Beyond Beijing : acting on commitments to the world's women

Acting on Commitmentsto the World's Women  Note to the reader: World Bank staff, departments and divisions are identified by their titles as of November, 1995, except for the Senior Adviser on Women'sIssues, whose title was changed to Senior Adviser on Gender Equality since the "Beyond Beijing" program. This report was written by Sheila Reines, Office of the Senior Adviser on Gender Equality; edited bylo Bischoff,GenderAnalysis and Policy Group; anddesignedby May Eidi, Graphics and Map Design Department. 0theWorld Bank, Washington,D.C. November, 1996  Acting on Commitments to the World%Women November 6 -17, 1995 Sponsored by: The Office of the Senior Advisor on Gender Equality and The HCO Gender Analysis and Policy Group  p hat really stands out for me, as I the Bank's top managers to mainstreaming ! look back on the UN FourthWorld gender. President Wolfensohn's speech in Conference on Women (Beijjng, Beijing sent a messageto the world that he is September 4-15, 1995),is the enthusiasm of committed to furthering the equality of the women who attendedthis event, and their women. His support, plus the willingness of w~llingnessto learn and to share. senior managersto tackle some very difficult issues, has helped to re-energize those hard There was asolidarity among the participants, at work in the trenches. a sense of unity that helps explain how women from such diverse cultures-often And now...what lies ahead?We must con- with very different agendas-were able to tinue to look "Beyond Beijing" and find ways reach consensus on the Beijing Declaration to turn our words into actions, to help the and Platform for Action. An accomplishment women and the men inthe countries we serve even more remarkable, when consideringthe realize their full potential. giant stepforward these documents represent. The Platform for Action shows that women are committed to change and puts the world on notice that, when it comes to gender V - Minh Chau Nguyen equality, rhetoric is no longer enough. Manager, GenderAnalysis and Policy Group The World Bank program, "Beyond Beijing: Acting on Commitments to the World's Women," focusedon finding ways to turn the call for gender equality intoaction.Theevents were planned with an eye not only to keep- ing the momentum of Beijing alive, but to exploring ways we all can work together to follow through on the promises made at the conference-the follow-through that will be the ultimate proof of Beijing's success. The response was heartening. I was particu- larly encouraged by the eagerness for dia- logue and a new openness, evidenced in al- liances being forged between the Bank and the NCO community. Many of us who work on gender issues saw a real breakthrough duringthose two weeks in November, in how the Bank is respondingto the voicesthat were heard so loudly and clearly in Beijing. The success of the "Beyond Beijing" pro- gram-measured in feedback from col- leagues inside and outsidethe Bank-can be traced to a real commitment on the part of  1 1 h e Beijing Conference produced a So we put together two weeks of events that Platform for Action so rich in recom- captured the messages of the conference, to mendations that, even if we all tried help us look "Beyond Beijing." very hard, it would be difficult to run out of inspiration for a long time. The next step is to We exchanged ideaswith our partners in the turn the words into action. international development community. We considered, with our President, Vice Presi- However, reality always lags a little behind dents and Board members, our responsibil- words. That's why we have vision. ity as an international development institu- tion to practicewhat we preach.We explored Those of us who were in Beijing carried the issues in the spheres of economics and art. vision of equality, development and peace We heardthe inspiringwords of the First Lady back to the World Bank. And we asked our- of the United States. We experienced the selves, how can we sharethis vision with our story of women not only through words, but colleagues?How can we make it clear that through images and music. we all havea role in realizingthe Beijing Plat- form for Action? Now comes the challenge: to take the inspi- ration from Beijing, and beyond, and trans- late vision into reality. We need to build an institution where we mobilize the energy that lies in our differ- ences as men and women, and as people from diversecountries and cultures.We need to work together, so that men find new ways of acting instead of repeating old patterns, and so that women take the steps that will change their roles in the organization, the work environment and the corporate culture. And, we have to make these actions part