We must ensure that the global market is embedded in broadly shared values and practices that reflect global social needs, and that all the world's people share the benefits of globalization. We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face. Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community. National markets are held together by shared values and confidence in certain minimum standards. But in the new global market, people do not yet have that confidence.
Globalization is a fact of life.
But I believe we have underestimated its fragility. Many African leaders refuse to send their troops on peace keeping missions abroad because they probably need their armies to intimidate their own populations. There is no development strategy more beneficial to society as a whole women and men alike than the one which involves women as central players. More countries have understood that women's equality is a prerequisite for development. We have the means and the capacity to deal with our problems, if only we can find the political will.