Dear Friends,

You may have heard in one of the many prominent news stories that women have made progress in recent years.  I’m pleased to report that out of the 115 countries included in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report since 2006, which builds on an index developed by Harvard Kennedy School Faculty and WAPPP affiliates, more than two-thirds of the countries have improved their overall index scores. But there are also countries that have lost ground. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by the Pulitzer Prize-winning husband-and-wife journalists Nicholas D. Kristof ’82 and Sheryl WuDunn, M.B.A. ’86, discussed in this newsletter, provides a shocking testimony of the far too many places in the world where violence against women abounds, injustice prevails and where the victims are silenced by corrupt and often complicit political authorities.

It is precisely in politics where we need women’s voices to be represented, and I feel stronger than ever that the Women and Public Policy Program must take this responsibility seriously in our research and teaching. Having women at the table makes a difference, as shown by our faculty affiliate, Professor Rohini Pande, in her work on the impact of political reservations (quotas) in India. It affects the type of public goods that are provided and the levels of corruption that occur – and it also empowers women voters. We are translating that knowledge into action with initiatives such as our From Harvard Square to the Oval Office program, where we train women graduate students at Harvard to run for public office. To date, we have trained more than 200 women, and three of our alumnae are currently serving in elected office.

Identifying and evaluating policies that help close the gender gap in politics, such as reservations, is one of the key objectives of our “Closing the Global Gender Gap Initiative” presented in this newsletter. In addition to politics, the initiative examines policies that help close the gender gaps in health, education and economic opportunity.  Improved economic opportunities, too, will empower women. The Harvard Kennedy School's research on what makes micro-finance work -- the role social capital, business skills and negotiation training play in it -- will help advise  micro-entrepreneurs on how they can both start and scale-up their small businesses.

Finally, leveling the playing field in negotiation is a particular concern of ours. As President Obama reiterated from The Shriver Report in a NBC Nightly News interview on October 21, “the battle of the sexes” has become “a negotiation between the sexes.” Unless we engage both sexes in a productive negotiation, as was discussed in our October conference on "Gender in Negotiation and Decision Making," both women and men, and society as a whole will lose out. In the President’s words, “promoting gender equality is not a burden, but instead is a huge opportunity.”

Indeed, this is where the Women and Public Policy Program will move next, an exploration of what it means for gender equality to be an opportunity in organizations, politics and society. While we consider gender equality a human right, this economic crisis also demands a closer look at the business case for gender equality.

Warm regards,