Relevance of gender statistics in development

Daily Graphic, pg 11 Thursday, Jan. 29/09

Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

THE issue of increasing women’s participation in decision-making became more significant after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing 14 years ago.
Today, governments the world over are using strategic means such as quotas, affirmative action, equity, parity and women empowerment to ensure that there is equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes.
Attaining gender parity, as enshrined in the Beijing Platform of Action, is a human rights issue necessary for achieving sustainable and people-centred development.
The document states that "empowerment of women and equality between women and men are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security among all peoples".
As a step towards attaining this objective, statisticians from across the globe met in Accra for a three-day forum to deliberate on how to make gender statistics available to respective governments and the international community to help inform policies at all levels.
By definition, gender statistics are the body of statistics compiled, analysed and presented by sex, reflecting gender issues in society. This statistics need to be produced in close co-operation with users to respond to the needs of policy makers, planners, researchers, the media and the public.
In order to fully consider users’ needs, it is necessary to examine gender concerns and goals in society which must be addressed with the initiation of adequate policies and plans to identify the necessary statistics and indicators in order to assess and monitor the related cases.
While sex refers to relatively fixed biological differences between men and women, gender refers to socially constructed differences between sexes. Unlike gender differences which can be changed by adopting different attitudes or by any policy implementation, biological differences are by definition fixed and unchangeable.
Gender statistics entail more than compiling sex-disaggregated data. Sex-disaggregated data are information collected and tabulated separately for women and men, whereas gender statistics involve data that are compiled and analysed. Such analyses recognise that gender-based factors influence women and men’s interests differently, in relation to social conditions, relations, access to resource, among others.
Despite the increased recognition that gender is not only a moral issue but also, and more importantly, a development issue, little progress has been made in addressing gender inequalities and the empowerment of women.
According to gender experts, one main factor hindering the achievement of gender parity world-wide is the lack of reliable gender sensitive information in support of sound policy-making, programme formulation and monitoring and evaluation of development as stipulated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs envisage a reduction in maternal mortality, ensuring gender parity, reduction and control of HIV and AIDS infection, reduction of infant and child mortality and ensuring environmental sustainability.
According to a Senior Statistician at the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA), Mr Dimitri Sanga, in recognition of the importance of gender statistics in the development process and in response to the growing demand for gender sensitive information, African stakeholders had engaged in selected initiatives and activities aimed at reinforcing the capacity of countries to produce and use gender statistics.
One such initiative is mainstreaming gender into population and housing censuses with the aim of engendering the principles and recommendations on population and housing censuses.
Also to address the issue of gender inequalities and the empowerment of women, the UNECA developed the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI) which is a monitoring mechanism aimed at supporting policy makers across Africa in the assessment of their own performance and in the implementation of gender-balanced policies and programmes.
Speaking at the forum, the Ghana Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, called for a sustained interest, commitment and knowledge on the part of national, regional and inter-regional offices to keep the development agenda on gender issues and generate the relevant statistics.
“We need to organise ourselves at the regional level not only to strengthen our gender statistics programmes within the region, but also to develop the collection of experiences to share with our counterparts from other regions, as well as questions that will help bridge the knowledge gap,” she said.
The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, who gave the keynote address at the opening of the forum, summed it all up when he said, “Indeed we do not need to look far to see that there are issues that we need to deal with to bring more equity in our cultural, economic and social systems. From one region to another, from one district to another, and one community to another, women and girls fare differently from their counterparts men and boys.”
He went further to state that “we have to ask the question why these differences persist and seem to be so impervious to many of the policy initiatives. In the economic sphere, we are acutely aware of the substantial differences between the drive to reach positions of authority and management in institutions, organisations and sectors of production”.
“The pyramid that defines the structures of many organisations shows a dwindling share of women at the high levels,” he added.
Winding up the arguments on gender parity, it is important to see the notion as an integral part of human rights that aim to promote the full participation of women and men in society. Various definitions of gender parity, however, stress that gender parity does not mean that women and men are the same. Moreover, equal treatment of women and men will not necessarily lead to equality, as living conditions of women and men differ.
According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, "The main point is not the mere existence of such differences, but the fact that these differences should not have a negative impact on the living conditions of both women and men, should not result in discrimination against them and should contribute to an equal sharing of power in economic, society and policy-making processes."