Measuring Social Norms and Transformative Change

@OECD_Centre
Informal Network of the Social
Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI)
First SIGI Focal Points
Network Meeting
Paris, 24 January 2018

• During the 4th High-Level Meeting of the Development
Centre’s Governing Board on 3 October 2017, the
members reiterated the importance of the Social
Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) and its pivotal
role in helping monitor progress towards the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The
Governing Board thus agreed to establish an informal
network to convene the SIGI community (Government
focal points, multilateral organisations, research
institutes and civil society organisations) to provide
recommendations on SIGI analysis and results,
support data validation processes and share policy
experiences.
CONTEXT

• This meeting brought together the SIGI
Focal Points and development
practitioners to discuss and share
recommendations on how to better
leverage the SIGI to support policy change
and impact at the national level for the
achievement of gender equality and
women’s empowerment, in line with
Agenda 2030.
OBJECTIVES OF THE NETWORK
MEETING

Session 1. SIGI 2018 progress
towards better coverage and data
With its 2018 update, the SIGI aims to build
on current advances in gender statistics and
analysis to support the measurement and
monitoring of SDG 5.
Session 1 shed light on the SIGI 2018 update
and its role as an official data source for
tracking progress on SDG 5.1.1.,alongside
with the World Bank Group and UN Women.

SIGI
Better data for better
policies on gender
equality
Nejma Bouchama
Gender Programme Specialist
OECD Development Centre
Gaëlle Ferrant
Economist

• What is the SIGI: a global policy and research tool
• New objectives, new framework
Outline

• Formal and informal
laws, social norms and
practices that restrict
or exclude women and
girls, and consequently
curtail their access to
rights, justice and
empowerment
opportunities and
resources.
Defining discriminatory social
institutions

The five Dimensions of SIGI 2014

Social Institutions and Gender Index
(SIGI)

Data sources
GID-DB
Quantitative:
existing surveys
Qualitative:
Country notes
SIGI

The SIGI history
New research
programme on
the impact of
social
institutions on
the economic
role of women
New data set on
discrimination
against women
Launch of the
Gender,
Institutions
and
Development
Data Base
(GID-DB)
SIGI launch
SIGI updates

From the global to the subnational
Global Analysis Regional Reports Country Studies

SIGI 2018 update
SDG 5.1.1
What’s next?

SIGI 2018 update
SIGI Informal Network
Meeting
(January 2017)
Consultations
Technical Advisory Group
Meeting
(September 2016)

SIGI 2018 update
New conceptual
framework
New
methodological
framework
New
objectives

New objectives, New Framework
• Universality
• Comprehensiveness
• Comparability over time
• More policy-oriented
New objectives
• Extension of the country
coverage
• New conceptual framework
• New methodological
framework
• Informal Network of SIGI
Gender Focal Points
New framework
• 180 country profiles
• New data
• Questionnaires and
aggregation methodology
• Policy simulation tool
SIGI 2018

SIGI 2018
Discrimination in
the family
-Early marriage
-Household
responsibilities
-Divorce
-Inheritance
Restricted physical
integrity
-Missing women
-Female genital
mutilation
-Reproductive
autonomy
-Violence against
women and girls (rape,
domestic violence and
sexual harassment)
Restricted access
to productive and
financial resources
-Secure access to land
and assets
-Access to financial
resources
-Workplace rights
Restricted civil
liberties
-Citizenship rights
-Political voice
-Access to justice
Composition of the SIGI 2018

• Universality
• Comparability over
time
New objectives
coverage
framework
Gender Focal Points
New framework
• New data
aggregation
methodology
SIGI 2018

Questionnaires
filled by gender
experts
Validation by
OECD DEV’s
gender team
Validation by
legal experts and
governments
Final
questionnaires
and country
profiles
Questionnaire Process

• Universality
• Comparability over time
New objectives
coverage
framework
National Focal Points
New framework
• New data
aggregation methodology
SIGI 2018

Thank you
More information:
www.oecd.org/dev
www.genderindex.org
www.wikigender.org
Gaëlle Ferrant
Gaelle.ferrant@oecd.org

www.oecd.org/dev
Twitter.com/OECD_Centre
www.facebook.com/OECDDevelopmentCentre
www.youtube.com/user/DevCentre
www.flickr.com/photos/oecd_development_centre

OECD – DAC SIGI
First SIGI Focal Points Network Meeting
24 January 2018
Measuring Gender Norms and Transformative
Change
Caroline Harper

