Tag: Women

Gender, Women and Girls

The Push toward Gender Equality Will Require More Than Money

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By Laura Frigenti, Global Head International Development Assistance Services (IDAS), KPMG

This blog is part of a special series marking the launch of the updated
2019 Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI)

sigi-jan-19Achieving gender equality is critical to achieving each and every one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Though few disagree that gender equality is a facilitator and a catalyst for meeting these ambitious targets, too few emphasise the non-capital inputs required to achieve them. A push for capital remains front-and-center in the conversation, but several other factors must be pursued with equal zeal. Good data, disrupting norms and greater innovation are chief amongst them. Such efforts contribute not only to SDG 5 to “achieve gender equality and empower women and girls,” but also pave the way further for achieving the greater 2030 Agenda.

Gathering alongside gender-lens investors, impact investors and shareholder activists at the December 2018 Financial Times Investing for Good USA event highlighted the challenges and opportunities for accelerating progress toward greater gender equality. Unfortunately, the need remains to put in place effective systems and processes to collect data and measure impact in this critical area. Less than one-quarter of the key gender indicators have adequate tracking information, and only 13% of countries worldwide dedicate a regular budget to collecting and analysing gender statistics. The scarcity of data is a disservice to existing efforts, defying effective planning for the future. To address this gap in data and reporting, KPMG, for example, is a founding partner in Equal Measures 2030, an initiative dedicated to linking data and evidence with planning and actions toward gender equality.

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Gender, Women and Girls

It’s (literally) about time: men as part of the solution to closing the care gap

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By Ruti Levtov, PhD, Director of Research, Evaluation, and Learning at Promundo-US

This blog is part of a special series marking the launch of the updated
2019 Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI)

Two hundred and ten years: That’s how long it will take to close the gender gap in time spent on care if we continue on our current trajectory, according to recent analysis by the International Labour Organization (ILO). In no country in the world do men and women spend an equal amount of time on care responsibilities, an inequality that restricts women’s participation and growth in the labour force, in political leadership and in other public spheres. It also limits the space for men to express their full humanity as nurturers, caregivers and equal partners at home. To achieve global development goals, to fulfill human rights and to enable all of us to live full lives, we need to urgently address this inequality.

It won’t be an easy road – the barriers are many to recognising, reducing and – as is the focus of this blog – redistributing care. While redistributing unpaid care responsibilities between individuals and the state is essential, we know that gender stereotypes held by individuals, communities, workplaces and governments continue to presume that women’s most important contributions are at home, and men’s are in the workplace. At Promundo, we are focusing on how we can deconstruct these stereotypes. Continue reading “It’s (literally) about time: men as part of the solution to closing the care gap”

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Gender, Women and Girls

Measuring beyond outcomes: Understanding gender inequality

By Papa A. Seck (@PABSeck), Chief Statistician, UN Women

Over her lifetime, a girl born today in Germany is expected to earn just about half the income of a boy born on the same day. In France and Sweden, she fares slightly better at about 70%. In Turkey, she can expect to earn no more than a quarter.1 Globally, it is estimated that 35% of women have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives. This is the most egregious violation of women’s rights and it is pervasive in all countries around the world, developed and developing alike. Such violence has often tragic consequences. A recent study by UNODC found that a shocking six women are killed every hour by a family member.2 An estimated 650 million women and girls in the world today were married before age 18, and at least 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation in the 30 countries with representative data on its prevalence. Women around the world do 2.6 times the unpaid care and domestic work that men do, simply because that task is delegated to them by our societies.

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Gender, Women and Girls, Policy, Social Protection

What it will take to unleash real feminism

By Bathylle Missika, Head – Networks, Partnerships and Gender Division, OECD Development Centre

Gender equality frequently makes headlines. Even before the #metoo movements, political leaders started to place gender equality at the top of their agendas. Beyond OECD countries, the G20, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as well as the African Union’s 2063 Agenda made achieving gender equality a priority.

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Gender, Women and Girls, Policy

Paving the Way Towards Progress that Counts

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By Katja Iversen, President/CEO, Women Deliver

This blog is part of a special series marking the launch of the updated
2019 Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI)

Sigi-1How can we power development that leaves no one behind?

As we edge towards 2030 – with long ways to go to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – there may be no more pressing question.

As a champion for gender equality, I have long known that girls and women are powerful agents of change and drivers of development. I see it every day, where even in the most impoverished communities and circumstances women get up, get dressed, and go out to fight for better lives for themselves, their children and their families. And because of that, Women Deliver focuses, relentlessly, on pushing decision makers to place girls and women at the centre of development agendas and approaches.

