Addis Ababa, 20 October 2022 – A group of experts met this week in Addis Ababa to review the African Gender Development Index, a flagship tool of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which governments have been using since 2004 to measure their progress towards achieving their gender equality commitments.
Held at ECA’s headquarters on 17 and 18 October, the meeting brought a range of government officials from national statistical offices and ministries responsible for gender and women’s affairs, gender specialists and development practitioners for a two-day consultation on the scope and methodology of the index.
As a background for the consultation, experts considered a series of presentations, which highlighted recent developments such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the 2020 UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights, as well as lessons learned from the index’s implementation across the continent since it first became available.
A ‘fit for purpose’ index
Considering the presentations, experts explored how the 18-year-old index could adapt and remain relevant as a ‘fit for purpose’ tool in the current context, where progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment remains increasingly at risk in the face of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. They recommended specific changes to the methodology, structure and composition of the index, which will guide its further development and finalization.
Opening the meeting, Ms. Edlam Yemeru, acting director of ECA’s Gender, Poverty and Social Policy Division, said: “Since its launch in 2004, much has been achieved through the index and African countries continue to use it while submitting consistent requests to ECA to assist them in conducting additional assessments. But we have now come to a critical juncture for reflection on the future of the AGDI for many reasons.”
She spoke of two such reasons. First, while Africa has made notable progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, enormous challenges persist, making robust monitoring ever more critical. Second, the index needs to reflect recent developments that have taken place since it was launched in 2004.
‘An empowered Africa’
Ms. Yemeru added: “ECA will continue to assist countries in their efforts to use data to identify barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment, and craft evidence-based policies to address them… As Africa confronts multiple crises, women are tackling their effects every day. We must do our part to empower them for an empowered Africa and a resilient future.”
During the consultation, experts advised that the index should include the quantitative indicators of the Gender Status Index and qualitative indicators of the African Women’s Progress Scoreboard. In particular, they recommended the inclusion of new indicators, covering women’s role in information and communications technology (ICT), environment and climate change, as well as new measures to capture gender norms that undermine the effective implementation of gender-transformative laws, policies and institutional mechanisms.
Experts further underscored the need to adopt a human rights approach to the index, the use of national data and structures in undertaking assessments, a wider uptake of the tool in the national statistical systems, and greater use of its findings in national development planning and reporting on human rights commitments.
They further honed in various issues learned from the index’s implementation in more than 40 countries in Africa, such as lengthy and costly assessments, uneven scoring and unalignment with the gender-related targets of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 as well as global reporting mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Reviews and National Voluntary Reviews.
The revised version of the African Development Index will be launched early next year.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org
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