gender & accountability: what is the problem? how to explain the vast gaps between lofty...
TRANSCRIPT
Gender & Accountability: What is the Problem?
• How to explain the vast gaps between lofty international commitments and realities for women? – maternal mortality is declining at 0.4% per year
instead of the 5.5% needed to reach the 2015 target– Women are still outnumbered 4 to 1 in government– Women still earn 17% less then men for the same
work.
• Discrimination on this scale is a sign of a serious accountability gap: there are no consequences for not upholding commitments to women’s rights or gender equality.
Women Perceive an Accountability Gap: Gender Differences in Perceptions of Corruption
Gendered Perceptions of Corruption:Service Provision institutions
Respondents with high levels of perceivedcorruption, ratio female to male, 2005
Ratio of female to male is 1 or moreRatio of female to male is less than 1
CEE/CIS
Developed Regions
East Asia & Pacific
Latin America & Caribbean
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Education UtilitiesMedical Registry
1.05
1.30
1.10
1.10
1.09
0.98
1.05
1.13
1.02
1.21
0.97
1.04
1.00
1.07
0.98
1.08
0.96
0.98
1.01
1.12
1.12
1.11
0.97
1.00
The Basics of Accountability
• Power holders must answer to those who delegated power, resources, and mandates to them (answerability)
• There must be consequences for failures to implement mandates (enforcement of remedy and redress, including corrective measures)
The Accountability Cycle
Essentials of Gender-responsive Accountability
• Women must be included in oversight processes. Women must be entitled and empowered to ask for explanations and to obtain information about public actions.
• Advancing women’s rights is a key standard against which the performance of public officials is assessed.
Parity Zone
Timeline to Reach Gender Parity in National Assemblies
Women in parliaments (%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1997 2002 2007 2012 2017 2022 2027 2032 2037 2042 2047
2027 2047
Developed countries
Projection (Developed countries)
All other countries
Projection (All other countries)
Progress in 6 Slides
1. More women are needed in public office, but also need state capacity to promote gender equality
2. Public services that respond to women’s needs are the basic test of government accountability
280
350
59
140
22
160
44
33
8
39
7
4400
850
3300
1300
2900 47600
29000
6200
9600
8000
Great Disparities in Risk of Maternal Mortality Across and Within Regions
Lifetime risk of maternal mortality, 2005: probablity of dying during pregnancy or child birth
1 in … mothers die 0 250 500
Developed Regions
CEE/CIS
Latin America & Caribbean
East Asia & Pacific
South Asia
Middle East & North Africa
Sub -Saharan Africa
500 2,000 3,500 5,0005,000 20,000 35,000 50,000500 5000
VERY HIGHbetween 1 in 7 womenand 1 in 500 women
The number of women that die of
maternal reasons is
LOWbetween 1 in 5,000 women
and 1 in 47,600 women
HIGH TO MODERATEbetween 1 in 500 women
and 1 in 5,000 women
Lowest value in the region (1 or more countries)
Highest value in the region (1 or more countries)
Average value in the region (all countries of region)
3. Women can be ‘at one remove’ from accountability processes because of constraints on decision-making
Women's Role in Health Decisions, 1999-2005Women's participation in decision-making on issues related to their own health,by marital status (regional averages):
% of women interviewed (ages 15-49)
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
MarriedSub-Saharan Africa-Unmarried
MarriedMiddle East & North Africa- Unmarried
MarriedCEE/CIS- Unmarried
MarriedSouth Asia-Unmarried
MarriedEast Asia & Pacific- Unmarried
MarriedLatin America & Caribbean- Unmarried
Self only Jointly No Say
Migration Rates of People withTertiary Education
Average emigration rate at tertiary
education level, circa 2000 (%)
0 10 20 30
Africa
Oceania
Latin America & Caribbean
Europe
Asia
Northern America MaleFemale
4. The ‘Brain Drain’ has become female. What does this say about labor standards and what does it mean for the pool of women leaders in local communities?
27.7
23.8
21.1
10.4
7.3
3.5
17.1
16.5
17.9
9.9
6.1
4.1
5. Low rates of reporting, prosecution and conviction for violence against women shows a gender bias in judicial systems
31
17
14
12
11
8
7
10
2
4
3
2
3
2
16
10
16
14
13
10
17
3
4
7
3
5
4
3
25
20
27
25
15
16
5
4
6
5
5
3
4
7
6
4
8
13
6
2
1
4
2
Violence Against Women: Reporting and Charging Rates(as % of total SGBV survivors)
Violence, Violence, Physical violence, Sexual violence,
partner non-partner non-partner non-partner
* Complete information not available.
0 10 20 30
Poland*
Costa Rica
Australia
Denmark
Philippines*
Czech Republic
Mozambique
0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30
Charged Reported
6. Aid and development institutions do not adequately track resource allocations to women
Outer circle:
total aid, by sectors
(US$ 32.7bn)
Inner circle:
gender focused aid,
by sectors
(US$ 10.7 bn)
26.6
19.729.4
5.1
9.9
9.3
19.1
14.3
28.0
20.0
9.5
9.2
Distribution of Sectoral and Gender MarkedOECD/DAC Aid
Distribution
(%)
Education
Health/Population
Other Social Infrastructure
Economic Infrastructure
Production
Multi- sector
Gender Equality is ‘Mission Critical’ to Accountability
• Who answers to women? Why is this an issue for all of society?
• Accountability to women is a core part of democratic governance - it helps to make democracy work, and it helps to promote state capacity to deliver on promises of equality and poverty reduction for all.
“Who is accountable for gender equality? We cannot assume that democracy and good governance will directly bring gender equality and empowerment to our countries. If women are not in the national leadership, their voices on economic, political and social issues will not be heard. [And then] only by promoting the right policies, will we be able to answer this question.
Who is accountable to women? Everyone in my government is.”
Spanish Prime Minister José Louis Rodrégues Zapatero
