Addis Ababa — A two-day meeting to review a Regional Report of the African Gender and Development Index ended Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Once finalized, the report is intended to guide national policy and decision-making on women's advancement across the continent.
The African Centre for Gender, which falls under the Social Development Policy Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, convened the meeting. The almost 40 attendees, from all regions of Africa except the north, were mostly principal secretaries in the ministries for gender affairs 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 the 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.
