Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Spoke at Fourth Annual Irene Tinker Lecture

Gender inequalities must be understood as complex interlinked problems, says economist and philosopher Amartya Sen at the 2006 Irene Tinker Lecture.

Renowned for his ability to seamlessly combine ethics and economics, Sen drew from his life's work on gender inequality for a lively lecture and discussion of the gradual progress toward gender equality.

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Photo credits: Sylvia Johnson

2005 Irene Tinker Lecture Featured Mary Robinson

"Terrible things are happening to women and girls on our watch," says Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, who spoke at the third annual Irene Tinker Lecture Series on the need to better integrate health care in international development efforts.

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SPECIAL EVENTS

Irene Tinker Lecture Series
Nov. 16, 2004

ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta (left) with Gita Sen

Economist Gita Sen Says of Women and Development, ‘Much Remains to be Done’
Gita Sen, Ph.D.,— renowned economist and author of many acclaimed works — spoke on the current state of affairs for women and development at the second annual Irene Tinker Lecture Series, hosted by ICRW.

"I don't need to tell any of you that important decisions are being made that will shape the rights of women today and in years to come," Sen said to a packed room that included many pioneers of women and development. "This is a time when all of us need to step back and gain perspective on what is going on. It's the only way we can see our way forward."

Sen's urgency is echoed in her most recent book, Remaking Social Contracts: Beyond the Crisis in International Development, which maintains that the world is facing a crisis in international development that stems from unresolved tensions between financial flows, trade and production on one side and the needs of human development on the other. For women, these tensions manifest themselves in efforts to ground economics and politics more firmly in the human rights of women and girls — efforts that culminated in the 1994 agreement on human rights hammered out in Cairo.

At issue: How to ensure that women's rights as articulated in Cairo are part of national and international policy and discussions. "Women are not present in trade or finance decisions," Sen said. "We're struggling to stay in the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals]."

Women still have unfinished business in claiming their rights as full citizens, Sen said. "While we celebrate what we have accomplished together here," she added, "much remains to be done."