Zafar began her presentation with an explanation of the origins of patriarchy and moved on to share astounding figures that illustrate why focusing on economic empowerment of women can change the world. 70% of people living below the poverty line are women. The economic loss to a society that has a lack of women participating in the market is 0.7% of GDP. In both South Asia and the Middle East, female participation in the economy is only half that of male participation. Thus, there is a clear correlation between a society that does not utilize all of its human resources and poverty.

However, this is not only a problem of economics. The most difficult part about empowering women economically is changing a society’s attitudes and perspectives towards women. During her presentation Zafar stated, “Microfinance is simple, but changing mindsets is not.” Therefore, the real challenge to empowering women economically is making both men and women realize the worth of a woman in both social and economic terms. The underlying devaluation of women in some societies continues to be an uphill battle for organizations like the KASHF Foundation, and for our global community as a whole. Hopefully, one day we will reach a global society where equity between women and men is the norm. Thankfully, organizations like Kashf are doing some of the most important work in the world, and leading us in that direction.

Please click the link below to check out the Kashf foundation and all the wonderful work they do!

http://www.kashf.org/site_files/display_content.asp?id=5

A NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER in a post neo-liberal capitalist world is the single most important issue in global affairs today. All other issues are secondary in comparison, as without a strong, globally supported and wealth enhancing system, conditions will deteriorate owing to uncertainty, fear and instability. The U.S. and Western economies can no longer simply paper over the cracks with uncontrolled spending and weak reforms and regulation. The neo-liberal economic order is dead and urgently needs revising and replacing.

The threat to the dollar as the reserve currency, the costs of unprecedented levels of U.S. government debt, the prospects of rising inflation in Western economies, the emergence of China as a military and economic superpower, the jump in raw material prices (especially oil) and the weakness in the international banking system (with credit lines still a long way from where a sustainable recovery requires them) is a “perfect storm” leading to a financial and economic meltdown if no global, coordinated attempt to salvage the system takes place. Without a “Bretton Woods” style meeting to determine a new way forward, the world could descend into chaos and ultimately a Third World War. Environmental, religious, or terrorist threats pale into insignificance when contrasted against the instability of the global economic system.

What do YOU think is the most important issue in global affairs today? Send your responses to pgi.editorial@gmail.com.

The central bank recently moved to incorporate reviews of compensation into its routine regulatory process, a step that many have long expected it to take. This translates into unprecedented government intervention into compensation schemes that are traditionally decisions of the management and the board. In addition, the highest earning executives at firms that received exceptional bailout will be capped at $500,000. While some (among them, European leaders) believe that pay-capping is long overdue, few actually expected the U.S. to actually implement these cuts. While the fed is not expecting to claw back executives’ bonuses the way UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has suggested, nor introduce risk-adjusted returns to assess how employees should get paid; the move to overhaul compensation definitely signals a shift away from the Wall Street culture as it once was. The relevant question now is whether these measures will work – that is, to reduce the appetite for short-term risk taking? Or are they only cosmetic changes? Critics have pointed out that the reduction in cash payments is merely compensated by stocks, or that a reduction in the bonus structure will only entail a shift to more salary. The most worrisome aspect of this issue for banks is whether it will spark an exodus of top talent, not only to other domestic banks, but also overseas, as other G20 countries such as Brazil, Japan and China do not feel the same urgency to scale back their executives’ pay.

From the ILAB report:

“The ILO has found that 69 percent of child labor worldwide is in agriculture, and the List contains many examples of child labor in rural, agricultural economies. However, ILAB’s research also found child labor in more developed economies, in the manufacture of goods such as Christmas decorations, fashion accessories, and soccer balls for the global marketplace.

“With respect to forced labor, certain countries and regions have a higher incidence of “traditional” forms of forced labor, often linked to long­established social structures, religious beliefs, and patterns of discrimination against vulnerable groups. Such patterns are found in parts of South Asia, West Africa, and South America. Other, more “modern” forms of forced labor are linked to globalization and increased migration worldwide.22 Increasingly, individuals migrating from one country to another ­ or even within a country ­ are entrapped by fraudulent recruitment and placement schemes that result in debt bondage, indentured servitude, and other forms of forced labor. Some victims are forcibly trafficked, while others initially accept employment voluntarily, only to find themselves in work situations from which they cannot escape without harsh penalties.”

(Thanks to my sister, who forwarded this on from the New School’s Graduate Program in International Affairs listserv.)

