BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC”, before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
BRICS is a hot topic today. It is the new “kid” or the next big thing in global governance and in macroeconomics today. The Fortaleza BRICS Summit 2014 saw the announcement of the setting up of a multilateral development bank which would enable lending exclusively by the BRICS states. The New Development Bank (NDB) is one of the youngest Multilateral Development Bank and is significant player because it seen as heralding a challenge to the more powerful actors in the field. One of the NDB’s key areas of focus is “sustainable development” is also in line with the universal commitment made to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September 2015. As the NDB moves to becoming more institutionalized, its sphere of influence is also growing considerably.
These new developments and negotiations point to the need for the feminist agenda to clearly draw up a South perspective for their analysis and perspective. Formed in 2016, the BRICS Feminist Watch (the Watch) is a feminist alliance from BRICS countries that brings the collective strength of feminist analysis and activism to promote gender responsive inclusive economic development. Since its formation, the Watch has been part of meetings in Brazil and in India with NDB representatives.
Direct Link to Full 32-Page 2017 Publication:
http://www.pwescr.org/Taking-it-to-the-Bank.pdf
PWESCR undertook this research on behalf of BRICS Feminist Watch. To bring a feminist analysis to multilateral banks and to larger issues of development finance continues to be a challenge. I hope this paper contributes to our ongoing struggles to strive for gender justice within these new structures and institutions. Priti Darooka- Executive Director, PWESCR.
Categories: Releases, Slider Featured
