ESA/STAT/AC.187/6 Global Database of Statistics and Indicators on Gender

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ESA/STAT/AC.187/6Global Database of
Statistics and Indicators on Gender

• Third Meeting of the Advisory Group on Global
  Database
• IAEG-GS
• 29 January 2009
• Presentation prepared by UNSD
• Based on the paper by Eva Gisela Ramirez

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Interagency and expert group on gender statistics

• First meeting convened in December 2006 to
  promote development of gender statistics
• Agreed to define a Global Gender Statistics
  Programme. Two components identified
• To build a global gender statistics database
• To develop gender statistics capacity through
  training courses
• At the second meeting in December 2007 in Rome,
• Gender Info 2007 was launched.
• Two advisory groups were formed to address the
  above mentioned goals.

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Advisory Group on Databases

• Objectives
• To develop a framework of statistics, indicators
  and metadata
• To review and identify key gender indicators and
  statistics required to effectively monitor
  progress in the goals of gender equality and
  development
• Membership
• Countries (6) Canada, Malawi, Mexico (chair),
  Malawi, Philippines, Zimbabwe
• International agencies ECLAC, ESCWA, UNIFEM,
  World Bank, World Bank Institute

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Global gender statistics database

• Uses
• To analyze and compare the situation of women and
  men in the world
• To evaluate progress with respect to gender
  issues and assess the efficacy of national,
  regional and international policies to narrow the
  gender gap
• A useful tool to evaluate improvements in
  statistical capacity to produce gender statistics
• Characteristics
• Policy relevance
• Comparability across time and across countries
• Based on harmonized concepts, definitions and
  methods

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UNSDs Gender Info 2007

• Constructed with available information from the
  international statistical system
• Official statistics reported by national
  statistical system to statistics offices of
  international organizations including UNSD, ILO,
  UNESCO, UNAIDS, IPU, WHO, etc.
• Statistics estimated by international
  organizations such as UNPD, UNICEF, etc.
• Includes 116 indicators for 6 main topics and 18
  sub-topics
• Period coverage last 2 decades

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Table 1. Gender Info 2007 main topics and
subtopics
Topic/sub-topic Indicators
EDUCATION 44
Enrolment 24
Literacy 4
Progression and completion 10
School life expectancy 2
Teaching staff 4
FAMILIES 14
Childbearing 8
Unions 6
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Table 1. (cont.)
Topic/sub-topic Indicators
WORK 20
Economic activity 2
Employment 14
Unemployment 4
HEALTH AND NUTRITION 24
HIV/AIDS 11
Life expectancy 2
Mortality 5
Nutrition 2
Reproductive health 4
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Table 1. (cont.)
Topic/sub-topic Indicators
PUBLIC LIFE AND DECISION MAKING 4
Political participation 4
POPULATION 10
Distribution 4
Size and composition 6
TOTAL NO. INDICATORS 116
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In spite of the relevance of the greater part of
the indicators, GenderInfo lacks data on subjects
that at present are essential for gender
analysis, notably

• Migration
• Causes of death
• Unpaid work
• Work in the informal sector
• Informal employment
• Time use and balance between family and labour
  life
• Income
• Poverty
• Family and household dynamics
• Participation in political society
• Laws and institutions on equality and autonomy of
  women
• Violence against women
• Progress of national information systems in the
  production of statistics addressing gender issues

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Thematic imbalance in GenderInfo 2007

• Many indicators on education, particularly on
  enrolment, but none on effective school
  attendance (possibly due to small number of
  countries with such data)
• Second most numerous indicators are in Health,
  mainly on HIV/AIDS, but none on general
  mortality, morbidity, deaths by cause (except
  maternal mortality)
• Limited information on family dynamics, e.g.
  household headship by sex , types of household
  (nuclear, two-parent, single-parent, with young
  children, etc.), power relations in the family

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Comparison with other gender information systems

• Comparing with GID-OECD, World Bank and Global
  Economic Forum, ECE and ECLAC
• 1. All share the same thematic structure and in
  each of the themes similar indicator sets,
  although each with some additional indicators
• 2. All initiatives have several years of
  development and have had time to make adjustments
  and improvements

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Table 2. Comparison of the thematic structure of
diverse systems of gender information systems
THEME Gender Info GID- OECD World Bank Global Econ Forum ECE ECLAC
Population 10 10 13 5 14
Families 14 5 8 9 22
Work 20 11 9 9 16 11
Education 44 13 11 7 6 21
Health and nutrition 24 9 11 2 4 26
Public life decision making 4 5 3 13 18
Social Institutions, basic rights 8 4
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Table 2. (cont.)
THEME Gender Info GID- OECD World Bank Global Econ Forum ECE ECLAC
Capabilities human capital 17
Opportunity 7
Empowerment 3 3
Vulnerability 12
Population dynamics 8
Key indicators 8
Gender country profiles 12
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Table 2. (cont.)
THEME Gender Info GID- OECD World Bank Global Econ Forum ECE ECLAC
Life balance 8
Science and ITC 3
Crime and violence 6 5
TOTAL 116 61 94 41 82 117
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• 3. GenderInfo does not offer an additional topic
  that is different or a plus compared to the
  other existing systems. Its value rests on the
  official characteristic of its data, the
  institutional status, the longer period coverage,
  the integrity of the database, the versatility of
  its platform.
• 4. The GEF presents only a file per country with
  the indicator values and composite indexes and
  its location in the international ranking.
• 5. The systems that offer extensive themes are
  ECE and GEF. ECLAC has the most number of
  indicators.

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One of the uses of gender statistics and
indicators is as a tool to monitor progress in
the achievement of international commitments

1. Comparison of Indicators in GenderInfo vs. MDG
2. Comparison of GenderInfo vs. ECLAC on useful
   indicators to monitor Beijing Platform for Action

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A.GenderInfo vs. MDG Indicators
Goal Indics MDG Indics GenderInfo
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 9 2
2. Achieve universal primary education 3 3
3. Promote gender equality and empower women 3 3
4. Reduce child mortality 3 2
5. Improve maternal health 6 5
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 10 3
TOTAL 34 18
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GenderInfo vs. ECLAC for Monitoring Beijing
Critical area of concern Indics ECLAC Indics GenderInfo
Poverty 8 0
2. Education and training 11 6
3. Health 10 3
4. Violence against women 6 0
5. Women in armed conflict 1 0
6. Women in the economy 16 1
7. Power and decision making 4 1
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GenderInfo vs. ECLAC (cont.)
Critical area of concern Indics ECLAC Indics GenderInfo
8. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women 3 0
9. Human rights 1 0
10. Women and the media 1 0
11. Women and the environment 1 0
12. The girl child Included in other goals Included in other goals
TOTAL 62 11
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Issues for consideration

• Expansion of thematic coverage
• Inclusion of indicators to monitor international
  agreements and resolutions
• Pay attention to related databases and
  initiatives
• Software selection change?