HLEG thematic workshop on Measurement of Well Being and Development in Africa, 12-14 November 2015, Durban, South Africa, More information at: www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-economic-social-progress

1. MEASURING GENDER DIMENSIONS OFWELLBING. A
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
PRESENTED BY MS. NGONE DIOP, SENIOR GENDERADVISOR
UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FORAFRICA,ADDIS ABABA -
ETHIOPIA
Measurement of WellBeing and Development in Africa. Durban International Convention Centre,
SouthAfrica, 12-14November2015

2. Outline
▪ Women’s wellbeing in Africa. Contextualising the issue
▪ Conceptualising gender dimensions of wellbeing in Africa/ Conceptual framework -
Towards a gender responsive Dashboard for the measurement
▪ Quick discussion of the dimensions (the concepts), variables, the interrelationships
among them and related indicators
▪ Share (quickly) some concrete examples based on recent work we have done at ECA

3. Contextualising women’s wellbeing in Africa
Rising Africa with rising inequality
Powerful economic growth over the last decades i.e. 5% in average. 10 fastest
growing economies = African in a world characterised by an uneven recovery from
the economic crisis and financial downturn
Rising inequality , income inequality , Gini coefficient = 43.2 (0.43) in 2010 making
Africa the second unequal continent after Latin America (53.2)
Gender inequality – progress in some areas (education, political participation) but
persistent inequality in economic arena
African Common Position on the Post 2015 – gender equality as key development
goal SDGs - SDG6and recognition of gender equality and women’s empowerment
as fundamental to all goals
What is wellbeing about? wellbeing is about life. It refers to an individual (female or
male) life status that encompasses multifaceted dimensions both economic and
non-economic : health, education, income, social capital , security, etc.

4. CONCEPTUALISINGTHE GENDER DIMENSIONS
OFWELLBEING

5. Syndrome of the triple omission and triple
assumptions
▪ GDP triple omissions:
1) Cost of environmental degradation
2) Cost of reproducing human beings
3) Social transaction costs
Syndrome of the triple assumptions:
Assumption 1: natural resources are unlimited and their exploitation does not
harm the earth. Sub-assumption = it belongs to everyone; no need to pay for it
(Tragedy of the Commons , Elinor Ostrom/building on William Foster Lloyd’s work)
Assumption 2: there is no cost for reproducing , caring and nurturing human
being as women’s time is elastic
Assumption 3: there is no cost for developing and building social networks /social
capital
Policies based on such false assumptions will create and/or exacerbate gender
inequality and discrimination against women

6. SDG5 – ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER ALLWOMEN AND GIRLS
TARGETS
5.1 end all forms of discrimination against all
women and girls everywhere
5.6 ensure universal access to sexual and
reproductive health and reproductive rights
as agreed in accordance with the
Programme of Action of the ICPD and the
Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome
documents of their review conferences
5.2 eliminate all forms of violence against all
women and girls in public and private
spheres, including trafficking and sexual and
other types of exploitation
5.a undertake reforms to give women equal
rights to economic resources, as well as
access to ownership and control over land
and other forms of property, financial
services, inheritance, and natural resources
in accordance with national laws
5.3 eliminate all harmful practices, such as
child, early and forced marriage and female
genital mutilations
5.4 Recognise and value unpaid care work
through provision of public services, etc.
5.b enhance the use of enabling
technologies, in particular ICT, to promote
women’s empowerment
5.5 ensure women’s full and effective
participation and equal opportunities for
leadership at all levels of decision-making in
5.c adopt and strengthen sound policies and
enforceable legislation for the promotion of
gender equality and the empowerment of all

7. Gendered multi-dimensions of wellbeing
▪ SDGs : comprehensive framework , good building block for addressing gender
issues in wellbeing
▪ The various dimensions of wellbeing are shaped by the gender relationships
and the unequal power relationships between women and men . Social and
cultural norms and rules determine who have what , who can do what and who
have access to and control over what?
▪ Gender is a key dimension and determinant of wellbeing
▪ Additional dimensions to the mainstreaming conceptualization of well being
𝑊𝐵 = 𝑓(𝐼, 𝐸, 𝑆𝐾, 𝐴𝑉, 𝑃𝑆, 𝑆)
Where WB = well-being of women or men
I = income
E = education
H = health
SK = social capital
AV = agency and voice
PS = personal security
S = sustainability

8. women /MEN
well-beingIncome,
employment,
resources
Unpaid care
work
Health
Education
Agency
&Voice
Social
capital
Environment
climate
change
Personal
Security/fre
edom from
violence

9. Balancing economic and no economic dimensions
Economic
dimensions of well-
being
Non economic
dimensions of well-
being

