Gender and Development in Post-Crisis Southeast Asia

Since the Economic Crisis began in July 1997, the East Asian 'miracle' has become the East Asian 'debacle'. The region descended suddenly and rapidly into economic chaos, out of which it has yet to emerge. As a result of the Crisis, by 1998, the GNP of Malaysia had fallen by more than 8 percent, that of Thailand by nearly 8 percent and that of Indonesia by as much as 20 percent (UNIFEM, 2000, p.32). About 20 million were added to the 30 million already below the poverty line in the affected countries. Eighteen million more people became openly unemployed in Indonesia, Thailand and Korea. Real wages fell by 10 percent in Thailand and by 40 to 60 percent in Indonesia (see World Bank, 1998).