August « 2010 « sandrapralong.eu

Sandra Pralong – coordonator, „De ce m-am intors in Romania”, Ed. Polirom, 2010

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Sandra Pralong

Data: 17 august 2010

Autor: Andrei Plesu

Publicat in: Bucurestiul Cultural, Nr. 96

Titlul articolului: Sandra Pralong – coordonator, „De ce m-am intors in Romania”, Ed. Polirom, 2010

Bucurestiul Cultural recomanda

Sandra Pralong – coordonator

De ce m-am intors in Romania, Ed. Polirom, 2010

Cine mai vorbeste astazi despre curaj, idealism, optimism? Aflati povestile unor romani care s-au intors in tara si de ce au ales sa traiasca in Romania.

Noica ne spunea (…) inainte de ’89: „Partea frumoasa cu Romania este ca, aici, totul e inca de facut”. E de facut ceva in toate domeniile. Sunt tineri care spun: „Mergem in Romania si facem treaba !”. Dar, odata intorsi, (…) urmeaza o mare dezamagire. Din punctul meu de vedere, nu cei care pleaca si raman in strainatate reprezinta „fuga creierelor”, ci cei care se intorc si sunt nefolositi. Asta e ceva criminal.

Categorie: Blog

Romania and MDG Goal 3: “When gender equality means expanding democracy”

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Sandra Pralong

Autor: Sandra Pralong

Publicat in: Entre Nous

Titlul articolului:

“Entre Nous” Magazine Article

“When gender equality means expanding democracy”

By Sandra Pralong, Gender and Civil Society Advisor, UNFPA Romania*

Total population (millions):	21.4
Surface area (sq. km):	238,391
GDP per capita (PPP US$):	10,091
Human Development Index 2009 (Rank 1 – 177):	63
Life expectancy at birth (years):	71.3
Population below PPP $1 per day (%):	2.0
Net enrolment ratio in primary education (% both sexes):	95.5
Unemployment, total (% of total labor force):	12.5

Source: 2008 MDG Monitor http://www.mdgmonitor.org/factsheets_00.cfm?c=ROM&cd=642

As this September we are set to evaluate overall progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Romania is an interesting case to ponder. As a new EU member since 2007, the country boasts remarkable progress in its relatively short post-communist transition. Indeed, by MDG standards, Romania is poised to be meeting all goals but, by the government’s own admission, it is lagging behind in a key one: Goal 3!

This is a paradox for a European country, since gender empowerment has been both an important cause, as well as a consequence of sustained economic development—and EU membership was possible for Romania precisely due to its political and economic achievements. While after 1989 gender balance quickly moved from the forced formal equality practiced during communist times to more substantive empowerment (thus resulting in many improvements over the years), the changes seem not yet sufficient for the country to meet all self-imposed targets in this critical review year.

The essay that follows will overview Romania’s progress to date, identify key remaining challenges and outline some of the UN System’s assistance in helping the country enjoy all the social and economic benefits that come from fully meeting MDG 3 by 2015.

Progress so far:

The Millennium Development Goal Nb. 3, adopted following the September 2000 UN General Assembly’s Millennium Declaration, states: “Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015 “, and sets three indicators:

3.1 Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
3.2 Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sectors
3.3 Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament.

Romania, owing to its egalitarian communist past, has long since met the challenge of equal school enrolment for boys and girls alike. Therefore the government tailored the goal, adding country-specific targets. Thus “national” MD Goal 3, as adopted in 2003, reads: “Promote gender equality and support employment by women and youth” and the targets are:

3.1 Increase the employment of women up to 60% until 2015

3.2 Increase the employment of youth between the ages of 15 and 24

3.3 Halving, by year 2015 the incidents of domestic violence.

On the first target Romania is on track, since the wage-employment of women in the non-agricultural sectors increased steadily, although the share of women 15-64 employed has plunged slightly, most likely due to the overall economic crisis. [See Graph below]

Figure 1 Source: Prospective MDG Report, 2010

The second target however, related to youth, fares less well: the unemployment of 15-24 year-olds is still high, at an average of 21%, and likely to increase, due both to the overall economic downturn but also to Romania’s particular economic predicament. Indeed, owing to the economic crisis, the government cancelled some of the special employment programs that targeted 15-24 years-olds, and even folded the former stand-alone Youth Ministry into the Ministry of Education.

However, the third target, regarding domestic violence, has evolved quite positively in the last few years. Although following the passage of the law (regulating the redress of violence victims and the punishment of perpetrators) the number of cases appeared initially to increase (due to additional reporting), after the initial hump the cases tapered off and progressively declined. Moreover, the integrated approach in monitoring and reporting domestic violence cases (made possible with help from UNFPA), has allowed dramatically improved services to victims and rehabilitation opportunities for perpetrators in one part of the country.

Furthermore, there are other areas where relative “gender equality” was achieved, albeit in indirect ways, through the spectacular gains made by women in exercising the right to abortion and to contraception. Changes in this domain have been positively dramatic after the fall of communism, when Ceausescu’s pro-natalist policies deprived women of the ability to exercise free choice. As a matter of fact, this ability to enjoy basic human rights has contributed significantly to the improvement of another MDG Goal—Goal 5, regarding maternal health, where the number of maternal deaths due to abortion has substantially diminished. [See www.unfpa.ro and Graph below]

Source: IPD 15 presentation, UNFPA, 2009

A key remaining challenge:

Several challenges need to be overcome before Romania can enjoy the benefits of a society without gender gaps; but there is one area in particular where policies and mindsets need to be brought in line with current European standards: namely in women’s ability to enjoy fair political representation.