of basic business processes and daily life. I hope that "Beyond Beijing" gave us inspi- ration. Now, no more words-let's just do it! Anette Steen Pledersen Senior Adviser on Gender Equality  Acting on Commitments to the World'sWomen he Beijing Conference focused world the Bank's development programs and ex- attention on gender issues and pro- plore gender issues inside the institution it- vided an excellent opportunity to self.They should providea mix of closed fora highlight gender issues in the World Bank. where staff and managers of the World Bank Group and IMFcould frankly discuss the past At the same time that Bank staff were work- and the future, and outward-looking events ing on contributions to the conference itself, that build bridges to partners in the interna- the Senior Adviser on Women's Issues and tional development community. There should the Manager of the Gender Analysis and be large events with high-visibility speakers, Policy Group began planning events to fol- and small seminarsthat allow substantivedia- low up the conference-a program that logue. The sessions should be at lunchtime, would address conference outcomes, their when it is easiest for the greatest number of implications for the World Bank and the staff to participate. Bank's commitments to action. We listened to our colleagues, we tried, and Colleagues from around the Bank came to- this is what we came up with.. . gether to give their advice. The sessions, they said, should cover gender issues related to " Bamherger IPSP/GAP>prepare for discussion groups at the gender resource fair which kicked off the two- week progran7.  Clockwise from upper right: Presidentlames D. Wolfensohn and South Asia Vice President D. JosephWood conier before the opening session on November 7; President and Mrs Wolfensohn, and US Executive Director /an Pierck.join a group of Bank staff following the keynote address by US First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton; plenarv session following the resource fair discussion groups; Cecilia Kennedy il.oan Department)and K.H. Imam IAFR)share their observations on women in Atrica with a panel of the Bank's Executive Directors.  A Marketplace of Gender Resources ne of the implicit messages brought to take part in discussion groups.Three top- backfrom Beijingby the Bank's dele- ics were selectedon the basisof suggestions gation is the need for more informa- sent in by exhibitors in advance: tion exchange-for the international devel- opment community, and particularly NGOs, Towards gender equality in the economy to learn more about the World Bank's work NGOs have a comparativeadvantage at the on gender, and for the Bank to learn about micro level, and the Bank hasacomparative what others are doing. advantage at the macro level. Eachcan learn from, and support, the other. On Monday, November 6, the "Beyond Beijing" program opened with a gender re- Enhancing the personal and legal status of sources "marketplace," which evoked the women. Women's legal rightsmust be linked activity and energy of the NGO Forum in to the broader development agenda if there Huairou. is to be any progress in enhancingwomen's legal status. Bank departments, NGOs and development agencies set up stalls where visitors could Making developmentprojects moregender "shop" for information and ideas. Everybody responsive. It is often asked: what are the brought publications, many brought photo additionalcosts of makingpolicies, programs displays and a few high-technology groups and projects gender-responsive?There is a set up videos and CD-ROM computer dis- more important question: how much does it plays.After "shopping," visitors were invited cost if programs are not gender responsive?  ludee Blohrn (US Peace Corps),Susan Brackett (Brackett and Associates) and Laurie Tirnrnerrnan (World Service)taking part in a discussion group following the resource fair. EXHIB~TORS AT THE MARKETPLACE Academy for Educational Development Wrld Bank: WED) AppropriateTechnology International (ATI) Human Oevelopment Department (MUD> Asia Foundation OperationsEvaluation Department(OED3 Association for Women in Development PrivateSector DevelopmentfPSDWConsuhative (AwlD) Group to Assist the PooresttCGAPI Center for Developmentand Population Officeof the SeniorAdviser an Activities (CEDPA) Gender Equality FriendsWorld Committee Gender Analysis and Policy/Pavertyand Social institutefor Women, taw and Development POiiCY (GAP/PSP) InterAction ConsultativeCroup on International InternationalCenter for Researchon Women Research fCGfARj (ICRW) Human Resources Division: AfricaTechnical f i e Network of East-WestWomen Department(AFTHRI Partners of the Americas tatin America andthe Caribbean (LAC} Save the Children EastAsia andthe Pacific (EAP) Women's