Global Forum on Gender Statistics, Accra, 26-28 January 2009 Monitoring progress towards gender...

Global Forum on Gender Statistics, Accra, 26-28 January 2009

Monitoring progress towards gender equitable development

Francesca PerucciStatistics Division, DESAUnited Nations, New York


1.1. Can we monitor development in all its Can we monitor development in all its gender-based dimensions?gender-based dimensions?

2. An attempt to go beyond MDG Indicators

3. Conclusions and way forward

Outline


• The call for improved availability of data on women and men started with the first the first World Women’s Conference in 1975World Women’s Conference in 1975.

• The first comprehensive compilation of data on women and men presented at the World’s Women Conference in the World’s Women Conference in Nairobi in 1985Nairobi in 1985.

• 1995: Beijing Platform for Action1995: Beijing Platform for Action, a detailed plan for the production and use of gender statistics is adopted.

How far have we gone?


• Almost 34 years from the first call for Almost 34 years from the first call for statistics on women and menstatistics on women and men, can we fulfill the current monitoring requirements? Can we monitor progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment? Can we monitor gender equitable progress towards all development goals, including the MDGs?

How far have we gone?


Development is not exclusively economic, but also embraces

human, socialhuman, social and environmentalenvironmental dimensions

How do we monitor progress towards the development goals?

Millennium Declaration in 2000

Eight universally-agreed development Goals (MDGs)

Embodies the Embodies the goalsgoals of the of the last decadeslast decades

Specific measurable and measurable and time-bound targetstime-bound targets


• There is universal recognition that gender equality and women’s empowerment are necessary conditions to achieve development

– Women contribute to household income– Gender equality and women’s empowerment are

necessary to achieve universal primary education, lower under-five mortality, improved maternal health, and lower likelihood of contracting HIV/AIDS

– Women’s greater control over household resource allocation improve children’s health, nutrition and education

Gender equality as a necessary condition for development


Need to monitor gender equality and women’s empowerment

Governments need to honor existing international commitments to mainstream gender and promote the empowerment of women into all development policies

Data should be available to support this effort and to identify the progress that is being achieved


Monitoring Goal 3 - Promote gender equality and empower women

Indicators:

Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament


Are MDG Indicators adequate to monitor gender based aspects of development?

•Only some of the dimensions of gender equality and empowerment are captured by the three indicators in Goal 3

•The three indicators only partially address the dimensions they are expected to monitor.

•There are problems of data availability and data quality.

•Although other aspects of women’s lives are covered by some of the other goals, few of the indicators under those goals are appropriate or sufficient to fully assess the situation of women and men.


Goal 3: Modification of existing indicators

Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Share of women in employment by type:

1. Share of women in total employment2. Share of women in agricultural employment3. Share of women in non-agricultural wage employment (current MDG indicator)

3.1 Informal wage employment4. Share of women in non-agricultural self-

employment4.1 informal self-employment


Goal 3: Proposed new indicators

Domestic violenceProportion of women who ever had a partner, 15-49 years old, who have ever experienced physical violence by an intimate partner

Hours per day (or year) women and men spend fetching water and collecting fuel

Infrastructure and women’s contribution to the economy

Control of resources

Land ownership by sexHousing title, disaggregated by male, female or jointly held

Percentage of women elected to local government bodies

Participation in local governments


• For most of the indicators proposed the current data availability was still insufficient to produce the indicator for all regions and for two points in time (for trend analysis).

• The focus should be on promoting adequate data collection programmes.

Monitoring Goal 3: Recommendations by the sub-group


• Adolescent birth rate• Unmet need for family planning

Monitoring Goal 3: Recommendations by the sub-group

Women’s empowerment in the are of health and their ability to control their reproductive life

New indicators included in the new MDG framework, under Goal 5, presented to the General Assembly, September 2007


And even on existing indicators, there are problems with data availability

MDG-indicator 11: Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector: % countries with at least 2 data points since 1990

67%67%

24%24%

6767%%

74%74%

83%83%

73%73%

7373%%

20%20%

Source: www.mdgs.un.org,


• Available data are insufficient: The data available from official national and international sources still still do not allow us to monitor the basic aspects of do not allow us to monitor the basic aspects of development related to genderdevelopment related to gender and to inform inform policiespolicies with the necessary statistics.