10. TOWARDS A GENDER RESPONSIVE DASHBOARD FOR
MEASURING WELL-BEING

11. Block 1: Economic variables -
ECONOMIC CAPITAL
Income, consumption
(Gender wage gaps; gender differential
consumption patterns)
Employment
(Occupation segregations)
Indicator: employment rate for F%M
Resources, Intra-household allocation
of resources
Access to and control over land, assets,
credit, etc.
I
Unpaid care work

12. Gendered nature of unemployment in Africa
Source: Diop N.; Maccuri I. (2015), Women in Informal Employment in Africa. Addressing the
Inequality Trap (Authors’ calculations based on KILM, 8th Edition (ILO, 2014). Latest data available

13. Access to water and sanitation by place of residence
in Africa in 2012
Source:WHO –UNICEFJoint Monitoring Report (2014), “Progress on Drinking Water and
Sanitation – 2014 update”., the averages computed by the African Center for Statistics,
ECA UNECA

14. Unpaid care work: average hours per week spent fetching
wood and water in selected African countries
Guinea
(2002-2003)
Madagascar
(2001)
Malawi
(2004)
Sierra Leone
(2003-2004)
5-7 4.7 9.1 7.3
2-3 4.1 1.1 4.5
4-3 5.1 4.3 7.7
4-0 4.7 1,4 7.1
women
Men
Girls
Boys
Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2011
WomenWomen as key economic
agents and wellbeing providers
Women’s unpaid is vital to
children and family’s wellbeing.
It is estimated that if included in
statistical accounts, monetary
value of unpaid care work would
contribute to an additional 15-50
percent to regional GDP.

15. Block 2: Non economic/ social variables –
SOCIAL CAPITAL
Education
Health
Social transactions
• Primary& secondary
• Tertiary, university level
• Technical training, vocational training
• Indicators: F&M enrolment and achievement
rates
• w/m general health
• Women’s reproductive health
• Indicators: frequency of illness among F&M
• MMR
Social, professional,
political network
Indicators: membership of networks;
Qualitative indicator: trust
Quantitative
variables
Quantitative
Qualitative
variables

16. Source:AUC-ECA (2015),African Scorecard for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Increased proportion of delivered attended by skilled health staff from 40% in 1990 to 53% in 2012, more than in
South Asia (where the proportion is estimated at 33 and 51% between 1990 and 2012 respectively) but still low in a number of
countries

17. Block 3: Non economic variables (cont’d) – Sustainability
variables ENVIRONMENTAL CAPITAL
• VAW especially intimate partner violence=
pandemic issue affecting
• Limited or Lack of social protection and
security coverage
Intra-household dynamics,
Personal security
(freedom from violence,
poverty..)
Indicator: % F&M affected by
violence
• W more affected by climate change but are
vital agents for climate adaptations and
mitigation . Men (rich men) consumption
patterns tend to have more negative impacts
on environment/climate than women’s
Climate change/environmental
sustainability

18. Magnitude of violence against women (Source ECA,
2010, 2013)
• In South Africa a woman is killed every 6 hours by an intimate partner.
▪ In Lesotho: Statistics provided by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service, Child
and Gender Protection Unit, indicate that 1,878 sexual offences were reported to
the police in 2008, which translates to 99 sexual offences per 100,000 of the
population. Thirty two percent of these cases were reported in Maseru Urban
and Maseru Rural police stations.
▪ In Rwanda, a report by the Rwandan police pointed out that from 2007 to 2009,
259 wives were murdered by their husbands, over 2,000 cases of rape were
reported to the police, and there were almost 10,000 cases of defilement of
children below the age of 18.
▪ In Morocco, a study carried out in 2007 by the Moroccan Secretariat for the
Family, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, reported that
nearly 28,000 acts of violence were called into a free hotline set up to give legal
help and counseling to women; over 75 percent of reported assaults were
committed by husbands.536.

19. Non economic variable - Agency and voice
• Ability to make decisions about one’s own
life
• Act on them to achieve desired outcome
that is free of fear, discrimination
Agency
• Being able to speak out, voice their
interests
• Participate in decision making that shape
their lives
Voice

20. Note on the indicators
Next step for the development of the Dashboard = defining the indicators
▪ Indicators for most dimensions (education, health, employment, etc. ) are
available from national regional and international sources though some of
them are old
▪ Indicators for social capital, intra-household allocation of resources/intra-
household dynamics, unpaid care work and climate change are more
difficult to collect
▪ May have to narrow down the number of indicators

21. Example - Gabon
Source: AUC, African Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Scorecard, June 2015

22. Angola Scorecard
Source: AUC, African Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, June 2015 2015