SULEKHA PATELTHE WORLD BANK

Gender indicators in policy making, monitoring and

evaluation:A World Bank perspective

Outline of presentation

Elements of gender equality

Advance gender equality: business case

How does the Bank measure progress?

MDGs

Prospective MDG indicators

Gender Action Plan

Key Elements of Gender Equality

HouseholdHousehold

Household resource and task

allocations, fertility

decisions

SocietySociety

Civic and political

participation

Economy & Economy & MarketsMarkets

Access to land, financial services, labor

markets, technology

Aggregate economic performance (poverty reduction, growth)

Gender equality in rights, resources, and voice

Leveling the field of opportunities

Domains of

choices,

domains for

policy

Framework :Key Elements of Gender Equality

Ties together key elements of gender equality*

In the household: increased gender equality between men and women changes the allocation of HH expenditures, resulting in a larger share of resources devoted to children’s education and health.

In the market: gender inequality is reflected in unequal access to land, credit, and labor markets, and in significantly less access to new production technologies.

In society: gender inequality is expressed as restrictions to women’s participation in civic and political life.

In addition to improving individuals’ lives, increased gender equality can contribute to better aggregate economic performance.

*Source – WB Global Monitoring Report 2007

Advance Gender Equality:business case

Countries are falling behind their commitment to meet the MDGs

Gains in women’s economic opportunities lag behind those on women’s capabilities

Lack of women’s empowerment:

Imperils growth and poverty reduction

Less favourable education and health outcomes for

children

Rapid spread of HIV/AIDS

How does the Bank measure progress?

Household Economy and market

Society

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

Share of women in wage employ-ment in the non-agricultural sector

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

Target 3A:

Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education by no later than 2015

Official Indicators

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

MDG3 Effect on Other MDGs

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are channels to attaining other MDGs —

universal primary education (MDG2A),

lower under-five mortality (MDG4A),

improved maternal health (MDG5A and B),

lower likelihood of contracting HIV/AIDS (MDG6A),

Reduce biodiversity loss (MDG7B).

Limitations of the Official MDG3 Indicators

Only partially measure gender equality

Do not monitor key elements of gender equality (health

outcomes and disparities in access to productive resources such as

land, credit, and technology)

Inadequate measurement of empowerment

National-level indicators can veil inequalities between

particular subgroups

How does the Bank measure progress?

Household Economy and markets Society

Test scores, male and female

Gender gap in wages Percentage voting by male, female, and ratio

Proportion of women who have ever been victims of physical violence by an intimate male partner

Share of women in informal wage and self-employment in nonagricultural employment

Proportion of women in the executive branch

Percent of employed women who have access to child care

Percentage of individuals who possess basic citizenship documents, female, and ratio

Business by average size and sex of owner

Access to credit for women and men

Land ownership by female, male, and jointly held

Prospective MDG 3 Indicators

The Gender Action Plan Framework

• Addresses directly the gap between women’s capabilities and economic opportunities

• Makes markets work for women– Identifies and implements policy measures to level playing

field for women and improve policy and institutional environment for women

• Empowers women to compete in the markets• Four markets have been identified:

– Product; Land; Labour; and Financial

The Gender Action Plan Framework:Product Market

Policy level Form women’s business,

purchasing, and transport associations

Increase access to business services for women entrepreneurs

Increase access to ICT Increase access to credit

and financial services Provide business start-up

grants

Agency level Reduce time and monetary

costs of formalising enterprises

Include female-owned business and farms in supply chains

Provide information to women entrepreneurs on potential export markets and trade agreements

The Gender Action Plan Framework:Land Market

Policy level Conduct social marketing

of property rights legislation

Solicit women’s input into legislative changes on land holding and titling

Ensure women’s full participation in land adjudication and registration processes

Involve women and groups in local natural resource management

Agency level Promote joint titling Reform laws restricting

women’s right to inherit or own land

Co-ordinate titling with such support services as credit and training

The Gender Action Plan Framework:Labour Market

Policy level Increase women’s access

to existing training programmes

Ensure non-discrimination in labour intermediation services

Provide quality day care and reduce their services

Agency level Introduce legislation

promoting women’s employment (part-time work and anti-discrimination)

Socialise costs of maternity leave

Certify good gender practices in firms

Engender public works programmes

The Gender Action Plan Framework:Financial Markets

Policy level Support self help groups Provide gender-sensitive

business services Provide market-based

financial intermediation services

Agency level Reform financial

institutions to increase women’s access to financial services

Reform laws regarding rights to property

Offer commercial credit lines and financial services for women

Access to what?Financial institutions and services

Barriers to access: Involuntary exclusion for users of formal financial services

Price and non-price barriers associated with deposit, credit and payment services:

Physical access Services being delivered in fewer and less convenient

waysEligibility

Documents and other requirements to process services

Affordability Fees (insufficient income, high risk)

Discrimination

Barriers to access: Voluntary exclusion for users of formal financial services

Voluntary self exclusion: No need

Particularly older individuals Cultural/religious reasons

May be due to lack of appropriate products Indirect access

Infrastructure

Infrastructure increases women’s access to all four markets

Need to look at infrastructure in a gendered way Women’s priorities are closely linked to their roles in and

out of the household Different from, or in additional to, the priorities of men

Potential impacts Direct impact on women’s health and well-being Transmit benefits to other members of family

Health Education

Mixed evidence on labour force participation

Infrastructure modules

Modules will show value-added in gendered approach to infrastructure, and indicators for tracking progress

Modules available:

Water and sanitation

Urban

Transport

Mining

Energy

ICT

Example of indicators for mining sector

Employment Percentage of supervisory positions held by women in mining

companies Percentage of managerial positions held by women in mining

companies Ratio of pay for women and men for the same type of work in

mining companiesImpact Percentage of women who report that access to clean water

has been reduced Number of water related illnesses reported at the local health

center

The Gender Action Plan:How does it work?

Produce observable results in reasonable time

frame

Tailor actions to country realities+

Strengthen statistics on women’s economic

participation:

Essential for making their contributions to the economy

visible

Essential for measuring results

Thank you