7th Asia Economic ForumProfessor Sir Timothy O’SheaVice Chancellor and Principal

Plenary Session VI: Education, Gender Equality and Economic Development

Millennium Development Goals

“The new century opened with an unprecedented declaration of solidarity and determination to rid the world of poverty. In 2000 the UN Millennium Declaration… committed countries – rich and poor – to doing all they can to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality and achieve peace, democracy and environmental sustainability.” UNDP Human Development Report 2003: 1

Millennium Development Goals• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Achieve universal primary education • Promote gender equality and empower women• Reduce child mortality  • Improve maternal health  • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases • Ensure environmental sustainability  • Develop a global partnership for development

MDGs Where are we now?

MDG: Promote gender equality & empower women

Ratios of girls to boys in education

Share of women in wage employment (non-agricultural)

Proportion of seats held by women in parliament

Gender & MDGs • “specification of gender equality in any global

statement represents a step forward, further imprinting gender equality as a non-negotiable component of development” (Subrahmanian 2004)

• Gender-aware and gender-specific targets• Gender as an intrinsic value of development• BUT gender far from ‘mainstreamed’ and

voice of women often absent from policy documents

What can the University of Edinburgh contribute?

Global Academies - a global network of experts developing innovative solutions for the world’s most challenging problems.

- Global Development Academy - Global Environment and Society Academy - Global Health Academy

Global Academies• Today's problems are increasingly complex and

international in nature. They require thoughtful, collaborative solutions.

• A step change in the way the University is able to build multi-disciplinary responses to complex global issues - experts from 25+ academic disciplines involved.

• Blurring traditional subject boundaries to offer world leading interdisciplinary PG degrees that equip future leaders to combat global challenges.

Global Academies Partnership Working • Researchers work with partners in hundreds of

countries to generate knowledge, dialogue & solutions.

• Support research across disciplines that generates new connections between north and south, academics, practitioners and policymakers.

• International experts in disciplines such as the social sciences, medicine, & engineering are extending our understanding of the limits of current trajectories of development, & actively contributing to transcending these limits.

Global AcademiesCurrent Partnerships Asia• Peking University (China)• University of Hong Kong • Kyoto University Institute for Integrated

Cell-Material Sciences ( iCeMS)• National University of Singapore• National University of Taiwan• Korea University• Waseda University (Japan)

Edinburgh - Relevant ProjectsThe Impact of Aid on Maternal Health - Africa• System Review of evidence of the impact of

aid on maternal health outcomes (May-December 2010). Part of a pilot exercise in using systematic review methodologies to improve evidence-based policy in international development. The project compares the evidence of the impact of different types of aid on maternal and reproductive health.

Edinburgh - Relevant ProjectsResearch Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP)

• Partnership of seven institutions from UK and four developing countries - Kenya, Ghana, India and Pakistan. Core objective is to study the mechanisms that drive the link between poverty and inferior education and to identify the policies needed to ensure that educational outcomes benefit the disadvantaged.

Edinburgh - Relevant Projects

Current Projects Asia •China - research into health data established pneumonia as leading cause of infant mortality & confirmed China has met the 4th MDG on reducing infant mortality.

•Climate change work in Japan on the use of biochar working with Japan Biochar Association.

Concluding thoughtsAre the structured targets of the MDGs the best approach?

How can the University of Edinburgh contribute more?