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Gender Statistics Training Workshops: Vietnam

SESSION 2

Adding Value through Internationally-Comparable Gender Statistics

February 18-20, 2014: Moc Chau – Son LaFebruary 25-27, 2014: Danang

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Objectives of Session

The main objectives of this session are to:

• explain why internationally comparable gender statistics are needed;

• raise awareness of international initiatives to improve the availability of comparable data, including the UN Minimum Set of Gender Indicators; and

• encourage use of the guidance available for producing gender statistics in recently developed international manuals.

Primary References:Gender Statistics, Reports of the Secretary -General to the forty-fourth and forty-fifth sessions of the UNSC (E/CN.3/2013/10 and E/CN.3/2014/18)

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Benefits of International Comparability of Gender Statistics

• Gender issues and developments can be analysed in an international contextby combining statistics across countries to produce regional and

global aggregates.

• Similarities and differences in gender issues between individual countries and between regions can be studied and relative progress on gender-related goals can be assessed– by undertaking data comparisons across countries or regions.

• The overall quality of a country’s statistics can be enhanced– as producing comparable statistics involves adoption of

international standards and best practice in methodology.

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Bringing gender statistics from different countries together: an Illustrative example

• The UNSD publication The World’s Women 2010 , Trends and Statistics highlights the differences between the status of women and men in various areas of contemporary life.

• It covers 196 countries across the world.

• It presents and analyses data at global, regional, and individual country levels.

• The following four charts, sourced from that publication, illustrate a few of the many different ways country data can be brought together to inform gender issues in a wider context.

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Global sex distribution by age

Source: UNSD The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics

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Regional sex distribution

Source: UNSD The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics

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Sex differentials in tobacco use by region

Source: UNSD The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics

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Sex differentials in tobacco use in countries within a region

Source: UNSD The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics

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Current Problems with International Data Comparability

• Gaps in the availability of gender statistics in many countries– For example, in 12 of the 22 topic areas specified in the 2012 UNSD Global

Review of Gender Statistics Programmes, more than a quarter of countries (32 of 126) were not producing any gender statistics.

• Lack of comparability in many of the gender statistics that are available for individual countries – Due to differences in conceptualization/definition, measurement, data

collection methods, lack of metadata, etc.

• Lack of or incomplete international standards for producing comparable gender statistics for some topics, e.g., employment, violence against women, assets

• Existing international standards are not always fully implemented by countries– For example, a country may consider that a particular standard classification is

not useful, practical or appropriate in its circumstances and decide not adopt the standard.

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An illustration of the problems encountered in bringing together gender statistics from different countries

“ ... the preparation of the World’s Women 2010 was hampered by the fact that statistics in certain domains are not available for many

countries. Furthermore, even the statistics that are available are often not comparable because concepts, definitions and methods vary from

country to country. Data are also lacking in detail in many cases. Gender issues can not be adequately reflected if sex-disaggregated statistics are

classified into categories that are too broad or are not further disaggregated by relevant characteristics, such as age, residence, or educational level. Finally the quality of data varies across countries.”

UNSD The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics

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International guidance for producing gender statistics

International agencies have produced a range of material to assist countries to produce comprehensive, comparable and reliable gender statistics. Important recent documents are:

• UNSD Integrating a Gender Perspective into Statistics (online unedited version issued 2013)

• UNECE Developing Gender Statistics: A Practical Tool (issued 2010)

• UNFPA Guide on Gender Analysis of Census Data (full draft 2013)

• UNSD Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women: Statistical Surveys (online edited version issued 2013)

• UNSD Guide to Producing Statistics on Time Use: Measuring Paid and Unpaid Work (issued 2005)

• UNECE Guidelines for Harmonising Time Use Surveys (issued 2013)

• UN Minimum Set of Gender Indicators

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UNSD Integrating a Gender Perspective into Statistics (2013)

• The manual provides methodological and analytical information necessary to improve the availability, quality and use of gender statistics in countries with less developed statistical systems.– It is targeted primarily to statisticians working in such countries and as

a resource for training them.

•Aims to provide more guidance on:– Bridging between gender issues, gender statistics and sources of data;– How to increase data quality by incorporating a gender perspective in

data collection programmes; and – How to ensure a wider range of audiences by improving the

presentation of gender statistics and their dissemination in regular publications.

An excellent online source on gender statistics and indicators

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UNSD Integrating a Gender Perspective into Statistics (continued)

• Based on the concept of gender mainstreaming in national statistics. – That is, gender issues and gender-based biases should be

systematically taken into account in the production of all official statistics.

• It is intended to help statisticians to:– Better understand the process of gender mainstreaming in

national statistics;– Identify gaps in gender statistics and develop a coherent and

comprehensive plan for their production;– Ensure survey and census design takes into account gender issues

and avoids gender biases in measurement; and – Improve data analysis and presentation and deliver gender

statistics in a format easy for policymakers and planners to use.

