ECA Finalizing Gender Development Report and Index Following Review

2 October 2017
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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Addis Ababa)

Addis Ababa — A two-day meeting to review a Regional Report of the African Gender and Development Index ended Tuesday in Addis Ababa with participants providing recommendations crucial for the finalization of the report.

Once finalized, the report will guide national policy and decision-making on women's advancement across the continent.

The recommendations will help the African Centre for Gender, which leads the work on gender and development within the Economic Commission for Africa, to finalize the report.

The Centre, which falls under the ECA's Social Development Policy Division (SDPD), convened the meeting which was attended by at least 40 principal secretaries from the gender ministries of countries that participated in Phases 3 and 4 of the African Gender Development Index.

Launched in 2004, the Index consists of two parts: The Gender Status Index and the African Women's Progress Scoreboard. The former measures the gap in the relative status of African men and women, while the latter assesses progress governments make in meeting their commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment in international and regional human rights instruments.

The 15 countries represented at the meeting are now expected to update their national gender data, from which the regional report will be recompiled.

The report will be checked, edited, resubmitted to the national governments for finalization and distribution to the 54 member States of the Economic Commission for Africa. When finalized, the report should serve as a resource from which African governments can draw to midwife gender equality and advance women's social and economic standing in society.

Seven chapters make up the report covering a wide array of aspects on women's rights, gender-based violence, education, health, access to economic opportunities and resources, as well as participation in political and public life. Attendees expressed their satisfaction at the report's overall quality.

"Such effective action in just two days demonstrates your expertise," Ngone Diop, Senior Gender Adviser to the African Centre for Gender, said of the attendees in their review of the report.

Read the original article on UNECA.

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