Gender and trade

This report aims to provide an impartial analysis of the status of the right to health in Yemen. It addresses the articles of the Yemeni constitution related to the right to health, national strategies and health laws, and relevant literature and data, shedding light on the following Yemen’s health system and national strategies, Yemen’s constitution, treaties, and the international, convention related to the right to health, The war’s impact on Yemen’s health sector, The gap in data and health indicators in Yemen, The right to health from the perspective of social protection, in Yemen and The role of the health sector in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

The report offers decision-makers involved in the right to health in Jordan a summary of the lived health situation in the country and an objective analysis of its economic, social, political, and legal aspects. It also presents an Overview of expert and stakeholder opinions in the form of recommendations that could be implemented in the foreseeable future by health decision-makers. Undoubtedly, this report comes at a sensitive time, when Jordan is just beginning to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the weaknesses it revealed in the Jordanian health system. It also coincides with the Kingdom’s second centenary as a country, and a comprehensive vision for development, modernization, consolidation of achievements, overcoming obstacles, and correcting mistakes in all sectors, including the health sector serving more than 11 million residents.

This paper takes stock of GB practices in G20 countries and benchmarks country performance using a GB index and data gathered from an IMF survey. All G20 countries have enacted gender focused fiscal policies but the public financial management (PFM) tools to operationalize these policies are far less established. We find that notwithstanding heterogeneity across countries, the average G20 level of GB practice is relatively low. More progress has been made establishing GB frameworks and budget preparation tools than with budget execution, monitoring and auditing. Too few countries assess the upfront impact of policies on gender and/or evaluate ex-post the effectiveness of policies and programs. Where GB features are in place, they tend to operate as an ‘add-on’, rather than a strategic and integral part of resource allocation decisions. Progress with GB does not appear to be dependent on the level of country development. Key to future efforts will be harnessing opportunities for integrating GB tools into existing PFM systems and more closely linking GB initiatives with PFM reforms.

The achievement of substantive equality is understood as having four dimensions: redressing disadvantage; countering stigma, prejudice, humiliation and violence; transforming social and institutional structures; and facilitating political participation and social inclusion. The paper shows that, although not articulated in this way, these dimensions are clearly visible in the application by the various interpretive bodies of the principles of equality to the enjoyment of treaty rights. At the same time, it shows that there are important ways in which these bodies could go further, both in articulating the goals of substantive equality and in applying them when assessing compliance by States with international obligations of equality. The substantive equality approach, in its four-dimensional form, provides an evaluative tool with which to assess policy in relation to the right to gender equality. The paper elaborates on the four-dimensional approach to equality and how it can be used to evaluate the impact of social and economic policies on women to determine how to make the economy 'work for women' and advance gender equality. The paper suggests that there is a growing consensus at the international level on an understanding of substantive equality that reflects the four dimensional framework. This paper was produced for UN Women's flagship report Progress of the World's Women 2015-2016 and is released as part of the UN Women discussion paper series.

The current paper is an attempt to highlight the linkage between governance for health and the change in dominant economic policies during the last five decades. It will also provide definitions and identify the influential actors in global and national health decisions and discuss how they practice their influence. The analysis in this paper is supported by some case studies from the Arab region.