Gender and Infrastructure (June 25, 1130-1300), Rooftop, Trident
Objective of the Event
- The objective of the session will be to discuss how infrastructure can close gender gaps, and thereby support economic development in the countries in which the AIIB works. This is pertinent and useful for the AIIB, as it begins its life and it is hoped that the event can provide some ideas and guidance for Bank.
Background
If infrastructure is designed so as to take into consideration women’s as well as men’s needs accessibility and use can be increased for all, with the subsequent knock on effect both to quality of life as well and economic development. For example, women’s daily travel patterns tend to be more complex than men’s as many will be combining work with child care and other commitments. Thus women’s trips tend to be shorter, more frequent and characterized by trip chaining (multiple purposes and multiple destinations within one trip, resulting in women valuing flexibility and cost saving over time savings in their travel choices. If public transport services are to encourage use by women, these factors need to be taken into consideration. Lack of water and waste water infrastructure places a disproportionate time burden on women, thereby diverting time from potentially income-generating activities, both in the formal and informal sectors in agriculture and business. Improvements in the water supply infrastructure that take into consideration the priorities of women, have not only have the potential to provide health benefits, but also opportunities for income generation activities.
The design, construction and management of infrastructure can also provide opportunities for employment for women both in terms of types and quality of jobs created. Women’s employment in the power sector is still low, though women who work in STEM jobs can earn 30 per cent more than those who do not. In most companies gender-neutral policies do not translate into equal opportunities for men and women in, for example, utility companies.
Key Discussion Topics
- Infrastructure Developer/Provider perspective:
How and why they consider the perspective of female users in the design, construction and operation of the infrastructure they develop? How does this affect the effectiveness of the infrastructure? What are the benefits? What are the Lessons learned and to be learnt? How can such companies ensure that employment opportunities benefit women as well as men? - Perspective from an Academic /representative of a think-tank:
Provide data about the impact of infrastructure that has taken consideration of women and men into their design and operation; how it can improve labor force participation, improve the quality of life of communities, support economic development. What policies are helpful? - Perspective of an MDB/Financing Institution:
Why do MDBs and other IFIs require infrastructure to consider gender dimensions? How does it affect impacts if this is done? What policies and interventions have been most successful? - Civil Society Organization perspective:
What is it that needs to be done better to ensure infrastructure benefits men and women equally? What happens when it is not? What are some lessons to be learned?
Speakers
Ms. Haslinda Amin-Chief International Correspondent for Southeast Asia, Bloomberg (Moderator)
Haslinda Amin is Chief International Correspondent for Southeast Asia and anchor for Bloomberg Television. She is also host and Executive Producer of talk show ‘High Flyers’ which is the longest-running program on Bloomberg TV.
Based in Singapore, Amin has been at the heart of market-moving news and stories that have driven the region’s transformation. She has reported on major events including the 2008 financial crisis, the 2016 Jakarta attacks and the 2010 bloody anti-government clashes in Thailand. Amin has also helmed Bloomberg’s coverage of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, the World Economic Forum and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Board of Governors Meeting.
Amin has interviewed a wide range of top newsmakers for Bloomberg Television, including Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Bill English and former Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Other notable interviews include Paul Volcker, Joe Biden, Timothy Geithner and Stanley Fischer.
Amin began her career covering Southeast Asian politics more than a decade ago. She serves on the board of UN Women Singapore and has been nominated numerous times for Best Current Affairs Anchor at the Asian TV Awards. She graduated from the National University of Singapore, majoring in Political Science and English Language. She speaks Bahasa Indonesia.
Ms. Michaela S. Bergman-Principal Social Specialist, AIIB
Michaela S. Bergman is a social anthropologist with over 20 years’ work experience with multi-lateral, International Financial Institutions, bi-laterals and civil society in over 40 countries, including East and Central Europe, Central, East and South Asia and the Middle East. Her experience lies in policy and project related activities related to gender, involuntary resettlement, protection and empowerment of vulnerable and socially excluded groups, human rights and labour laws. Until June 2017, Ms Bergman was Chief Counsellor for Social issues and Director for Gender at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, providing support and advice on gender and social issues. She chaired the Multi-Lateral Development Banks’ Working Group on Gender for four years until June 2017.