InternationalAIDSCAP South Asia [SAS) Winrock International Europeand Central Asia (ECA) US Peace Corps Middle East and NorthAfrica (MNA) Inter-~mericanDevelopment ~ a h k Economic Development institute (EDl) USAgency for InternationalDevelopment  y o r the first time in the20-year history of the UN women$ conferences, the delegation of the WorldBank was headedby itspresident.At theconference,lames D. Wolfensohn communicated a new vision and new commitments for the Bank. November 7, 1995 marked another first, when a group of the Bank's most senior managers came together to disc~~ssgender issues. The formal opening of "Beyond Beijing" gave World Bank staff a chance to hear their President's message. And, they had a chance to hear from a panel of VicePresidents,about what theBank is doing, and will do, topromotegender equality. James D. Wolfensohn have my mitment that in terms of inside the Bank and in terms of our projects outside the Bank, the issues relating to gender, and particularly women, will be integral to my management. Integral. Not add-on, nottoken-integral. But to make it integral, all of you have to be be- lievers, and you have to work at it with me. You haveas a President someonewho cares, someonewho is coming to you very straight- forwardly and very honestly and saying Iam committed to the program of Beijing." Africa, EdwardKJaycox,VP"~enderconcerns will be a central element in our renewed focus on poverty alleviation in the Africa Region. Beijing has stimulated the preparation of country-level strategies [and] programs to deal with women's issues in many countries. Our ESW, our poverty assessmentsand our Country Assistance Strategies are going to zero in on those existing country strategies, but also develop them where they don't exist as yet."  LatinAmerica & the Caribbean,ShahidlavedBurki, VPnWhatwe in the LAC Regionwould like to do is work with the governments and see what difference we can bring about...But what is required is first to convince the governments that women's development is extremely critical, not only for poverty alleviation and improvement in income distribution, but also for having sustainable economic growth." SouthAsia, D. joseph Wood,VPUForus, gender...can't be an add-on. Why can't it be an add- on?Well in contrast to the averages [which] don't look so bad in Latin America, they look terrible in South Asia. What do we do about it?Well, we don't haveanything you haven't heard about before... I have been struck by how powerful some of the standard recipescan be." East Asia & Pacific, Russell Cheetham, VPUWehave an increasingly clear view of where some of the problem areas are in the region, with respect to programs to address gender issues. And armed with this increasingly clear view of where some of the issues are, where some of the problems are, we are of the view that we are going to be able to target Bank interventions rather more effectively than might have been the case, say, five or ten years ago." Middle East & North Africa, Caio Koch-Weser, VPUFirst,we are trying to address the most immediate needs: access to health, family planning, social assistance.Second, we are trying to empower women to participate more fully in social and economic development in the medium term, particularly, of course, to increasegirls' and women's participation in school- ing. Third.. .[is] to help remove barriers for women to earn income. Fourth... to strengthen the capacity of governments, of NGOs and local institutions, including research institutions, to analyze women's status, to create awarenessand design appropriate policies and programs." Europe & CentralAsia, Marcelo Selowsky, ChiefEconomist "We plan to triple our portfolio in the social sectors and social assistancein the next years from $1 billion to $3 billion... we are trying to design more demand-driven worker retraining programs... we plan to acceler- ate work with local governments to assist them in taking over day-care, kindergarten and basic services... also we are adressing social issues of restructuring in specific sectors." Thepanel, left to right: Armeane Choksi panel chair IHCOVP); Kim \.i Jaycox (AFRVP): Sh.lhid laved Burki (LACVPI: D. Joseph Wood (SASVPI; Caio Koch-LVeser IMNAVPI; Russell Cheetharn (EAPVP); Marcelo Selowsky I ECA Senior Economist, for Wilfried Thahvitzi.  