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A group of Liberian women fight for peace. Taken from the documentary film "Pray the Devil Back to Hell", directed by Gini Reticker
Gender, Women and Girls, Social Protection

Three reasons why local feminist movements offer solutions for gender equality and peace

By Maria Butler, Director of Global Programmes, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)  1

The OECD policy paper Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations (October 2017) demands a “fundamental shift in perspective on gender.”  It challenges the donor community to understand gender and conflict more holistically, more deeply and more politically with a strong focus on women as agents of change. It is a must-read for all policy makers and donors alike. However, an important aspect missed in this paper is the importance of feminist movements and how to leverage local feminist movements for change. Women are working at the frontlines of peace, development, humanitarian aid and human rights. Here are three reasons why feminist movements are central to fostering more peaceful and secure societies.

 First, there is proof. One of the most compelling research findings on political violence is that societies with more equality between men and women tend to be more peaceful. Research on violence against women in 70 countries also reveals that the most important and consistent factor driving policy change is feminist activism.   Furthermore, when women are included in peace processes, the probability of an agreement lasting at least 15 years increases 35% (Global Study 2015).

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Gender, Women and Girls, Policy, SDGs

Unpaid care and domestic work – a global challenge with local solutions

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By Clare Bishop, Senior Consultant for the OECD Policy Dialogue on Women’s Economic Empowerment

Learn more about this timely topic on the upcoming
OECD Global Forum on Development
Register today to attend

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Women working in Mali.  Photo: Shutterstock.com

The pervasive issue of unpaid care and domestic work in the global fight against gender inequality presents itself in many different contexts and guises. Yet, the one constant thread is the impact of unpaid care and domestic work on time availability. The disproportionate workload borne by women –that hinders their full engagement as economic actors in paid employment, their participation in education and training, and their overall quality of life – is widely recognised. Solutions are diverse. They include technological ones to improve water supplies and save time and labour. They embrace policies and practical ways of providing childcare facilities and paternal leave. And they call for addressing cultural norms underlying the unequal gender division of labour for unpaid work.

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Gender, Women and Girls, Security

Seizing Opportunities to Sustain Peace: A Road Map

By Sarah Douglas, Deputy Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women, and Tatyana Jiteneva, Policy Specialist, Peace and Security, UN Women

From social media platforms to the streets of major cities worldwide, women organising for equality and justice has increasingly been grabbing attention and headlines. In the field of peace and security, women’s participation has long been recognised as a critical factor for stability and recovery. It is key at a time the world is grappling with a multitude of crises that threaten decades of development, undermine people’s confidence in multilateralism and worsen risks associated with disasters.

Time and again, women’s peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts have proven to be sustainable and effective. The 2015 Global Study on Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) compiled overwhelming evidence showing improved outcomes in all areas of peace and security when women are present.1 The newly released United Nations/World Bank Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict underscores the cost-effectiveness and resilience of women organising for peace, particularly in the context of State actors with low capacity and where  resources for recovery and development are scarce.2

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Africa, Asia, Gender, Women and Girls

Are women holding up Chinese and African skies?

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By Hannah Wanjie Ryder, CEO, Development Reimagined, and China Representative, China Africa Advisory

Learn more about this timely topic on the upcoming
OECD Global Forum on Development
Register today to attend

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In 1968, Chairman Mao might have proclaimed that women hold up half the sky, but it remains a sad fact that the majority of top African and Chinese politicians are still men. This is also the case for CEOs of state-owned and other large Chinese and African businesses. No woman has been president of any African country since Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stepped down last year, and in a recent study by the World Economic Forum (WEF), China was ranked 77th out of 144 countries in terms of female political representation, and 86th for economic participation and opportunity. Only eight sub-Saharan African countries featured overall in the top 50 of the same index. When I attended the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2015, which has been running since 2000 and tends to be a very government-led affair, only two women were prominent – the head of the African Union Commission at the time Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Kenya’s then Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed.

But I am now noticing an interesting new phenomenon: Women from all over the world seem to be aiming to shape China-Africa relations.

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Gender equality in West Africa
Africa, Gender, Women and Girls, Social Protection

Gender equality in West Africa? The key role of social norms

By Gaëlle Ferrant, OECD Development Centre, and Nadia Hamel, OECD Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat 

Despite some progress, gender equality remains unfinished business worldwide, including in West Africa and particularly in the Sahel1. Such West African countries as Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone have closed the gender gap in primary school enrolment. However, youth (aged 15-24) illiteracy rate in Chad is still twice as high for women than for men. In Liberia, only one-third of girls were enrolled in secondary school in 2015. Women are increasingly represented in the Senegalese parliament, and the proportion of female MPs almost doubled in the last five years, from 23% in 2012 to 42% in 2017. Nevertheless, women’s equal political participation remains a major challenge throughout the region. Women in parliaments increased only marginally from 13% in 2007 to almost 16% in 2017, with wide disparities across countries ranging from 6% in Nigeria to 42% in Senegal.

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