In September 2017, she joined the AIIB, as the Principal Social Specialist to support the development of AIIB’s approach to Environmental and Social Issues.
Ms. Suneeta Dhar-Senior Advisor, JAGORI Women's Training & Resource Centre
Suneeta is a development professional working on gender equality and women’s rights. She focuses on issues of ending violence against women and building safer cities for women and girls.
She is Senior Advisor with Jagori, a feminist organization in Delhi. As an educator, advocate and participatory researcher, she designed multi-stakeholder programmes contributing to policy, knowledge building and best practices on women’s rights, particularly in the area of ending violence against women and girls. Jagori has been recipient of the Roland Berger Foundation Award for Human Dignity (2013) and the Nari Shakti Purakskar (2015) by the Ministry of Women and Child, Government of India. Suneeta has previously worked for UNIFEM South Asia Office in Delhi, and later as Manager - UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, at New York.
Suneeta is a Co-Founding Director and Board member of the Women’s Fund Asia (Colombo), and Chair of the South Asia Foundation (India), supporting grassroots women’s initiatives in the region. In recent times, she was Member of an Expert Committee, National Commission of Women, for a national study on the Status of widows in Shelter Homes (2016), and Member - Supreme Court Committee on Widows’ Rehabilitation (2017). She serves on Boards and Advisory Committees of select development and government agencies.
Suneeta has a Masters in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and been a recipient of Fulbright (1982) and Advocacy Institute Fellowships (1996) for development practitioners. She has co-authored publications on Women’s Safety and Access to Basic Services and her recent writings on the New Urban Agenda and Gender and SDGs have been published in well-known journals.
Ms. Silvia Halim-Construction Director, Jakarta MRT
Silvia Halim has since 2016 been the Construction Director of PT MRT Jakarta, a limited liability (Perseroan Terbatas) company founded by the Jakarta Provincial Government to operate Jakarta’s first Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System set to open in 2019. Ms. Halim previously worked as Project Manager for the Land Transport Authority in Singapore between 2004 and 2016 where she oversaw road construction, monitored project progress and expenditure, managed the public relations programme and coordinated with government partners, communities and businesses. Ms. Halim received a Degree of Bachelor in Civil Engineering, Second Upper Class Honors, from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She received the Ministry of Transport Innovation Award in 2008 for a project to reduce noise from road works. Ms Halim is an Indonesian national and speaks English and Indonesian.
Mr. Andrew Morrison-Chief Gender, IADB
Andrew Morrison is Chief of the Gender and Diversity Division at the Inter-American Development Bank. Prior to joining the IDB, he worked at the World Bank as a Lead Economist in the Gender and Development Group and as the Regional Gender Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean. He also has worked as an associate professor of economics at Tulane University and the University of New Mexico. He has written books and articles in the area of gender equality, international migration, labor markets and violence prevention. His Ph.D. in economics is from Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Rohini Pande-Professor, Harvard University
Rohini Pande is an economist whose research examines the economic costs and benefits of informal and formal institutions in the developing world and the role of public policy in affecting change.
Pande is the Rafik Hariri Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School. She co-directs the Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) Initiative (@EPoDHarvard). Her work has examined how institutions - ranging from electoral to financial - can be designed to empower historically disadvantaged groups; how low-cost improvements in information collection and dissemination can enable flexible regulation and more efficient outcomes in areas as diverse as environmental protection and elections; and how biased social norms, unless challenged by public policy, can worsen individual well-being and reduce economic efficiency.
At Harvard Kennedy School, Pande is also the Area Chair for International Development and teaches in the MPA/ID program. Her other current affiliations include Executive Committee member of the Bureau of Research on Economic Development (BREAD), co-chair of the Political Economy and Government Group at Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), board member at Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Her publications have appeared in the top economics and policy journals.