First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton n her professional life, and her public life as First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton has raised an eloquent voice on behalf of women in her own country and around the world. On November 8, World Bank staff and invited guests had a chance to hear that eloquent voice. To sum up, as President Wolfensohn did, it was, "a comprehensiveand wonderful speech and the answers to questions were breathtaking and demonstrated your vision." "As I look at this audience, I am reminded, as I always am when I think about the World Bank, of how representativethis institution is of peoples all over the world and their aspira- tions. I know that by your very presence here you need little persuading that investing in women should be at the core of any strategy to alleviatepoverty, energizeeconomies, and strengthen our global family. I know that you PSP Director Ishrdt Husain leads off in the question here at this Bank seek to maximize the re- and-answerperiod. Looking on (1. to r., Mrs. Wolfensohn, Anette Pedersen, Minh Chau Nguyen, turn on your loans and investments.And sup- Vice President/ChieioiStaff Rachel Lomax. porting projects that raise the social, eco- nomic, political, and legal status of women But these simple calculations are ones that in their fam~liesand communities is one of many in our world, even after all the work of the soundest investmentsthat countries, and the World Bank in recent years, even after the World Bank, can make. the UN conferences in Copenhagen and Beijing, still fail to understand. There are many who seem to think that so-called women's issues-education and health care for example-are soft issues, not worthy of addressing in any strategic manner... Butthat is wrong, and you are helpingto prove that it is wrong every day." "So long as women anywhere are prevented from realizingtheir God-given potential, the vicious cycle of poverty that traps not only women, but also their children, husbands, communities and nations will continue. And  ate poverty, to empower women across many different sectors, and how that might play out for an organization such as the World Bank and other major donors." Mrs. Clinton: "I hope that one of the results of Beijing will be to raise awareness about women's political participation andto catalyze a variety of ways that each of us can promote that. There are small ways of doing it. When you attend meetings in some coun- tries, and you know that there may be a this trend threatens the very institutions we woman buried in the bureaucracy who has are seekingto uphold: strongfamilies, strong been working on this, and she is not invited economies, and strong democracies." to the meeting-ask that she be there. When you make site visits and you are taken to the "...After Beijing, we still have much to do in male leaders of the village or the project and making the message of that conference live you know that women are doing at least half in the minds and hearts of people all over the work-ask to see them. Those are small, the world, and we have even more work to but significant signals about who is impor- do in implementing the agendafor actionthat tant in the eyes of the World Bank. I think was adopted. But I believe that we have any Bank-to-governmentconversations, and turned an important corner, that for the first certainly government-to-government conver- time institutions as significant as the World sations should do the same, to try to raise Bank,governments likethat of my own coun- the role of women and their participation." try, and people throughout the world, in NGOs and on their own, are finally saying and believing that women should be valued and invested in. And if we carry forward on that promise, then Iam confident we will see results in the short and mediumterm that will in many ways reflect that this new commit- ment is well founded. And your leadership, both in articulating it and implementing it, will Ile crucial to any hope for progress that we have." QUESTION: "Mrs. Clinton, I have heard you speak before on the importance of women's political participation and women's role in decision-making... Iwonder if you couldcom- ment on how you see women in decision- Mrs. Clinton greets Executive Directors (1. to r.) Eveline making and women's political participation Herfkins, ]an Piercy and Ruth lacoby. in relation to some ofthe initiatives to allevi-  Key Economic Issues for Women n Beijing, there wasgeneral recognition about health or education services-in back- that women's access to economic op- ing non-governmental organizations and cre- portunities and control of financial re- ating financial instruments that are not just sources are key to determiningpersonal sta- what I call the 'beg-and-spend strategy.' tus andfamily well-being. On November 13, three distinguishedpanelists exploredissues The Bank is learning to listen, and it is learn- related to the economic empowerment of ing to use its power to create decentralized women. structures and processes that involve asking more than the Minister of Finance and the "One of the main messagesfrom the Beijing Governor oi the Central Bank