For more than 70 years, GDP has been the most frequently cited and influential indicator of national progress. Yet GDP narrowly focuses on short-term economic growth while ignoring the costs of this growth, including environmental degradation, loss of societal trust, mounting debt, and growing inequality. Decision-making focused on GDP is biased toward short-term economic benefits, overly concerned about what happens in the market economy, and not concerned enough about the consequences of economic growth on other determinants of well-being—especially the environment and community.

But measuring wealth in the broad sense—considering human, natural, social, produced, and financial capital—would give countries new and important insights into the sustainability of their policies.

This seminar will explore the case for wealth as a core measure of national progress. Discussion will focus on the shortcomings of GDP, the benefits of using expanded wealth measures to guide decision-making, and the steps necessary for countries to embrace this new approach to ensure the sustainability of development.

Moderator: Dominique Charron, Vice-President, Programs and Partnerships (International Development Research Centre, IDRC)

Speakers

• Njuguna Ndung’u, Executive Director, African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
• Jim Cust, Senior Economist, Office of the Chief Economist (Africa Region) - World Bank
• Kevin Urama, Acting Chief Economist and Vice President for the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Complex, African Development Bank
• Jane Mariara, Executive Director, Partnership for Economic Policy
• Lebohang Liepollo Pheko, Senior Research Fellow at Trade Collective & Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Ambassador

To help address some of the historical injustices of Liberia, a set of reforms was instituted by the post-war government of H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who served as the 24th President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Among these reforms was the reform of the land sector. After a 5-year land reform process, in 2013, a policy framework called the Land Rights Policy (LRP) was adopted; 5 years later, the hailed Land Rights Act (LRA) was enacted in 2018. Within the context of inherited widespread food and land tenure insecurity, the historic passing of the LRA is the first step in a long and complex process ahead. Against this background, the National Land Conference will take stock of successes achieved so far, analyze and highlight challenges, identify opportunities, and generate recommendations and commitments for the way forward.  

IISD and the FAO will co-present a Policy Brief on Linkage of Tenure Rights to Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) and Food Security during this event.

Recent climate, political, and health shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed some of Africa’s greatest trade vulnerabilities but also highlighted the continent’s greatest opportunities for using trade policy as a mechanism to build back better.  This dialogue among trade experts and World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators will weigh trade policy options in light of the findings from the recent 2021 Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (jointly published by AKADEMIYA2063 and IFPRI) and IISD’s report on trade policies for food shocks. The dialogue will also explore the trade policy concerns of WTO negotiators representing African constituencies for the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-12). 

This is a joint event organized by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 

Date and time: Thursday, November 18, 2021, 18:30–19:45 CET 

Interpretation in English and French will be provided during the event  

Worldwide, the climate crisis is accelerating faster and more severely than previously anticipated. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report predicts that the world will reach 1.5°C of warming in two decades, much earlier than anticipated. As the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) approaches and as leaders make new and ambitious commitments at the UN Food Systems Summit, it has become clear that collective action is necessary for enhancing gender-responsive and climate-resilient food systems. 

While the link between gender and climate change is not always obvious, evidence increasingly demonstrates that women and men experience climate change differently, that climate change increases women’s vulnerabilities, and that gender inequality worsens women's coping capacities. How do international policies and legal frameworks address the gender, climate change, and agriculture nexus? How does gender inclusion in climate change policies and the international debate improve the effectiveness of climate action? These are some of the questions that we explored during this event.

The sixth virtual dialogue of the Parliamentarians Actions for Gender Equality and Resilient Food Systems in Response to COVID-19 series, was  held on September 29, 2021, 14:00–16:00 CEST, and focused on the nexus of climate change, food systems, and gender equality.

Watch the recording of the event in English

Watch the recording of the event in French

Moderator: Kulthoum Omari-Motsumi, Gender and Climate Change Expert, IISD

Panellists

• Sekou Sangaré, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources
• Zitouni Ould Dada, Deputy Director, FAO
• Angie Daze, NAP Global Network, IISD
• Hon. Joseph Kamano, MCA Maela and Chairman of the Sectoral Committee in Water, Sanitation, Environment, Energy and Natural Resources at Nakuru County Assembly
• Pacome Guiraud, Gender Expert, UNDP, Cote d’Ivoire
• Hon. Marie-Virginie Kouassi, President of the Caucus of Women Parliamentarians of Côte d'Ivoire
• Colette Benoudji, Co-ordinator, LEAD, Chad
• Hon. Barthelemy Kassa, Member of Parliament in Benin
• Tasila Banda, National Project Coordinator, Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape, Government of Zambia
• Nisreen Elsaim, UNFCCC constituency of Youth Non-Governmental Organizations (YOUNGO)

This virtual meeting is the sixth in a series of dialogues organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), IISD, and Oxfam as part of their policy support to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Network of Parliamentarians on Gender Equality and Investments in Agriculture and Food Security. The objective of the series is to enhance the role of African parliamentarians in mitigating the gender-differentiated impacts of COVID-19 on food systems.

Event hashtag: #ParliamentAction2020