• Existing indicators are not adequate to reflect gender based dimensions: Statistics and indicators currently produced and used for monitoring indicate that statistical systems (nationally and internationally) have failed to fully integrate a have failed to fully integrate a gender perspectivegender perspective in all areas of statistical production and to provide policy makers with the provide policy makers with the kind of data required for gender-sensitive kind of data required for gender-sensitive policy formulationpolicy formulation and monitoringand monitoring

Can we monitor development in all its Can we monitor development in all its gender-based dimensions?gender-based dimensions?


1. Can we monitor development in all its gender-based dimensions?

2.2. An attempt to go beyond MDG IndicatorsAn attempt to go beyond MDG Indicators

3. Conclusions and way forward

Outline


Most of the burden of collecting drinking water falls on women and girls

Member of the household usually collecting water, 2005/6 (Percentage)

647

25

4

Women

Girls

Men

Boys


Reducing gender inequality is key to addressing women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS

Percentage of adults living with HIV who are women, 2007 and Women who used a condom at last high-risk sex, 2005/2006 (Percentage)

52

47

22

31

25

35

38

59

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

CIS, Asia

Latin America &the Caribbean

Southern Asia

Sub-SaharanAfrica

Adults (15+) living with HIVwho are womenWomen who used condom atlast high-risk sex


Health care must be made available to all pregnant women and at all deliveries

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, 2005 and Births attended by skilled health personnel, 2006 (Percentage)

50

51

130

160

160

300

490

900

98

98

86

79

75

73

47

40

0 500 1000

Eastern Asia

CIS

Latin America & the Caribbean

Northern Africa

Western Asia

South-Eastern Asia

Southern Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Maternal deaths Births attended by skilled health personnel


Women's significant contribution to ensuring food security often goes unpaid

Share of women in agricultural employment and in unpaid contributing family work, 2007 (Percentage)

9

11

30

34

36

43

44

57

62

75

0

7

9

21

26

27

37

47

43

67

0 20 40 60 80 100

CIS in Europe

Latin America & the Caribbean

CIS in Asia

Western Asia

Eastern Asia

Northern Africa

South-eastern Asia

Southern Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Oceania

in unpaid contributingfamily work

in agriculture employment


1. Can we monitor development in all its gender-based dimensions?

2. An attempt to go beyond MDG Indicators

3.3. Conclusions and way forwardConclusions and way forward

Outline


• The political importance of the Millennium Declaration and of monitoring progress towards the MDGs have contributed to:

– Bringing about an increased recognition of the importance of statistics for policy-making and monitoring

– Highlighting the overall lack of adequate statistical capacity in many developing countries

– A higher recognition and awareness of the urgent need to build stronger national statistical systems

– The development of new capacity building initiatives

The MDG “effect”


• The political importance of the MDGs and the need to monitor progress have shaped the development of indicators and related statistical capacity-building programmes over the past few years.

Monitoring and the need for statistics


• The MDGs and the new monitoring requirements have not only created the need but also provided an opportunity to improve data and gender-based data.

• The opportunity should not be lost to ensure that the need for improved gender data is addressed

• Statisticians concerned with the development of gender statistics need to become fully involved in the implementation of these initiatives and programmes.

But are we seizing the opportunity?


• The urgency for development partners to address the lack of data has become more evident

• Important new initiatives for statistical capacity-building:

– Marrakech Action Plan for the improvement of development statistics

– Steering and Working Groups on MDG Africa: Thematic Group on Statistical Systems

– IAEG on MDG Indicators: initiatives in statistical capacity building

– 2006 ECOSOC resolution and recommendations by the UN Statistical Commission

The way forward: A new environment


• Ensure that capacity building programmes and initiatives to improve the financing for the development of statistics also include a gender perspective

• Develop standards and guidelines through the formal intergovernmental process (UN SC) to ensure full involvement and commitment by national statistical systems

Two important steps


THANK YOU

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