UNDP /UNECE NHDR Workshop on Statistical Indicators Bratislava, 5-10 May 2003 Gender Statistics and Disaggregation by Sex Dono Abdurazakova, Gender Adviser UNDP Regional Support Centre, Bratislava

Purpose -to enlarge on disaggregation by sex -to enlarge on disaggregation by sex -to assess the strength and weaknesses of the proposed HD indicators from gender perspective -to assess the strength and weaknesses of the proposed HD indicators from gender perspective

…..Sex Refers to biological differences between women and men. Refers to biological differences between women and men. Universal and unchangeable Universal and unchangeable

…Gender refers to social roles of women and men refers to social roles of women and men Women’s and men’s role can be interchangeable Women’s and men’s role can be interchangeable Change over time and between cultures Change over time and between cultures

Gender issues… …Relate to all aspects of women’s and men’s lives, their different needs and interests, access to resources and different opportunities

What is Gender Mainstreaming? “… the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.” The Report of the Economic and Social Council for United Nations, 1997.

Gender statistics: the issue Gender statistics are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex. Gender statistics are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex. Gender statistics are statistics that adequately reflect the situation of women and men in ALL policy areas - they allow for a systematic study of gender differentials and gender issues

Gender statistics are built on … ALL statistics on individuals collected by sex; ALL statistics on individuals collected by sex; All variables and characteristics analyzed and presented by sex; All variables and characteristics analyzed and presented by sex; All statistics reflecting gender issues All statistics reflecting gender issues

Disaggregation : Arguments Primary and overall category for analysis and classification Primary and overall category for analysis and classification Crucial element in policies, plans and strategies, as includes specific problems Crucial element in policies, plans and strategies, as includes specific problems Particularly important to understand hidden links Particularly important to understand hidden links Tracking progress :monitoring and evaluation of policies and action Tracking progress :monitoring and evaluation of policies and action

Why disaggregation by gender needed? Helps to combat with wrong perceptions Helps to combat with wrong perceptions Raises awareness and consciousness Raises awareness and consciousness Persuades policy makers Persuades policy makers Provides the basis for unbiased policy decisions Provides the basis for unbiased policy decisions Helps promote change Helps promote change

National HDRs – Have an important awareness raising and policy advocacy role to play in addressing the challenges of “Putting people first”. This approach cannot afford to deal with “averages”. NHDR

Are gender disparities growing in the region? the highest rates of suicides (up to 90%) committed by men in some parts of the region worldwide; the highest rates of suicides (up to 90%) committed by men in some parts of the region worldwide; the biggest gap worldwide in life expectancy (women outlive men almost 16 years in some regions of Russia, 2000); the biggest gap worldwide in life expectancy (women outlive men almost 16 years in some regions of Russia, 2000); diverse tendencies from gender perspective in education with “feminization” of higher education in some countries combined with dramatically low levels of women’s representation and participation in political life and top decision-making. diverse tendencies from gender perspective in education with “feminization” of higher education in some countries combined with dramatically low levels of women’s representation and participation in political life and top decision-making.

Limitations The indicators are limited in scope The indicators are limited in scope (how to measure care, impact of domestic violence or emotional implications of discrimination?) Closing gender gaps doesn’t always mean equal empowerment or benefits for all Closing gender gaps doesn’t always mean equal empowerment or benefits for all

EDUCATION: Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education (MDGs) University Degrees, by sex, %, Armenia4753 Azerbaijan7228 Belarus7624 Georgia49 51 Kazakhstan5743 Kyrgyzstan51 49 Moldova5644 Ukraine5248 Uzbekistan 3862 Source: UNDP/UNECE Gender statistics website

Women’s average monthly income as percentage of men’s Armenian/a ;Azerbaijan86% Belarus 76% ;Georgia53% Kazakhstan72 % ;Kyrgyzstan78% Moldovan/a ; Ukraine74% Uzbekistan81% (in 1995) Source: UNDP/UNECE Gender statistics website

Working population CountryYear % women % men Armenia199848%52% Azerbaijan199848%52% Belarus199952%48% Georgia199848%52% Kazakhstan199746%54% Kyrgyzstan199846%54% Moldova199851%49% Ukraine199951%49% Uzbekistan199744%56% Source: UNDP/UNECE Gender statistics website

Seats in parliament CountryYear % women % men Armenia20003%97% Azerbaijan200012%88% Belarus20005%95% Georgia20007%93% Kazakhstan200010%90% Kyrgyzstan20001%99% Moldova20009%91% Ukraine20008%92% Uzbekistan20007%93% Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Challenges To train more people to be effective users of gender-sensitive indicators To train more people to be effective users of gender-sensitive indicators To further strengthen capacities of national statistical offices To further strengthen capacities of national statistical offices To create new indicators and indices To create new indicators and indices To improve existing databases To improve existing databases