Workshop on the Development Implications of Gender-Based Violence

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Agenda  (PDF 138KB)
About the Workshop  
Break-out Group Descriptions
Background Readings & Biographies (PDF 227KB)
Presentations from the Workshop 
Report on the Outcomes of the Workshop (PDF 296KB)
Policy Research Working Paper     

About the Workshop: Purpose and Content

The workshop on the Development Implications of Gender-Based Violence was part of an ongoing initiative of the Gender and Development Group, the Gender and Development Board, the Legal Department. DEC, HD, SDV, Conflict Prevention, MENA, LAC and ECA to raise awareness about and highlight the implications that gender-based violence has on the World Bank's work. The opportunity to work on the issue at this time was facilitatied by funding provided by the Government of the Netherlands. Mr. Wolfensohn has identified the issue to be of critical concern for women and men's well-being and to development.

The workshop sought to inform Bank staff about the issue of gender-based violence, to provide them with the most current information pertaining to the causes and development impacts of the issue, and to spark debate and action as to ways in which the World Bank can address this issue in its work.

The all-day workshop opened with speeches from James D. Wolfenson and Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and was followed by panel discussions, presentations and break-out sessions on different aspects of gender-based violence. The speakers came from both within and outside of the World Bank and were carefully selected to ensure broad regional and topical representation and to provide participants with the necessary depth and breadth of information about gender-based violence.

» Panel discussions and plenary presentations focused on the causes and costs of gender-based violence, on prevention, and on the role of the World Bank in providing assistance in this area of development.

» Group Sessions allowed for more targeted discussions on particular topics. The workshop was broken up into four concurrent group discussions, each group discussing how gender-based violence is impacted by and impacts on different aspects of development, and the types of interventions we can use to prevent or mitigate gender-based violence.

Participants could choose between: i) social protection and micro-finance; ii) education and health: iii) conflict-affected environments, and iv) the legal aspects of gender-based violence.

» The Closing Session focused on the World Bank's role in addressing gender-based violence, including reactions from Bank management, and regional Vice Presidents.

» The Workshop Reception included a dramatic reading by the World Bank's Dramatists Guild

Film Series

As part of the gender-based violence initiative, a film series on gender-based violence was organized, featuring films depicting the many different forms of violence women live through on a daily basis world-wide. Further screenings are planned after the workshop.

Gender-Based Violence Organizing Committee

The workshop and film-series were organized by a steering committee comprised of representatives from different networks and regions, ensuring that a broad range of opinions were drawn on in the selection of films and in setting the workshop agenda. The committee was composed of staff from the PREM Gender and Development Group and the Gender and Development Board, the Legal Department, DEC, HD, SDV, Conflict Prevention, MENA, LAC and ECA.