WBG History Thematic Group event co-sponsored with Gender & Development Thematic Group
A panel discussion with Elena Bardasi, Gita Gopal, and Michael O’Sullivan. Moderator: Nadereh Chamlou.
In September 1995, just months after James Wolfensohn became President of the World Bank, the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women convened in Beijing, bringing together 189 countries and 30,000 participants to adopt the landmark Beijing Platform for Action on gender equality. It was a turning point—commemorated this week at the UN on its thirtieth anniversary. Wolfensohn fully embraced the Beijing agenda, recognizing that advancing gender equality enhanced development efficiency and effectiveness. Though progress was uneven, regional strategies helped carry the agenda forward, such as Africa’s pilots on integrating gender into education, health, and rural development, and MENA’s focus on gender, economic growth, and entrepreneurship. Overall, the OED/IEG evaluations found the approach remained piecemeal, project-centered rather than programmatic. In today’s political climate, the path ahead remains uncertain.
Elena Bardasi is a Senior Economist at the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank. She recently completed two major evaluations, one on the World Bank Group’s engagement on gender inequality over the past decade, and another on initiatives to address gender inequality in countries affected by fragility, conflict and violence. Before joining IEG, Elena worked in the Gender Unit of the World Bank Poverty Reduction and Economic Management network.
Gita Gopal worked at the World Bank between 1991 and 2011. After working for more than a decade in designing and managing Bank-supported operations, she moved to IEG, where she managed two evaluations assessing gender integration in Bank operations, the first from 1990-1999 and the second from 2002-2008.
Michael O’Sullivan is Lead Economist and Head of the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab, an action-oriented research lab that aims to identify what works to promote gender equality in Africa and use these insights to shape policy. The Lab’s evidence has informed $12.8 billion in development investments across 53 countries globally. Michael joined the Lab at its inception and has worked on gender equality issues at the World Bank since 2008.
Our moderator, Nadereh Chamlou, is co-chair of the 1818 Gender TG. She is a former Senior Advisor at the World Bank and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. During her three decades at the WBG, she held leadership roles in economic management, corporate governance, private sector development, and gender. From 2001 to 2013, she led the Bank’s gender agenda in MENA and authored several flagship reports for the region. In 2015, she was honored with the International Alliance for Women’s Making a Difference Global Award.
Registrations:
In-Person (MC C3-214)
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