A little history…..
• The MDG’s focused interest on health and education
• But by focusing only on certain areas of the rights and wellbeing
of women and girls the MDG experience tells us that if we do not
have a wider and deeper focus such targets will fail to produce
the sustainable human rights based social transformation that is
needed
• Measuring discriminatory social norms using transformative
indicators was very new when SIGI began
• Social norms defined as informal and formal laws, beliefs and
practices that determine collective understanding of acceptable
behaviours and attitudes
• Norms can drive processes of social change or act as barriers

Title: SDGs..
• The SDG’s provided a much needed enlargement of the
agenda – not just on gender equality but also on social norms
• Social norms have become an increasingly mainstream
enquiry

Norms
definitions
increasingly
informed and
nuanced
the often implicit, informal rules which people abide by, held in place (and
influenced) by beliefs, behaviours and practices (and sometimes perceived
rewards and sanctions) and bound into the values people and societies
accept implicitly, accept reluctantly or actively contest. Norms are
embedded in formal and informal institutions and produced and
reproduced through social interaction

Norms as reflected in the SDGs
SDG 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere * strong implicit norms link
Norms and their impacts on access to services and economic empowerment
SDG 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages * strong implicit norms link
Norms as they relate to access to and use of health services shaped by discriminatory social norms
Target 1.4 (by 2030 ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable,
have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and
control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new
technology and financial services, including microfinance)
Target 3.7 (By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services,
including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive
health into national strategies and programmes)

SDG 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all * strong implicit norms link
Norms as they relate to access to education
SDG 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls* strong implicit norms link
Targets:
4.1 (free, equitable primary and secondary school for girls and boys)
4.2 (By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of
education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities,
indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations)
Targets:
5.1 (eliminate discrimination against women and girls everywhere)
5.2 (eliminate violence against women and girls)
5.3 (eliminate harmful practices including child and forced marriage and FGM)
5.4 (unpaid care work)

SDG 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
* strong implicit norms link
Implicit norms link to access to safe sanitation and hygiene and water
SDG 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all * strong implicit norms link
SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
May relate to access to and use of ICT based on gendered norms, or the ability of ICT to empower
women and thus improve innovation
Targets: 8.5 By 2030 achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and
men…and equal pay…

Norms as reflected in the SDG’s
SDG 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries * strong implicit norms link
SDG 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable* strong implicit norms link
Implicit norms link throughout to the normative dimension which shapes access to safe housing and
safety in various settings (including both urban and rural)
Targets: 10.2 empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all,
irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

Are
measures
keeping
pace with
interest in
norms?

Measures more focused on outcomes
• Current Gender-related measures, variables and datasets tend to focus on the results and not on the causes of gender
discrimination, which are more often related to the institutional frameworks that constrain women’s economic and political roles
 Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) Focus on the effects of
inequitable development rather than the status of inequality per se.
 GEM has an elite bias, focusing on formal political representation and formal sector employment at the expense of
informal sector work or community participation.
 They measure the effects of inequitable development rather than the status of inequality
 Both fail to appreciate the care economy, to make genuine links between women’s representation at different
political levels, to consider issues such as violence, control over the body, sexuality and reproduction or to capture
empowerment at the household level.
• Data 2X hosted ready to measure set of indicators on the SDG’s where they are clear that: They measure outcomes for women and
girls (rather than processes) and were selected based on their internationally agreed definitions
• Meanwhile – I would argue ahead of their time – the SIGI architects are primarily interested in highlighting the relationship
between social institutions – defined as laws, norms, traditions and codes of conduct – and women’s economic empowerment.
• This focus on laws, norms, traditions and codes of conduct predates the strong current interest in social norms and is very relevant

However, measures are slowly changing
• WEF Global Gender Gap Index: http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/
Measures country based outcomes and progress over time with focus on the relative gaps between women and men
across: health, education, economy and politics – data shows outcomes but some analysis addresses drivers
• UNDP Gender Inequality Index: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii
Measures country based outcomes in: health (maternal mortality), empowerment (parliamentary seats), economic
status (labour market participation)
• World Bank Gender statistics: https://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/gender-statistics
Data and statistics covering demography, education, health, access to economic opportunities, public life and
agency
• Social Watch GEI (combines GDI and GEM): http://www.socialwatch.org/taxonomy/term/527
Measures the gap between women and men in education, the economy and political empowerment
• * The CIRI database looks at human rights measures, with some relating to restrictions on rights of women, such as freedom
of movement, societal discrimination, discriminatory laws, economic rights – some of these are drivers which would then
impact other outcomes
CIRI database: http://www.humanrightsdata.com/p/data-documentation.html : Rating on level of women’s
economic rights, and women’s social rights within a broader human rights index