how to run the Conference was that we in the international country. Once you open up those decision- institutions and the donor community should making processes, not only will the NGOs pay more attention to strengthening the eco- have a voice, but most importantly, low-in- nomic opportunities for enhancing the sta- come women will be given a voice in poli- tus of women. And that, apparently, is our cies and resource-flow decisions of their comparative advantage." country." Nancy Barry, President, lshrat Husain, Director, Policy and Women's World Banking Social Policy Department, moderator "No one is saying, 'stop structural adjust- ment.' We are saying that it is not enough, that institutions matter, and that you cannot rely on market forces in andof themselves to take care of opening up this access to 500 million people. You need not only a range of institutions that meet high standards, but... mechanismsat the national and international levelsthat provide capitalization, loan funds and institutional development support... The Bank itself hasgot to adopt this new para- digm, saying that structural adjustment is necessary but not sufficient. The answer is not in public-sector expenditures on social services. The answer is in building finance and enterprise systems that work for the poor majority... The Bank could get much more creative than it is-even if we are talking  that thereare no benevolent governmentsout there who are going to ensure that this hap- pens... We have got to ask, how do we get women to organize into vocal pressure groups to argue for an equitable allocation of resources? I have the following to say to the world bod- ies, the World Bank and the IMF. Be true to yourselves. You have liberalized the eco- nomic system.You have to liberalize the au- diences you listen to. It is not sufficient to "Very often people ask me, in a few words, stop at the Permanent Secretary, at the how would you describe Beijing?And I say, President's chamber. You should also listen it I have to describe Beijing, it is really the to the private sector. You should listen to the unbracketing of women's lives. If there mlas NGO sector.. .to trade unions and soon.And another way of describing Beijing, I would as you listen to these other publics, you say that it was not a world conference of should look for whether the women's voice women; it was really a women's conference is coming through." about the world. Becausethe scopeof issues GerminaSsemogerere, discussedwas just amazing, the interlinkages Senior Lecturer in Economics, built ~verevery profound.The other thing that Makerere Uiiiversity was really very, very advantageous was that processeswere put in place. Beijingwas not an event; Beijing was a process." Noeleen Heyzer, Director, UNlFEM "What I an1tellingthe implementers of struc- tural ;~djustmentis not necessarily to do less liberalizing, but to look at who the partici- pants are in the new markets that they are liberalizing. The women arevery few in num- ber there.They are highly under-represented, and those who enter are not si~fficiently endo\ved to gainfully participate in these markets. As long as we are applying struc- tural adjustment, this is where the attention shoultl go. When I was @\,enthe terms of reference for this p~rticularmeeting, I was requested to outline how governmentscan ensurethat the benefits of structural adjustment are in the long run shared by women. I have to reply  n conjunction with the exhibition of works by women artists (seepages 22- 23), the World Bank Staff Art Society (WBSAS)organized a panel that brought to- gether artists, curators,publishers, writersand professors, to discuss the empowerment of women in the arts. "We are all artistic-everybody has creativ- ity within. I think in this mechanized tech- nological society, many times w e are not al- lowed or w e don't think w e are allowed to develop creativity, but w e all have it. And if we listen to our voices, w e can find it." Alicia Hetzner, WBSAS Panel Organizer jenny Marketou, Artist and Professorof Pho- tography, Cooper Union Diane Karp, Pubtisher, New Observafioos Magazine Caterina Pizanias, Writer and "Itinerant Aca- demic" Berta M. Sichel, Curator/Professor,The New School for Social Research M.M. Serra, Director, Film-Makers' Coop erative, New York Thepanel, left to right (seated): Berta M. Sichel, Carolee Schnebmann, Artist h1.M.Serra, Caterina Pizanias; istanding) Carolee SchnePrnann, jenny Marketou, Diane Karp.  