we do not build close linkages with macroeconomic policies. This will strengthen the power of our arguments and will provide alternative perspectives.” CWGL will build on this training and hopes to convene a three and a half day training on economic justice in Fall 2012. Trainers included: Radhika Balakrishnan, CWGL; Diane Elson, University of Essex; and James Heintz, Political Economy Research Institute. Participants came from countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, and the Pacific.