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UNSD Integrating a Gender Perspective into Statistics (continued)

• The manual contains four chapters:1. An overview of gender statistics and gender mainstreaming;

2. Bringing gender issues into statistics. Specific attention is given to 9 broad topics: education; work; poverty; environment; power and decision-making; population, households and families; health; migration, displaced persons, and refugees; violence against women.

3. Integrating a gender perspective into data collection.Detailed consideration is given to 7 different types of collection: population and household censuses; agricultural censuses and surveys; labour force surveys; demographic and health surveys; time use surveys; violence against women surveys; administrative and register-based sources.

4. Analysis and presentation of gender statistics.

• It includes many references to the other international guidelines for gender statistics, particularly UNECE Developing Gender Statistics: A Practical Tool.

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UNECE Developing Gender Statistics: A Practical Tool (2011)

• The printed and online manual is a guide for statistical organisations in the production and use of gender statistics. It is mainly addressed to statisticians in countries with a developed statistical system.

• It provides a consolidated reference for producing information on gender differences and can assist in improving the availability of high quality information on women and men.

• It contains 6 Chapters:– What is gender statistics and gender analysis,– Why do we need gender statistics,– HO to produce gender statistics: general issues,– Selected topics relevant to gender statistics and implications for data collection– Improving the use of gender statistics, and – Making it happen.

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UNECE Developing Gender Statistics: A Practical Tool (continued) • The manual examines 15 selected topics in detail and explains why each topic is

important, the value added of statistics, and the implications for data collection.

• The manual• discusses methods for improving the use of gender statistics through communication

strategies and dissemination platforms.• provides guidance on steps and actions that can start or strengthen an existing gender

statistics program, and on training. • is complemented by multimedia presentations on gender statistics, available on line, that can

be used as training tools.

Labour force size, structure and characteristics

information and communication technology

gender-based violence

informal employment agriculture gender attitudes

unpaid work access to assets minority groups

reconciliation of work and family life health social exclusion

entrepreneurship education

decision-making research and science

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UNFPA Guide on Gender Analysis of Census Data • The guide is intended for use by national statistical offices, national ministries and civil

society advocates in promoting equality, human rights and gender equity through the appropriate analysis of population census data.

• It aims to:– provide a sound understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of population

census data as they relate to these gender issues; and – show how to make sense of tabulations, indicators and multivariate analyses on a

variety of topics.

• It describes the gender issues that population census data can inform, discusses the data concerns that exist, and provides information on the types of measures and indicators that can be produced.

• There is detailed guidance on the analysis of 10 key gender topics:Fertility; mortality; sex ratio at birth and throughout the life cycle; marital status, polygamy, widowhood and child marriage; households and families; income poverty and living conditions; education and literacy; work, economic activities and social protection; migration; and disability.

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UNSD Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women

• The manual aims to provide national statistical offices with detailed guidance on how to collect, process, disseminate and analyse data on violence against women.

• It aims to assist countries in assessing the scope, prevalence and incidence of such violence.

• It covers all stages of the survey process in depth, including:– the need for and essential features of sample surveys on violence against

women; – relevant concepts, definitions and data collection requirements;– steps in planning and implementing such surveys, including questionnaire

design and interviewer training;– data processing, analysis and dissemination; and– tabulations for key indicators plus a model questionnaire for producing

them.

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UNSD Guide to Producing Statistics on Time Use: Measuring Paid and Unpaid work

• The manual is a reference tool for countries interested in conducting time use surveys.

Its development stemmed from recognition of the value of time use statistics for issues related to gender (e.g. increasing the visibility of women’s work and its contribution to the economy), for quality of life concerns, and for improved measures of economic activity and work.

• It aims to facilitate the harmonisation of methods and practices in collecting, processing and disseminating time use statistics.

• Its content is mainly focussed on the different issues, modalities and initiatives that need to be considered by a national statistical office in:- planning, designing and conducting time use surveys;- preparing survey outputs; and - disseminating time use data.

• It includes the trial International Classification of Activities for Time Use Statistics, expected to be finalised in time for adoption by the UNSC in 2015.

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UNECE Guidelines for Harmonising Time Use Surveys

• The main aim of the guidelines is to help countries carrying out time use surveys and to improve the international comparability of results.– The guidance provided is based on the experiences of countries with

developed statistical systems

• The guidelines focus on areas where the statistical community has expressed a particular need for further guidance.The areas include: policy relevance of time use surveys (particularly for measuring unpaid work and non-market production, wellbeing, and gender equality); availability and comparability of key statistical measures of time use; periodicity; light and full-scale time use diaries; and time use activity classification.

• For other topics discussed (e.g. the different stages of survey-taking), the focus is on issues not covered in the UNSD Guide to Producing Statistics on Time Use: Measuring Paid and Unpaid Work.

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UN Minimum Set of Gender Indicators

• At its 2013 meeting, the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) agreed on the use of a Minimum Set of Gender Indicators .