A session sponsored by the World Bank StaffArt Society "If we don't have writers to write about women's art history-because, as we all know, until recently there has been no such thing as history written about women's art -how will it exist if we don't write our own history and if we don't create our own writing?" JennyMarketou, Panel Chair Audience n-iernbersbraved wind and rain to attend the session, and stayed on to talk further with panelists Caterin,?Piranias and M.M. Serra about their presentations. "Our goal as the alternative press isto present "We have to critically examine the contra- possibilities as opposed to limits, to provide dictory sites that our [art] institutions have the opportunity for wonlen's vision and tal- become, sites where the majority of labor ents to become communicated narratives. from the critical/curatorial to fund-raising We do this knowing that [women's] ideasand functions is done by women-and women their images will inspire others to strive to- are still looking in from the outside." ward the realization and communication of their own narratives." Caterina Pizanias Diane Karp  tQUALITY-Our Shareholders' Views ver the past 25 years, the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has helped focus the Bank's attention on gender issues-related to its programs and projects, and to its own internal staffing issues. This session on October 15 provided a rare opportunity for staff to engage in informal discussions with a panel of Board members. )an PiercyUIam on the Board Personnel Committee. I raise that in this context because I think it is an instrument in which we look at how our own composition as a Bank-manage- ment and staff-will affect our sensitivity and our effectivenessin dealing with gender issues In our programs. In my own career, I have had the opportunity to take part in creating management teams... And I have found-though this sounds very simplistic to say-that you only get it when you have it. By that I mean that we only see real progress with respectto gender when we have teams at the top level of organizations that include women as well as men." Ruth)acobyiiTen years ago, fifteen years ago, I think most countries got themselves a min- ister for women's affairs, or somebody responsible for taking care of this, which all of a sudden people thought was important... Itwas afirst step; it was absolutely necessary. But... we must go beyond that. Women's issuesor gender issues is not something sectorized or separate. What is important today isthat everything-opening a shoe shop, organizing a committee in government dealing with electricity, whatever-is a gender issue, because at some stage it involves women in the decision-making, in the implementation, as the ultimate recipients and stakeholders."  Shengman "...If I may be provocative. it may be appropriate to pose this question: what do you think would be more effective-if you come in with the attitude of trying to be a house designer or trying to be a bricklayer? I think this has implications for how we ap- proach the [gender] issue in our member countries. Should it be an issue-specificor gender- specific approach?Or should it be integrated, what we call the mainstream approach? ...You probably will be more effective if you come in trying to be a bricklayer rather than trying to be a house designer. Iam not saying that the house designer is not important-but don't you think we should be more humble going in, ratherthan coming in and saying look, we have all the best and advanced [ideas]...?" A'i "... I think that as Board memberscoming from developing countries, we can do a number of things to enhance the dialogue with our countries... As far as the Board is concerned, we should really try to see that the discussion of the Country Assistance Strate- gies be made fruitful... We really have to push this instrument to be effective and see that staff really discuss all these issues. And if these issues are not written in the CAS, we should just reject it or just tell them that this is not enough." Ayse Akin-#amsapan, LAC Regfon "Thank you for this opportunity to see the Board members outside the Board Room, which usually happens only maybe twice, three times in the lifetime of a Task Manager. And we never get to discuss issues there.. . so this is really great." KatherineMarshall, SouthernAfrica "...What the Board can encourage, and rnanag- e n need to encourage, is essentially to be very provocative about these issues and to present them in very concrete terms." lomax I may makeabiasedcom- "If mentfrom the Chair just to annoy everybody and try to get someone off their feet, I feel the Bank is a long way from having internal- (See Photo on facingpage) ized these [issues].There is an awful lot of political correctness and a lot of paragraphs Rachel Lomax,Vice Presidentand Chief in Board papers which, if you look at the of Staff, Chair country departments and you hear the Task World Bank Executive Directors: Managerson the ground, isso much impress- Ali Bourhane, Benin et. al. ing