N e w s

United Nations Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette in Manila
(Calls for much more open deliberations among states in building a new financial architecture as a solution to the global financial crisis.)
By Daphne D. Roxas
Chairperson, Ugnayan ng Kababaihan sa Pulitika (UKP)
(Philippine Women’s Network in Politics and Public Policy)

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette met with women officials of government, members of international organizations and women NGO leaders in Manila last May 31, 1999. The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) hosted the event entitled: "Exchange of Views on Women In Development with United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette."

Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette, the first person to ever hold the post since its establishment in 1997. In her opening statement, Frechett said "I think the Philippines is lucky to have women leaders who are very much committed to the advancement of women." Praising the progress of the condition of women in the country, she noted that the women advocates have "a clear vision of where you want to go."

In response Ms. Amelou Reyes made a presentation enumerating the gains of the women sector, especially in government.

On the other hand, Civil Service Commission chairperson Corazon Alma de Leon reported that the Philippines was in the top 25 percent among 175 countries which were ranked based on the level of women empowerment. De Leon pointed out that the workforce of the government, the single largest employer in the country, is 54 percent women. She noted, however, that the figure represents mostly the lower levels of government. Among the Cabinet posts, de Leon pointed out the only two are occupied by women, namely Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, as secretary of welfare, and Gemma Araneta, as secretary of tourism.

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette was in Manila as keynote speaker at the opening of the World Conference on Governance at the EDSA Shangri-la Plaza Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

In her speech at the conference, Frechette said that " multilateral institutions, states, big business and civil society must work together to pursue the reforms that were made unavoidable by the dire consequences of the crisis, especially, she said, the "work that has been started on establishing a new global financial architecture, capable of reducing instability in private capital markets." And that "any trend towards complacency based simply on the fact that the worst fears of a global recession have not materialized would be woefully misplaced, "She stressed that pursuing the work, especially that of building a new financial architecture, "cannot be left to a restricted fora like the Group of Seven, attended only by political leaders or finance ministers from a few powerful states." Good governance requires she said, a "much more open, deliberation , in which all those affected have the chance to make their voice heard."

Good governance according to Ms. Frechette is "a template of universal ideas shared among democracies: public and private sector collaboration, civil society participation in decision-making, consensus-building, an efficient bureaucracy." She added, the task of charting and carrying out change must not be left to elitist groups like the Group of Seven. States and transnational institutions must also be made more responsive to the marginalized majority, she added. For even as the world faces old threats like arms proliferation and environment degradation, UN Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette said the Asian crisis has focused attention on a part of global governance that is "less than perfect" - the arrangements for managing the world economy.