Gender Studies

Gender-disaggregated data is essential to the planning and implementation of gender-informed development projects. The sources below provide up-to-date information on gender across a variety of sectors.

• eAtlas mapping tool, developed in cooperation with Harper Collins UK, allows users to transform data into customized visual comparisons across time, countries, and regions. The resulting full color maps and graphs can subsequently be exported for sharing, used in presentations, and saved for later use.
• The Enterprise Surveys database provides firm-level data on women's entrepreneurship and participation in the labor force.
• GenderStats  
  
  • A one stop source of information on gender at the country level.
  • A compilation of data on key gender topics from national statistics agencies, United Nations databases, and World Bank-conducted or funded surveys.
  • A work-in-progress because the database is continuously updated as new information becomes available.
• Key Gender Employment Indicators 
• Women, Business and the Law
  Women, Business and the Law presents indicators based on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as entrepreneurs and employees in 128 economies across 6 topics.
• Assessing Vulnerability for Women and Children, March 2009
• Edstats
  Education Statistics was designed and developed by the World Bank's Education Group of the Human Development Network and the Development Economics Data Group drawing on data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, OECD and other international agencies. Its purpose is to compile education data from a variety of national and international sources in order to provide information on pertinent educational topics.
• MDG Indicators 
  The Millennium Development Goals commit the international community to an expanded vision of development, one that vigorously promotes human development as the key to sustaining social and economic progress in all countries, and recognizes the importance of creating a global partnership for development. The goals have been commonly accepted as a framework for measuring development progress.
• Sector Tools and Data
  

World Bank eAtlas of Gender, the latest in a suite of user-friendly, interactive electronic atlases, allows users to map and graph dozens of gender indicators over time and across countries. ...

It allows users to see how a country fares on several dimensions of well-being and empowerment by clicking on an indicator after a keyword search. When the indicator is selected, a world map appears, showing the latest data for more than 200 economies.

With this eAtlas, you can

• Map more than 80 World Bank indicators worldwide
• Compare and view two maps simultaneously
• Animate maps to show change over time
• View all data in ranking tables and charts alongside maps
• Export maps and data for use in presentations and more
• Import your own data

 

 

It is almost two years since the adoption of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development and we find ourselves in a momentous turn of the decade: 2010 marks the 15th Anniversary of Beijing Plus Fifteen; the 10th Anniversary of the Millennium Development Goals; the 10th Anniversary of the UN Security Resolution Council 1325; the launch of the African Decade for Women (2010-2020) of the African Union and Soccer 2010 came to Africa for the first time

More significant when Heads of State meet in Windhoek in August this year they will celebrate SADC's 30th Anniversary while it is expected that the celebrations will coincide with Member States first reports to the SADC Secretariat on the progress in implementing the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

This study is a sequel to the 2009 Gender Protocol Baseline Barometer and has become the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance's benchmarking tool towards the realisation of the 28 targets set for 2015 which incorporate and enhance the existing African and global commitments. The Barometer builds on information obtained in 2009 but remains for many reasons:

• It provides a regional synthesis of SADC's performance against the 28 targets
• It is an independent analysis - drawing on country reports by researchers and experts
• It has a citizen score card giving voice to ordinary citizens -where an annual score is obtained at country level and across sectors. There is a SADC Gender protocol quiz to gauge citizens' awareness
• It provides an accountability tool for civil society as well as governments
• This particular edition features practical examples of the SADC Gender Protocol @ Work and has a new chapter on peace building and conflict resolution.

 

Files to download:
  Contents, Executive Summary - 378 KB
  Chapter 1: Constitutional and legal rights - 924 KB
  Chapter 2: Governance - 808 KB
  Chapter 3: Education and Training - 728 KB
  Chapter 4: Productive resources and employment - 1 028 KB
  Chapter 5: Gender based violence - 826 KB
  Chapter 6: Health - 627 KB
  Chapter 7: HIV and AIDS - 834 KB
  Chapter 8: Peace Building - 664 KB
  Chapter 9: Media, Information and Communication - 915 KB
  Chapter 10: Implementation - 781 KB
  Bibliiography - 428 KB

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. In recognition of this important anniversary, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day – which is observed worldwide on 8 March – is "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All".
At the UN Headquarters in New York, the commemoration is being held today, 3 March. Read the Secretary-General's message, and view additional resources from the web site. From UN Pulse:  Permanent Link: International Women's Day - 8 March      