the Board." JanPiercy, UnitedStates ShengmanZhang, China Ruthjacoby, Scandinavian and Baltic Countries  The Experience of the Bank of Montreal ince 7 990, the Bank of Montreal has equitable workplace has changed us pro- made concerted efforts to achieve foundly, both as individuals and as an orga- workplace equality. These efforts be- nization. To call it a cultural revolution gan with thechallengefrom Bank ofMontreal wouldn't be overstating the case. PresidentE Anthony Comper,"theglass ceil- ing is now officially smashed; let us all rise The customer-driven, information-basedglo- to the occasion." On November 16, Mr. bal economy that now drives all our agen- Comper talkedto WorldBank staffand invited das was beginningto takeform in 1989when guests about the Bank of Montreal'sground- our team assumedthe leadership of the Bank breaking work to change its gender profile, of Montreal. In a nutshell, we could see that and why it makes "good business sense." soon, very soon, customers would no longer have to come to us. If we wanted to stav in business, we had to go to them. And to do that, to became the 'relationship' bankersthat the new economic realities de- manded, we had to change fundamentally. We hadto count moreand moreon the com- petence and the commitment of individual employees and trust them to make the right decisions. Whatever else it would take to create this at- mosphereof trust, it would take a sea change in the way we manage people. The old divi- sion between bosses and workers had to dis- appear in favor of coaches and teams. We had to create a sense that we were indeed in this all together. And to create that sense, we neededa managementstylethat was collabo- rative and inclusionary and totally hidden- Bank of Montreal President F. Anthony Comper agenda free. "I want to tell you straight out that helpingto I have no problem describing this as the establish workplace equality at the Bank of woman's style of leadership, just as I have no Montreal is the most significant and satisfy- problem describingthis as the bestof all pos- ing thing that I have done in my professional sible styles of leadership, at least for us right life. I want to tell you that our pursuit of an now and into the foreseeable future.  This wasn't some well-meaning, stand-alone initiative from the Human ResourcesDepart- ment, designedto tell us what we should do to help women advance in our workplace. We committed ourselvesto integratingwork- place equality into every aspect of our work- ing lives. Forexample, we haveintegratedthe advance- ment of women into all of our management systems, from hiring to training to business planning. Every manager in the bank is as- sessed on her or his record for advancing women and for contributingtoour workplace equality goals generally. At the senior management level-that is just below the executive ranks-women now hold more than 21 percent of positions and Mieko Nishimizu <'I was a member of aTask that is up from 13 percent in our pre-Task Forcesimilar to yours afew years back at the Force days [I 991I. And this year to date, 35 [World] Bank. I do remember reading your percentof promotions in senior management Bank's Task Force report. And I was woken have gone to women. up by that... And what really finally got me going to work with my colleagues towards Am I satisfiedwith this rateof advancement? the equality objective was your message: it's Absolutely not. good for business, stupid. Iwon't be satisfied until women and men On behalf of my colleagues, both men and areequitably representedat all levels...What women, I would like to thank you and your I am happy about, though, is that these gains bank very much for being one of the impor- were achieved the way they should be tant role models for what we set out to do a achieved, and that is purely on the basis of number of years ago." merit. What can it possibly mean when a vener- able, established, conservative, male-domi- nated organization like a bank makes work- place equality a top business issue? It means, I believe, that this is an idea whose time has truly come." Anthony C o w discussesstrategies1for bringing women into managementwith Ngozi 04onjo-lweala (AFR)afidAneb Wersen.  