Measuring Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa:African Gender and Development Index Regional Synthesis Report III, 2018

Abstract

The African Gender and Development Index (AGDI) was introduced by the Economic Commission for Africa in 2004 with the aim of supporting member states to measure the gap in the relative status of African men and women and to assess the progress made in implementing government policies that promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. It was endorsed by ministers responsible for gender equality and women’s affairs at the seventh African regional conference on women (Beijing + 10 review). The present report presents the status of gender equality in the 15 African countries that were part of phase 3 and phase 4 of AGDI, highlighting the disparities between men and women in the areas covered by the index. It is based mainly on the findings of the national reports prepared by the 15 countries as part of AGDI. These were supplemented by additional data and information from international databases to ensure that a consistent data set was used in the analysis, together with other national and international sources and journal articles. The index consists of two complementary parts: Gender Status Index (GSI) and the African Women’s Progress Scoreboard. GSI covers the aspects of gender relations that can be measured quantitatively, while the progress scoreboard captures qualitative issues in relation to the performance of African Governments on gender policies in terms of implementing regional and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment.