Launch of the 2012 Social Institutions and Gender Index
Measuring the underlying drivers of gender inequalities
When? Where?
Thursday, May 10, 2012
9:00am-12:00pm
Marshall Center Auditorium
US Department of State
Entrance on 21st Street, at Virginia Ave NW
Programme
Opening remarks
- Heidi Crebo-Rediker, Chief Economist, US Department of State
Speakers
- Carlos Alvarez, Johannes Jütting and Somali Cerise, OECD Development Centre
- Asma Khadar, Secretary-General, Jordanian National Commission for Women and Former Minister of Culture & Government Spokesperson for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- Inderjeet Singh, Deputy Director-General, Central Statistics Office, Government of India
- Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator, USAID
Event Description
While conventional indicators of gender equality capture inequality in outcomes such as education and employment, the OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) focuses instead on the underlying drivers of these inequalities. Applying the SIGI data to issues as diverse as employment, hunger and the achievement of the MDGs has shown that countries displaying higher levels of discrimination against women are also performing more poorly on a range of development indicators. Strengthening our understanding of these discriminatory factors would therefore enable the development of more effective and targeted policies in support of gender equality at the local, national and global levels.
The launch event was co-hosted by the United States Department of State and the OECD Development Centre. A presentation of the 2012 SIGI data and rankings was followed by a discussion of the following important topics:
- Measuring social institutions at the country level: the SIGI India pilot
- How do donors address discriminatory social institutions?
- What drives change? Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa
Background
Since SIGI was launched in 2009, the index and the role of discriminatory social institutions in undermining gender equality have gained increasing attention in the eyes of policy-makers and researchers alike. The 2012 version of the SIGI reflects changes in laws or practices, an updated conceptual framework and improved data sources for over 100 countries.
See Also
- 2009 2009 Social Institutions and Gender Index
- 2009 Social Institutions and Gender Index 2014 Edition