A Cultural Event n November 17, the "Beyond Beijing" program closed on 2 note of harmony Musikanten, an a capella choir, sang songs by and aboc~trvomen, from medieva1 to modern times. "We thought it was appropriate to look for- ward to the future with music, the only uni- versal language we have found thus far. Music and art have always reflected history, and throughout history we haveheard mostly the music of men.Today we are beginningto hear the music of women, a presage of the role they will be playing in the 21st century and thereafter.The "Beyond Beijing" program concludes appropriately with a chorus of mixed voices, not women's voices alone, because our vision is of a world where women and men have equal voices." Elaine R. Wolfensohn, program host  "it up's the word, and a worldgro~vsgreener minute by second and most by more - if death is the loser and life is the winner (and beggars are rich but misers are poor) -let's touch the sky" Finale: "Let's b u c h the Sky" (wordsby e.e. cumniings, music by Louise Talma) "You have brought us through centuries within thirty minutes, and brought us to the next century...We know that to achieife equality, peace and development, sometimes we have disharmony and life is hard on all of us. But ii we work together and raise equal voices-and they soundgood together, don't they?-we will get there." Anette Steen Pedersen Musikanten director Kerry Krehill accepts a token of appreciation from the orgcjnizersof the "Beyond Beijing" program. Following the performance, guests had a chance to talk to the artists during a luncheon reception, and admire the paintings ot the WBSAS a,-t exhibition's "China Collection" in the E-buildinggallery.  An Art Exhibition Sponsored by the World Bank StaffArt Society n conjunction with the "Beyond Beijing" program, the World Bank Staff Art Society (WBSASIsponsored an exhibition that brought together 63 women artists from around the world. From November 6 toJanuary 75, the public spaces of the World Bank were filled with images-some soothing, some disturbing, all thought-provoking-of women's "dilemmas in facing the challengesof life today while striving to preserve their identities." The unique array of two- and three-dimensional works, the echoes of a poem, the messages of the videos, meld into a vivid interpretation in which feminism sometimes takes over, but this exhibition is, after all, a monument to wornen.The rich creativity and candid sensitivity of each piece projects a frank respect and ovcdapping concerns among women regardless of their origins, cultural heritage, and social constraints. The works reflect the patience, endurance, tenderness, strength, persistence, desperation, sadness, joys, achievementsand dreams of women who physically carry the next generation to life, and care for and un- equivocally partake in its shaping. Regine S. Boucard, President, WBSAS mf! Wol/ensohnand E~hibitionCurator Vasia Deliy~anni "1-ifeLines" ( 1994); Beatriz Kohn (born in Venezuela, admire the work of Australian-born sculptor Diann lives in US),a work in bronze and wood.   Showings of WETV Videos on Women'sIssues rom November 7-16, films by the global access television network WETV and its partner organizations were shown daily. The films addressedsome of the main top- ics of the Beijing Conference. Here isjust a sampling - "Agent of Change," a Rockefeller Foundation documentary, took viewers to India, Brazil and Senegal to show the role of women in environment and development. "The Bad Fairy Godmother" (UNDP)tackled the overuse of the Cesarean section as a form of birth control in Brazil. "Mama Lungowe" (The5-Minute Project)focusedon economic opportunities for women in Zambia. The UNDPUWomenin Society" Seriestook a look atthe economic empowerment of women in Guatemala. "Not for Ourselves Alone" (UNIFEM) presentedcase studies from Mexico and the Philip- pines illustrating what women can do with access to money and resources. "My Son" (The 5-Minute Project) dramatized the story of a woman in India who disguises her daughter as a boy so she can go to school. "Global Links-Women in theThird World," by the World Bank, looked at the role women play in economic participation and economic development. ABOLITWETV WETV was created after the Earth Summit in 1992 by a coalition of international and national development agencies, UN agencies, NGOs and private sector groups. It is a global access television network dedicatedto informational and educationalprograms of global importance. Over 20 partners, including the World Bank, provide funding. WETV became operational in 1995.The first WETV broadcastevent was the BeijingProject, which combineddaily coverage from the UN conferenceand documentaries on gender and development programs.  BB-01 Messages from Beijing andTheir Implications for the World Bank [Bank staff only] BB-02 KeynoteAddress, First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton BB-03 Beyond Beijing: Key Economic Issuesfor Women BB-04 Women and Art: Empowering Narratives BB-05 PromotingGender Equality:Our Shareholders' Views BB-06 Breaking Glass Ceilings:The Experience of the Bank of Montreal For further information contact: Office of the Senior Adviser on Gender Equality The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Room E3-056 Washington, D.C. 20433