SIGI relevance for progressive social justice
• When I first looked at the SIGI I could immediately see that this made
visible the underlying drivers of discrimination and gender inequality.
• Provided concrete manifestations of the effects of social institutions
• Made visible the importance of individual and collective agency and the
effects of social institutions in limiting or enabling agency
• Rendered visible what can be dismissed as a family matter or culture
• SIGI says ‘this can be measured’

• SIGI indicators assess social norms holistically and quantitively by looking at the
de jure (legal) as well as the de facto (actual) situation in discriminatory social
institutions
• Indicators that show changes in legal systems reflect public commitment but do
not, on their own, illustrate the implementation of laws or practices. They can’t
show transformative change on the ground
• Attitudinal and prevalence data are essential to capture the de facto situation
• Take VAW: need existence of a law but also attitudes towards VAW and
prevalence of VAW
• Progress in data collection will make the capture of norms accessible, affordable
and regular (e.g. progress in DHS, world values survey, barometer series, etc.
• Also requires statistical capacity at national and international level and in
capability to use data

• Need to measure women’s empowerment not just outcome data which
assumes improved wellbeing. Data on below is available in more than
80 developing countries
Women and girls:
• Exercise choice over sexual and reproductive integrity
• Enjoy freedom from violence
• Enjoy enhanced decision making ability over land and assets
• Attain enhanced participation in political and civic life
• Experience Equal value as given to girls and boys
• Experience unpaid care as equally distributed between women, men,
girls and boys

• Failing to use indicators that illustrate social transformation has
limited progress towards gender equality
• The SDG’s have widened the agenda on social norms and
transformative change
• There is opportunity to utilise transformative indicators
• There is increasing demand illustrated by an increase in funding
for understanding norms and increased usage of these terms
• The Align programme; Lancet; Gates foundation; etc.

Title
• Wanted to finish with the fact that the SIGI was bold enough to introduce the notion of
son bias
• This goes to the heart of gender discrimination and despite the difficulties it presented
in terms of measurement and bias it reflects patriarchy in a bold statement drawing
attention to the underlying problems

‘With one son you
have a
descendant, with
10 daughters you
have nothing’
(Vietnamese proverb)
‘Raising a
daughter is like
watering your
neighbour’s
garden’
(Punjabi proverb)
‘She is a true
wife who has
borne a son’
(Indian scripture –
Manu Smriti)
‘The birth of a
girl grant
elsewhere,
here grant a
son’ (Indian ancient
text – Atharva Veda)
‘The birth of a boy
is welcomed with
shouts of joys and
firecrackers but
when a girl is born
the neighbours say
nothing’
(Chinese saying)
‘May you die’
(approximate translation for an
‘endearment’ in parts of Pakistan)
‘Oh God I beg of
you, I touch your
feet time and
again, Next birth
don’t give me a
daughter, Give me
Hell instead’
(Uttar Pradesh folk song)
‘Abu-banat
[father of
daughters]’
(Arabic insult)
The structure and headlines of SIGI are an important policy statement encouraging actors to understand that gender
discrimination begins before birth and continues throughout a woman’s life.
The root causes and drivers start with patriarchy and power differentials and must be tackled.
‘When a son is born, Let
him sleep on the bed,
Clothe him with fine
clothes, And give him
jade to play […] When a
daughter is born, Let
her sleep on the
ground, Wrap her in
common wrappings,
And give broken tiles to
play’
(China Book of Songs, 1000-700
BC)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL
INDICATOR 5.1.1

48
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all
women and girls
Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against
women and girls everywhere
Indicator 5.1.1 “Whether or not legal frameworks
are in place to promote, enforce and monitor
equality and non-discrimination on the basis of
sex”
Indicator 5.1.1 will track progress on Target 5.1
over the next 15 years
INDICATOR 5.1.1
48

LEGAL FRAMEWORKS
• Removing discriminatory laws and putting in place legal
frameworks that advance gender equality are prerequisites
to ending discrimination against women and achieving
gender equality
• Indicator 5.1.1 will be crucial in accelerating progress by
tracking the removal of discriminatory laws and adoption of
legal frameworks that promote, enforce and monitor gender
equality
49
49