June started off with a plane crash of an Airbus flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. President Obama went to Cairo to make a speech about Muslims and the U.S — some people thought it was pretty good while others had more measured reactions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, widely reported to be sickly with cancer, tapped his youngest son Jong Un as successor, and his sushi chef said he’s just like his dad. Palau decided to accept a few of the Uighur Guantanamo detainees, and a few of them were also taken in by Bermuda. The Bermudans, however, weren’t so happy about how that happened. A little later, Iran had a Presidential election. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won under most likely fraudulent circumstances because more people voted in some towns than existed there. People protested, and Twittered, and protested some more, with violent repercussions. New York Times reporter David Rohde escaped after 7 months of being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan. In a seemingly pro-feminist move (but actually to the chagrin of many feminists), Nicolas Sarkozy supported a ban of the burqa in France. In Honduras, President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a coup, and the U.S. military finally withdrew troops from Iraq to focus more instead on efforts to curb Taliban influence in Afghanistan.

In Urumqi, China, riots broke out between the majority Han Chinese and the minority Uighurs, and ethnic tension has remained heightened since, including recent claims that Uighurs are attacking Han Chinese with HIV infected needles. Two hotels were bombed in Jakarta, Indonesia. Hillary Clinton went to the Congo and brought attention to the use of rape and sexual violence as a tool of war (against men, too). Bill Clinton flew to North Korea and saved journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been captured in March and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. It was a good week to be a Clinton.

Former President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino died. RIP, Cory. In Taiwan, there was a really big typhoon. Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial was held over the question of whether or not she violated the terms of her house arrest when a crazy American guy swam through a lake to visit her on a supposedly divine mission. She was found guilty. The American was freed (but remained crazy). Everybody found out that private contractor organization Blackwater (now Xe) was hired by the CIA to assassinate targets. Scotland allowed the one convicted Lockerbie bomber to return to Libya because he is dying of cancer. Everybody was really, really mad, especially because it was probably because of oil. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe came down with the H1N1 virus. The Darfur conflict was reported as coming to an end. Afghanistan held Presidential elections which showed incumbent Hamid Karzai leading, but like Iran, this was probably also fraud. Unlike Iran, they’re actually recounting votes and throwing out bad ones.

Hopefully, that’s refreshed your mind with a whirlwind of memories from the past three months. But here are a couple of things that perhaps you might have missed:

China reversed its one child policy, but only in Shanghai.

Cambodia set out to host a “Miss Landmine” pageant to challenge traditional beauty standards by promoting a pageant for landmine victims. The pageant was quickly banned.

A Ukranian polka band came up with this cover of Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold.”

Some of the lawsuits over harmful pesticide effects made by Nicaraguan farmers for Dole Food Co. turned out to be fraudulent (involving faked sterility tests, among other indicators), effectively casting doubt on all the other farmers who might have actually been harmed by the pesticides.

China tried to use electroshock therapy to cure teens of Internet addiction. The practice was quickly banned.

Canada granted refugee status to a white man from South Africa who claimed he was being persecuted in his native country on the basis of his race.

An IT company in South Africa ran a test to see what could send data faster: South African Internet service or a carrier pigeon. The pigeon won.

Anything missing? Of course. Drop a comment to add in any other summer global affairs news that slipped through the cracks!

What it’s like to be a refugee in America – Christian Science Monitor

Hundreds of workers walked out of the Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Lincolnshire when the owner, Total, awarded a £200m contract to an Italian subcontractor, IREM. Over the last three days, “Sympathy strikes” spread across the country – in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Workers fear that they may become victims of rising unemployment in the UK.

A few years ago when the economy was thriving this would not have happened – but then the economy is not thriving now. During a period of high unemployment, the sight of foreign workers ‘taking British jobs’ is proving to be unacceptable, especially when they believe that qualified unemployed UK contractors are available. The workers are angry that Gordon Brown is not keeping a promise that he made at the Labour Party conference of providing “British jobs for British workers.”

Speaking from the World Economic Conference in Davos, Brown chastises that “Wildcat strikes are not defensible.” While he sympathizes with local workers, he emphasized that “we need people with the skills, developed in this country.”

So why was the business contract awarded to a foreign firm in the first place? Is this a case of relatively skilled versus unskilled labor, like Brown implied? Or is it just a matter of cheaper labor overseas? There is no way of knowing without looking at the business contract (which is confidential), but Total claims that they are paying the Italian workers the same as local workers.

The government has began an investigation into whether Total has illegally withheld jobs from British workers. The workers’ emotions are running high and some believe that this is a prelude to social unrest. Yet, students of international economics know that the mobility of labor across borders from a country with comparative advantage to one without, is in theory, beneficial to both countries. “Protectionism would be a sure-fire way of turning recession into depression.” Lord Mandelson could be right. Now it’s just a matter of convincing unemployed British workers of that.