WUNRN
AFRICAN WOMEN'S REPORT 2009
MEASURING GENDER INEQUALITY IN
AFRICA - EXPERIENCES &
LESSONS FROM THE AFRICAN GENDER
DEVELOPMENT INDEX
Direct Link to Full 262-Page Report: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900sid/EGUA-86XQZT/$file/uneca-women-oct09.pdf?openelement
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) presents one of
its flagship publications, the 2009 African Women’s Report. The report’s theme:
Measuring Gender Inequality in Africa: Experiences and Lessons From the African
Gender and Development Index, is opportune as African countries are being urged
to improve their statistical systems and data collection methods to respond to
development concerns. This includes the need to accelerate gender equality in
the social, economic and political fields. The central message of the report is
that gender equality cannot be adequately implemented and monitored without
appropriate data.
The African Gender and Development Index (AGDI) seeks to invigorate gender
statistical data collection in Africa as a monitoring tool of progress being
made in implementing global, regional and sub regional commitments on gender
equality. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
Against Women (1979) (CEDAW) is the first ever global treaty to give full and
effective expression to the economic, social and cultural rights of women in
addition to their political and civil rights. The International Conference on
Population and Development (1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women
(1995) in concert with their respective follow-up meetings of +5, +10 and +15,
and the United Nations Millennium Declaration (2000), all constitute important
global agenda-setting frameworks for the achievement of gender equality.
At the regional level, the rights of African women have been given holistic
impetus with the entering into force of the Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in 2005 under the
auspices of the African Union (AU). The introduction of other initiatives, such
as the Declaration of the Southern African Development Community on Gender and
Development (1997), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (2001) and the
Solemn Declaration of African Heads of States on Gender Equality (2004) also
enhance regional perspectives on women’s rights. These instruments provide the
basis for holding governments accountable for advancing the status of women in
their respective countries. Women’s marginalization is deeply rooted in the
historical, political and socio-cultural context of Africa’s development. While
some improvements and successes are evident, the substance and pace of change
have not been executed with the momentum and urgency required to catapult
Africa’s present stage of development to the level of results needed.
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