If one of the benefits of living in a democracy is peopl
e’s capacity to be represented and have a say in the decisions that affect their lives, then women’s voices are indeed extremely weak in Romania. Fewer than 10 % (9,67% to be precise) of the parliamentarians are women, compared with the UNECE recommendation of 30% and the EU average of 24%. The Romanian Executive boasts of only one woman minister, after having none in the former government, when, out of 19 ministries, 12 did not have any women in decision-making positions. Lamenting this situation, a recent report states that, alarmingly, the “Percentage of women increases [only] as the decision-making power positions decrease”. At the local level the situation is even direr: Romania has only 3.5% women mayors and 4.7% prefects (central government’s representatives in the territory).

This extremely weak political representation contrasts markedly with the very high educational attainment of women in all fields. Specifically, when it comes to governance and legislative competencies, one is surprised to see that a whopping 71% of graduates in public policy fields (political science, law, economics, public administration, sociology, etc.) are women.

The determinants of such a discrepancy are still an open question but perhaps Romanian women’s inability to integrate the public sphere and partake to governance decisions needs to be viewed also in light of the absence of a specific impetus given by the MDGs. Indeed, indicator 3.3 of Global MDG 3 (about “the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments”), is the only one that the Romanian government failed to endorse—perhaps owing to a much healthier gender balance earlier in the decade and to the expectation that there will be an ascending trend. A technical Round Table meeting of experts and civil society activists convened by UNDP in June of this year has even recommended the formal adoption of this indicator among Romania’s MDGs.

In a counterfactual—and paradoxical—way, Romanian women’s predicament may bode well for MDG advocates everywhere, as it shows how inclusion of specific targets and indicators, supported by committed monitoring by government and civil society alike, encourages change and yields visible results. The absence of these key ingredients has put Romanian women at a considerable disadvantage so far and contributed to depriving them of political representation.

The UN family’s legacy:

As a European country, Romania technically no longer needs UN assistance. Yet the government seeks it, designing innovative ways in which the relevant developmental experience of the UN in Romania can be harnessed and transferred to other countries undertaking similar transitions.

Clearly in the remaining 5 years gender equality will need considerable advocacy if Romania is to meet fully all MDGs. As in the rest of Europe the gender gap is quickly vanishing in the public sphere and in business alike, Romania will need to follow suit. The key is finding the right champions and agents of change.

The UN Family in Romania has already embraced stronger advocacy for representation as a key step in empowering women. Further developments will follow—hopefully—from there: gender mainstreaming in education and the curricula, gender-sensitive budgeting, etc.

In addition, UNFPA is searching new grounds as it has completed its programming cycle and is now looking at ways to leave a lasting legacy by transferring its knowledge and know how to various public institutions and NGOs. The plans are to be working with men and women alike to monitor and analyze the gender situation, generate public debate and create a platform on the basis of which informed decisions can be taken. As women empowerment has been such a harbinger for sustainable prosperity, forceful advocacy for gender equality is a key component of the UN legacy.

When looking at the world at large, one cannot help it but notice the importance of gender parity in allowing citizens to enjoy key governance benefits such as the absence of corruption or high standards of living for men and women alike. A cursory look, for instance, at the Human Development Report or the Global Corruption Index, shows that those countries at the top of the list as having a high Human Development Index (HDI) and being perceived as “less corrupt”, are also most likely to be those countries that rank highest in the presence of women in decision-making positions in the public sphere.

This critical MDG review year seems the right catalyst to help boost the self-confidence of Romanian women and empower them to move their country forward by establishing a more equitable gender balance, to the clear benefit of both the men and the women of Romania.

Email: pralong@unfpa.org

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of UNFPA

See http://www.mdgmonitor.org/country_progress.cfm?c=ROM&cd=642

See Hotnews article: http://www.hotnews.ro/print?articleId=6385725

Categorie: Blog

Doar optimismul si încrederea sunt creatoare de valoare si de valori.

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Sandra Pralong

Data: 14 August 2010
Autor: Sandra Pralong
Publicat în: www.agentiadecarte.ro

De curând, în colectia “Hors Collection” a Editurii Polirom, a aparut volumul “De ce m-am întors în România”, coordonat de Sandra Pralong, volum care aduna experienta de viata si povestea unor români de succes, care, dupa ce au parasit România, au hotarât sa revina în aceasta tara. Sandra Pralong a fost consilier al presedintelui Emil Constantinescu pe Relatia cu Românii de Pretutindeni, iar în prezent este presedintele Fundatiei SynergEtica si membru în conducerea a numeroase fundatii si asociatii internationale. În 1990 a pus bazele “Open Society Fundation” (Bucuresti), iar între 2002 si 2005 a fost cel mai înalt responsabil de comunicare pentru Europa si CSI în cadrul Programului Natiunilor Unite pentru Dezvoltare. Andra Rotaru a dialogat cu Sandra Pralong, în exclusivitate pentru AgentiadeCarte.ro, pentru a descoperi care mai sunt principalele atuuri ale României de azi si de ieri.

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Categorie: Blog