SDG 5.1.1: PROMOTE, ENFORCE + MONITOR EQUALITY
50
Overarching and
public life
• Is customary law
invalid if it
violates
Constitutional
provisions on
equality?
• Are there quotas
for women in
national
parliament?
• Do women and
men have equal
rights to confer
citizenship to
their spouses
and children?
Violence against
Women
• Is there
legislation that
specifically
addresses sexual
harassment?
• Are there
budgetary
commitments by
government
entities for the
implementation
of legislation
addressing
violence against
women?
Employment and
economic benefits
• Does the law
mandate equal
remuneration for
work of equal
value?
• Is there a public
entity that can
receive
complaints on
gender
discrimination in
employment?
Marriage & Family
• Do women and
men have equal
rights to enter
marriage and
initiate divorce?
• Is child marriage
voidable?
50

NO NEW STANDARD
• Equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex are
core principles under the international legal and policy
framework, including the CEDAW Convention and Beijing
Platform for Action.
• Areas of law and questions under indicator 5.1.1 were
developed on the basis of the commitments under this
framework
• Primary sources of information relevant for indicator 5.1.1
are legislation and policy/action plans
51
51

HOW IS DATA BEING COLLECTED?
52
• Pilot data collection under surveys of
the World Bank Group’s Women
Business and the Law and the
OECD’s Social Institutions and
Gender Index
• A joint letter was sent to 100 NWMs
with a copy to NSOs requesting
collaboration
52

53
Completed activities:
• Commissioned background paper (Feb-May 2016)
• Expert workshop with national and international experts, IAEG
SDGs members (June 2016)
• Development of survey instrument (July-Dec 2016)
• Pilot data collection in 94 countries (Dec 2016-Sept 2017)
• Development of guidelines (May-Sept 2017)
• Data from pilot verified and checked (Sept-Nov 2017)
Activities underway:
• Data validation (final check with NWMs/NSOs) (start Dec 2017)
INDICATOR 5.1.1 IS BEING DEVELOPED THROUGH A SERIES
OF ACTIVITIES
53

54
45 yes/no questions
• 8-13 questions under each of the four key areas
• Legal frameworks that “promote” gender equality
• Legal frameworks that “enforce and monitor” gender
equality
Suggested scoring methodology (unweighted average of
the questions under each key area) is: 𝐴𝑖 =
𝑞1+⋯+𝑞 𝑚 𝑖
𝑚 𝑖
TESTING AND SCORING
54

Session 2. SIGI policy relevance in
tracking progress on SDG 5
SIGI data and analysis have widely been used by
the international development community,
researchers and policy makers in support of
women’s empowerment. SIGI’s impact includes
greater awareness and integration of social norms
within development strategies, notably the SDGs.
Session 2 highlighted how SIGI data has been
used in development banks’ and governments’
gender analysis and development strategies.
Participants also discussed how to strengthen the
SIGI’s policy relevance through country studies to
help track progress on SGD 5, as was done in
Burkina Faso and Uganda.

EBRD’s experience using the SIGI
Elena Ruiz Abril, Senior Gender Advisor
Meeting of the Informal Network of SIGI Focal Points
Paris, 24 January 2018

EBRD Gender Strategy
 Goal: To improve women’s access
to finance and support female
entrepreneurship
 How: Through credit lines and
technical support to commercial
banks and women-led businesses
• Women In Business Programmes:
To date over EUR400 million
17 countries
• 30+ partner financial institutions
and over 35,000 beneficiary
women-led SMEs
Access to Finance &
Entrepreneurship
 Goal: To improve women’s
access to skills and employment
by promoting women’s
participation in our client’s
workforce
 How: Support to clients in the
area of Equal Opportunities,
frequently alongside Technical
Cooperation funds
 44 projects across Industry,
Commerce and Agribusiness,
Energy and Infrastructure
through the EBRD region
Access to Employment
& Skills
 Goal: To improve women’s
access to basic services,
primarily in MEI and transport
 How: Support to clients to deliver
gender responsive services,
including building internal
capacity, frequently alongside
Technical Cooperation funds
 14 projects which promote equal
access to services in urban
transport, national transport,
water and urban planning in
SEMED, CA, and Turkey
Access to Services
58