• The Minimum Set was developed by the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics (IAEG -GS)

• It provides a guide for the national production and international compilation of gender statistics

• The indicators are designed to cover, at a basic level, key issues in gender equality and women’s empowerment that are common across countries and regions.

• Available in your binder as the last handout.

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Value of the Minimum Set

The minimum set will provide a wide range of measures that can be compared across countries.

“The minimum set of gender indicators is a testimony to the increased recognition of the importance of gender statistics in evidence -based policy making.”

“Accurate data is critical to inform policies such as women’s better access to health care and education, or to push for international attention to often-ignored issues such as unpaid work and its impact on women’s rights and choices. The new indicators are also important as a guide to collect national data which is crucial for planning and budgeting. At a global level, being able to measure and compare the progress made with reliable data provides an important basis for setting global norms and standards, as well as for effective policy and development assistance.”

UN Women, 26 June 2013

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Criteria for Inclusion in the Minimum Set

Three criteria were used in selecting each indicator:1. Addresses relevant issues related to gender equality and/or

women’s empowerment2. Is conceptually clear, easy to interpret and has an agreed

international definition3. Is regularly produced by countries with sufficient coverage

to allow tracking over time.

Underlying assumptionSelected indicators should be broadly consistent with other global lists and avoid imposing an unnecessary burden on countries.

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Structure of the Minimum Set

52 quantitative gender and 11 qualitative indicators (relating to norms and laws on gender equality), grouped into five domains and three tiers. Domains

I. Economic structures, participation in productive activities and access to resources (19 indicators)

II. Education (12 indicators)III. Health and related services (11 indicators)IV. Public life and decision-making (5 indicators)V. Human rights of women and girl children (5 indicators)

TiersTier 1 - indicators that meet all three criteria (44 indicators)Tier 2 - indicators that meet criteria 1 and 2 only (12 indicators)Tier 3 - indicators that meet criterion 1 only (7 indicators)

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Dissemination of the Minimum Set

UNSD has developed a portal/platform to make the Minimum Set available online.

• As of December 2013, country data for the 35 quantitative indicators in Tier 1 are available through the portal.

• The possibility of disseminating Tier 2 indicators through the portal in 2014 is being considered, even if data are available only for selected countries and selected indicators.

• Detailed metadata are provided on the portal along with the relevant data.

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A 2013 assessment of gender integration into GSO surveys and censuses found that:• Most of the 52 indicators in the UN Minimum Set are not in Vietnam’s list of 105

National Gender Statistical Indicators. • Data for most of the 52 indicators are currently not available from Vietnam’s

existing data sources.• In particular:

– only 10 indicators listed in the UN Minimum Set appear in Vietnam’s list of indicators;– The 10 indicators are mostly based on similar concepts, definitions and calculation

methods in both lists, but there are inconsistencies in calculation methods for 2 indicators; – Only 12 indicators in the UN Minimum Set have been collected by surveys implemented by

the GSO or Vietnam’s reporting systems, and most of these have not yet been disaggregated by sex;

– For the 40 indicators that have not been collected, 28 could be collected in future GSO surveys but the remaining 12 could not be obtained from these surveys.

• The report includes recommendations to address these issues in order to ensure Vietnam’s gender statistics are comparable with other countries in the region as well as around the world.

Comparing the UN Minimum Set of Indicators to Vietnam’s Set of National Gender Indicators

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Other international activities to advance the Minimum Set

• Further research is needed in some areas. In particular:- assessing data availability for the indicators on

- unpaid domestic work (with caring and housework separated) and - the total work burden (with paid and unpaid domestic work combined)

- compiling country data on violence against women

• Further develop protocols for data and metadata collection from countries and specialised international agencies.

• Extend compilation and dissemination of indicators in Tier 1.

• Capacity-building activities to expand the data coverage of indicators in Tier 2.

• Methodological work on indicators in Tier 3 and emerging issues.

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A related initiative: EDGE

• The Evidence and Data for Gender Equality (EDGE) initiative is being undertaken jointly by UNSD and UN-Women over the period 2012-2015.

• Its aim is to accelerate existing efforts to generate comparable gender statistics on health, education, employment, entrepreneurship and assets.

• It focuses primarily on:

– compilation and online dissemination of data and metadata for 17 education, employment and health indicators(A platform for dissemination has been developed and is available online)

– developing international definitions and methods for measuring entrepreneurship and assets ownership

– testing these newly developed definitions and collection methods in selected countries

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International mechanisms for keeping informed

Mechanisms for keeping countries informed of developments in gender statistics include:

• United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC)annual meetings– Reports on gender statistics have been produced for all meetings in the last

few years and are publicly available.

• UNSD Global Forum on Gender Statistics biennial meetings– A range of documents, presentations and reports are publicly available.

– The last Global Forum was held in Jordan in March 2012 and focused on women’s empowerment; the next one is planned for November 2014 in Mexico and is expected to focus on gender analysis and use of gender data and indicators.