The UNAIDS Operational Plan for the Action Framework for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV was developed in response to the pressing need to address the persistent gender inequality and human rights violations that put women and girls at greater risk and vulnerability to HIV, and threaten the gains that have been made in preventing HIV transmission and increasing access to anti-retroviral treatment. Download the report in full from the web site and read more about the launch of the Action Framework. UN Pulse: Permanent Link: Action Framework for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids has developed a five-year action plan to address gender inequalities and human rights violations that continue to put women and girls at risk of HIV infection. From Polity.org.za

http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/26235_20100226_jc1794_agenda_for_accelerated_country_action_en.pdf

Fifteen years after the 4th World Conference on Women took place in Beijing in 1995 the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is reviewing the situation of women from a regional perspective in preparation for the global fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in March 2010. The Beijing + 15 Regional Review Meeting on "New challenges and opportunities for Gender Equality in the ECE Region: Key Issues and Policy Responses" will be held in Geneva on 2-3 November 2009. UN Pulse Permanent Link: Beijing + 15 Regional Review Meeting

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has issued a new publication: Promoting Gender Equality in HIV and AIDS Responses: Making Aid More Effective Through Tracking Results.

It presents the key findings of an expert consultation - Tracking and Monitoring Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS in Aid Effectiveness - which was co-organized by UNIFEM and the European Commission in May 2008.

Participants developed recommendations for integrating the gender equality dimensions of HIV/AIDS into national development planning, implementation and budgeting; for strengthening current indicators for monitoring and tracking progress to eliminate violence against women and improve women’s access to sexual and reproductive health and rights in the context of HIV/AIDS; and for inspiring new areas of advocacy and new entry points for improving knowledge and awareness on gender equality and HIV and AIDS in the context of aid effectiveness.

It is only available in English.

UN Pulse:  Permanent Link: HIV / AIDS Gender Equality

FEATURES
- SOAWR calls for AU to secure women's rights in Africa
- Hilary N. Ervin & Caroline Muthoni Muriithi on what the global downturn means for women's rights in Africa
- Norah Matovu Winyi calls for the AU to implement the African Women's Rights Protocol
- Lyn Ossome on promoting women's rights at the 13th AU Summit
- Mary Wandia argues that securing women's rights will boost food security and economic growth
- Anushka Sehmi on the need to protect the rights of elderly women

Pambazuka News No. 439.

Making the MDGs Work for All : Gender-Responsive Rights-Based Approaches to the MDGs is a resource on how to implement the Millennium Development Goals from a gender equality and women’s empowerment perspective. This new UNIFEM publication aims to assist states by suggesting a process for developing a gender-responsive rights-based national MDG reporting framework, and provides a sourcebook outlining issues, possible strategies, and long-term and intermediate targets and indicators.

UN Pulse Permalink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALcfBrF-zmk\

Thanks to Fareeda Jadwat for this.

A pre-election Panel Discussion with representatives of the political parties, gender activists, feminists and

YOU!!!

Date: Tuesday 7 April 2009
Time: 4.30 for 5.00pm

Venue: AK Hall, Salt River Community House, Salt River,
                Cape Town

Thanks to Fareeda Jadwat for this.

OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI)
The OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) is a statistical tool which measures discrimination that restricts women’s ability to access resources in 102 developing countries. It was launched by the OECD in 2009. The SIGI uses 12 innovative indicators based on social institutions, norms and cultures and measures their impact on women and relationship to sexual discrimination and inequalities in political and economic participation. The 12 indicators are grouped into 5 categories: family code (marriage and family authority practises); physical Integrity (measures of violence against women) , son preference (inbalances in gender infant mortality), civil liberties (freedom of movement, freedom of dress) and ownership rights. The website includes the full results and country rankings. It includes podcasts, press releases and information on the methodology used to compile the index. From Intute.ac.uk
http://www.oecd.org/dev/gender/SIGI

Equality in politics: a survey of women and men in parliaments 2008
This site provides free access to a report by Julie Ballington published by the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) in 2008 ISBN 9789291423798. The 118 page report presents the results of an international survey which was conducted between 2006-8 amongst male and female MPs and parliamentarians worldwide. This collates their opinions on womens access to political positions, structural barriers to their entry into politics and examples of measures that can be taken to increase gender equality in political participation and decision making. Intute.ac.uk
http://www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/equality08-e.pdf