Main institutions of macroeconomics: Central banks 
Further resources
Main institutions of macroeconomics
Exercises
Also available for download in .docx format.
These exercises are questions that aim to provoke critical thought about some of the policy decisions on macroeconomics at international and national levels, with the gender perspective we have discussed in Section III. Not all of the exercises may apply to the context of your country; please look into those questions that do apply.
1. Visit the IMF website and click on your country. Here, you will find the latest IMF publications for it, such as reports and reviews. Examine a few of these reports and think about the following issues:
- How does the IMF define the economic situation in your country and what kind of policy recommendations does it make?
- Do you detect any policy recommendations that we criticised in this section, due to their potential negative impacts on human rights?
- If you are from one of the recipient countries of IMF loans, how would you imagine the effects of these recommendations on your country? More specifically, on the lives of women and girls in your country?
- If you are from a donor country (that supports the loans of the IMF), what do you think these recommendations would mean for the extraterritorial obligations of your country?
2. In the World Bank, member countries are allocated votes at the time of membership and subsequently for additional subscriptions to capital. Votes are allocated differently in each sub-organisation. View the voting power of your country in each organisation.
Illustration by Lulu Kitololo
Do you think your country is equally represented in the World Bank? What could be the effects of this situation in the economy of your country? More specifically, on the lives of women and girls in your country?
3. View dispute settlements in the WTO. Has your country ever been involved in a dispute settlement case in the WTO? If yes, was your country involved as a complainant, a respondent, or a third party? Review and see if the WTO has made any decision that might be considered harmful to women’s human rights.
4.
a) Conduct a brief search to find out whether your country has a national development bank. Then, review its website and see when it was founded and what kind of goals it had. What does the development understanding of the bank mean for women’s human rights and gender equality? Do you observe any reflections of this perspective in the policies implemented in your country, in the lives of women and girls?
b) Conduct a brief search to find out whether your region has a regional development bank. Then, review its website and see when it was founded and what kind of goals it had. What does the development understanding of the bank mean for women’s human rights and gender equality in your region? Do you observe any reflections of this perspective in the policies implemented in your region and your country, in the lives of women and girls?
Main institutions of macroeconomics: Central banks Further resources