Devaki Jain - United Nations and International Networking

United Nations and International Networking

Through working on her book, Women in India, she involved herself in feminist issues. She took an active part in writing, lecturing, networking, building, leading, and supporting women.

Jain was founder of the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST) in New Delhi and served as director until 1994. She has also worked in the field of women’s employment and edited the book Indian Women for India’s International Women’s Year.

Gandhian philosophy has influenced Jain’s work and life. In line with this philosophy, her academic research has focused on issues of equity, democratic decentralization, people-centered development, and women’s rights. She has worked for local, national, and international women’s movements. She currently lives in Bangalore, India.

Jain has traveled extensively as a participant in many networks and forums. As Chair of the Advisory Committee on Gender for the United Nations Center in Asia Pacific, she has visited numerous countries, including most Pacific and Caribbean Island. In Africa, she has visited Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Benin and Senegal, Liberia, Cote D’lvoir, South Africa and Botswana. Along with Dr. Julius Nyerere, she had the privilege of meeting with and discussing the visions and concerns of African leaders. She is also a member of the erstwhile South Commission founded by Dr. Nyerere.

She was also a member of the Advisory Panel set up by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to advise on the preparation of the 1997 Human Development Report on Poverty and for the 2002 Report on Governance.

She was a Peace of the UN as a member of the Eminent Persons Group of the Graca Machel Study Group appointed by the UN to study the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.

In Women, Development, and the UN—A Six-Year Quest for Equality and Justice she shows how women’s contributions have changed and shaped developments and practices at the UN. She introduces the term “feminization of poverty” from the feminist economist point of view. “‘Feminization of poverty,’” Jain explains, “was used to describe three distinct elements: that women have a higher incidence of poverty than men, that women’s poverty is more severe than that of men, that a trend toward greater poverty among women is associated with rising rates of female-headed households.”(Jain 2005) According to her, “feminization of work” connotes low-quality, lowly-paid work. Jain argues that “feminization” devalues the increased presence of women.