SIGI Country Notes:
• Dev Centre produced expanded version of SIGI
country profiles customized to EBRD needs
• Country Notes produced for all EBRD Countries
Operations with at least one large gender gap
• Notes include socio-economic indicators in
to legal and regulatory information
EBRD uses SIGI tools to inform gender
priorities at the country level
1. Law and practice
1.1. Key gender equality laws and international
instruments
1.2. Gender and the law – Legal barriers and
restrictions
1.3. Access to finance & property / women’s
entrepreneurship
1.4. Access to employment
1.5. Access to services
1.6. Access to justice and protection from violence
1.7. Women’s position within the home / family /
community / society
2. Gender : key actors and
programmes
2.1. Government
2.2. International organisations and
donors
2.3. Civil society (including NGOs,
associations, informal movements,
unions)
2.4. Others (including internet
platforms and regional initiatives)
Country Profiles include the following sections :
59

How do we use the SIGI Country
Notes?
1. To inform policy priorities
• Integrate gender priorities in Country Private Sector Diagnostics and
Country Strategies
And to a lesser extent…
2. To inform investment decisions
• Complement EBRD macro gender gaps analysis with sectoral
information (e.g. is there a basis for a WIB in Romania?)
3. Day-to-day support to operations
• Funding proposals, presentations in ROs, training at country level,
briefings…
60

Examples of Policy Reform
• Working with governments to remove legal barriers to women’s participation in the
labour force (e.g. Kazakhstan or the Kyrgyz Republic)
• Gender responsive investment climate reform in Tajikistan
• Legal reform to support women’s financial inclusion
• Research on ‘care’ to inform policy dialogue in countries like Turkey
.
62

Internal awareness
raising & capacity building
• Through the country strategy process
• Central Asia SIGI Regional report presentation at the EBRD HQ
- December 2015
- Q4 2018
63

Thank you
64
For further enquiries, please contact
Elena Ruiz Abril
Senior Gender Advisor
Email ruizm@ebrd.com
Tel: + 44 207 338 8647
Address EBRD, One Exchange Square
London, EC2A 2JN
United Kingdom
Follow EBRD Gender Team on @manonmouron
Contact gender@ebrd.com
Visit www.ebrd.com/gender
www.youtube.com/ebrdtv

SIGI country studies:
Better data for better
policies on gender
equality
Gaëlle Ferrant
Economist

• Objectives & Approach
• Results & Recommendations
Outline

Added value: make visible the
invisible
Existing data
on gender equality in outcomes
SIGI
Underlying and
invisible causes
of gender
inequality

Objectives: better data for targeted
policies
Explore
sub-national
disparities
Provide evidence
to strengthen
national policy
making
Quantify
country-specific
discriminatory social
institutions
Promote
gender equality
and inclusive
development

Local partnership to strengthen
national capacities
Effective
gender
policies
National
Ministry of
Women’s
Affairs
National
Bureau of
Statistics
OECD
Development
Centre
CSOs,
regional
organisations,
researchers,
gender
experts…

Burkina Faso SIGI results
Source: OECD (2018), Burkina Faso Social Institutions and Gender Index.

Results by sub-indices
Note: The sub-indices range from 0 for no discrimination to 1 for very high discrimination.
Source: OCDE (2018), Burkina Faso Social Institutions and Gender Index
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Discrimination in the
family
Restricted physical
and moral integrity
Son preference
Restricted civil
liberties
Restricted access to
resources and assets
Best performer: Centre Burkina Faso Poorest performer: Sahel

Key messages and recommandations
Messages Recommandations
1. Economic cost of discrimination against
women
1. Integrate policies targeting
discriminatory social institutions into
development strategies
2. Non-discriminatory legal framework
necessary but not sufficient
2. Strengthen the legal framework and
its implementation by harmonising
formal and customary laws
3. Discriminatory social institutions impede
the effectiveness of policies and
programmes promoting gender equality and
women’s rights
3. Integrate discriminatory social
institutions into gender strategy
4. Education as an agent of social change 4. Promote access to education
5. Importance of data quality and ensuring
national ownership
5. Invest in data collection and analysis

How can SIGI country study results be integrated in
Burkina Faso’s gender strategy?
• A tool to track Burkina Faso’s progress on SDG 5
o Data source to monitor 90% of targets of SDG 5
o SIGI questionnaire and data collection
• Advocacy tool to integrate gender sensitive policies into
national development strategy (PNDES)
• Remove legal discrimination from Family Code
Policy implications

Thank you
Gaëlle Ferrant
gaelle.ferrant@oecd.org
dev.gender@oecd.org
For more information:
www.oecd.org/dev
www.genderindex.org
www.wikigender.org

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