Capacity for producing and using gender statistics: a situational analysis

Jessica Gardner, Statistical Consultant Asian Development Bank Kabul, Afghanistan 12 February 2012
The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Gender Statistics: an emerging field

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Gender statistics

Improving the quality of statistics

Eliminating gender bias

Training enumerators, changing questions, definitions Informal economy Violence against Women Time use Unpaid work Gender roles and decision-making

New collections

Meeting user needs: relevance

 Monitoring and evaluation Public policy International reporting

Flow of data

 Detailed manual on developing gender statistics (UNECE, 2010) 180 pages of information Contributions from more than 50 experts

www.unece.org/stats/gender.html

Standards for measuring violence against women

Internationally agreed indicators Ethical guidelines Questionnaire Interviewers guide Training package

Indicator Frameworks
Population Fertility & mortality Families and households Work & economy Health Education Public life & decision making Crime and violence Environment Poverty Information & communications Governance Legislation

Findings of the Assessment of Gender Statistics Capacity in Afghanistan

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Methodology of the Situational Analysis

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Assessment of Central and West Asia Developing Member Countries

Some Progress Less Progress Considerable challenges

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Gender Statistics Framework

Demand exists Data exist

Data are used

Data is
disseminated

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Demand exists
In Aghanistan:

Demand exists Data are used

Data exist
Data are disseminated

No legislation for gender statistics Demand evident in:

International commitments: CEDAW; MDGs, etc National planning

CSO Capacity Development Plan 20112014 includes gender mainstreaming

Degree to which a culture of evidencebased policy making exists will impact demand

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Challenges Demand Exists

Limitations of legislative provisions requirement for gender
statistics not established in the mainstream laws on official statistics. those delegated responsibility for gender statistics have insufficient authority to influence change. among policy-makers and the general public.

Weak institutional mechanisms - clear mandates are lacking and Limited awareness of gender equality and womens rights concepts

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Data exist
In Afghanistan:

Demand exists

Data exist
Data are disseminated

Some data collection through surveys,Data are census and administrative records used Significant challenges in data collection

Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Gender and Statistics

No agreed indicator framework No budget for gender statistics

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Gender-related statistics Time use and unpaid work Decision making and public life Ownership and control of land /assets Gender attitudes Informal economy Prevalence of violence Reproductive health Labor market and employment Poverty Education Health and mortality Migration Agriculture Crime

Data availability Afghanistan

2009 current 2005-07 2010-11 2007-08

2003 2010 2009 2008 2003, 2010-11 2010

Challenges Data exists

Poor coordination between data-producing agencies resulting in gaps in
data collection, limited data comparability, and duplication of effort.

Lack of consultation between data producers and users leading to limited

understanding of users needs and the extent data provided meet those needs.

Obstacles to collecting gender-related data such as cultural issues, civil

unrest (in some countries), employing trained enumerators, and reaching remote communities.
opportunities, informal sector, governance, stereotyping, violence, impact of conflict, access to assets, services and state subsidies, etc.

Lack of gender-specific indicators on poverty, inequality in economic Timeliness of gender statistics

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Data is disseminated
In Afghanistan: One publication on baseline gender statistics in 2008

Demand exists Data are used

Data exist
Data is disseminated

Some gender-disaggregated data available online

Limited user consultation

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Challenges Data is disseminated

Limited capacity in analysing and presenting statistics. Lack of resources, both human and financial. Less emphasis on data dissemination and communication than on collection and processing.

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Shift from print to online dissemination

Link to policy goals Clear and simple presentation Provide context

Data are used

In Afghanistan: Need to build relationships between data users and producers

Demand exists Data are used

Data exist
Data are disseminated

Introduce consultation and feedback mechanisms

Build users ability to understand and use statistics

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Challenges Data is used

Little evidence of regular consultation with users to discuss emerging needs and monitor the use of gender statistics. A key challenge is the capacity of users to access, understand, analyse, interpret and use statistics. Limited use of gender statistics for policy-making.

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

Gender Statistics Framework

Demand exists Data exist

Data are used

Data is
disseminated

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!

National statistics system

Questions / comments?

GENDER & DEVELOPMENT - GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT!