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The Status of Women in Developing Asia: What is the Role of Social Institutions?

The Status of Women in Developing Asia: What is the Role of Social Institutions?. Johannes Jütting OECD Development Centre. Casa Asia Barcelona  30 March 2006. The Centre at the OECD. Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Intellectual Autonomy Informal Dialogue Framework

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The Status of Women in Developing Asia: What is the Role of Social Institutions?

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  1. The Status of Women in Developing Asia: What is the Role of Social Institutions? Johannes Jütting OECD Development Centre Casa Asia Barcelona  30 March 2006

  2. The Centre at the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) • Intellectual Autonomy • Informal Dialogue Framework • Capacity Building • Staff: 45 Development Centre (DEV) Development Cluster of the OECD Sahel and West Africa Club (SAH)

  3. Recently Elected Female Heads of State/Government in the World Chile: M. Bachelet Finland: T. Halonen Germany: A. Merkel Liberia: E. Johnson Sirleaf

  4. Words of caution • This presentation - is based on a development economics perspective - cannot fully do justice to the variety of different situations between and within Asian countries - provides food for thought, instead of blueprint solutions for change

  5. Introduction: Why does gender equality matter? I A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) II III Applying the GID: What is the situation of women in Asia? The underlying causes for gender (in)equality: Social Institutions IV What can be done? V Conclusion VI

  6. Introduction: Why does gender equality matter? I A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) II III Applying the GID: What is the situation of women in Asia? The underlying causes for gender (in)equality: Social Institutions IV What can be done? V Conclusion VI

  7. I) Gender equality matters… • Gender equality = women and men have equal conditions for realising their full human rights and for contributing to, and benefiting from economic, social, cultural and political development. • Gender equality is an important goal in itself (MDG 3)… • … and also contributes to the achievement of other objectives: - stimulate growth and reduce poverty - reduce inequities - contribute to child development

  8. … but what determines it? • Causalities between development and gender inequalities not clear • 2 main schools of thinking - Modernisation-neoclassical approach - Feminist thesis • Measurement problems: What? How?

  9. Introduction: Why does gender equality matter? I A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) II III Applying the GID: What is the situation of women in Asia? The underlying causes for gender (in)equality: Social Institutions IV What can be done? V Conclusion VI

  10. II) OECD Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) • A new tool for researchers and policy makers • Allows an analysis of obstacles to women’s economic status • Covers 162 economies and has 50 indicators on gender discrimination • Includes institutional variables that range from intrahousehold behaviour to social norms

  11. Indicators affecting the Economic Role of Women Economic Development GDP per capita Access to Resources Health Education Economic Status of Women Social Institutions Family Code Labour Market Participation Physical Integrity Civil Liberties Ownership Rights Source: Own Illustration.

  12. GID-Indicators : Social Institutions • Physical Integrity - Legislation punishing acts of violence against women - Prevalence of female genital mutilation • Family Code - Marriage before the age of 20 - Acceptance of polygamy within a society - Parental authority granted to father and mother equally - Inheritance practices in favour of male heirs • Ownership Rights - Women’s access to land ownership - Women’s access to bank loans - Women’s access to property other than land • Civil Liberties - Freedom of movement - Obligation to wear a veil in public

  13. Early Marriages in India In the Rajgarh district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a group of girl brides sit solemnly during celebrations that will culminate in their weddings later in the day. Source: Courtesy of the United Nations Children's Foundation

  14. Violence against women Source: BBC News Source: AFP According to a UN report (2000), one in three woman in the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in some other way, most often by someone she knows.

  15. Introduction: Why does gender equality matter? I A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) II III Applying the GID: What is the situation of women in Asia? The underlying causes for gender (in)equality: Social Institutions IV What can be done? V Conclusion VI

  16. III) The Situation of Women in Asia: a global, regional and country perspective • South Asia - SA (7 economies): Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; India; Nepal; Pakistan; Sri Lanka • East Asia and Pacific - EAP (17 economies): China; Fiji; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Cambodia; Lao PDR; Myanmar; Mongolia; Malaysia; Philippines; Papua New Guinea; Korea, Dem. Rep.; Singapore; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Chinese Taipei; Viet Nam; Australia; Japan; Korea, Rep.; New Zealand • OECD-East Asia and Pacific (4 economies): Australia; Japan; Korea, Rep.; New Zealand

  17. Global perspective: employment, education and health care • Important divide between: - East Asia and Pacific, Latin America and OECD countries - South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the MENA region

  18. Employment Source: GID Database

  19. Education Source: GID Database

  20. Education Source: GID Database

  21. Health Care * of 100,000 life births Source: GID Database

  22. Regional Perspective: South Asia versus East Asia and Pacific • Employment - Female participation in the paid work force in South Asia is only half of the rate in East Asia and Pacific* • Education - Important difference in tertiary education • Health Care - Significantly higher maternal mortality rate

  23. Employment Source: GID Database

  24. Education Source: GID Database

  25. Health Care * of 100,000 life births Source: GID Database

  26. Country Perspective: Indonesia versus Pakistan • Indonesia - Largest Muslim population in the world (about 210 million, 2004 = 88%) - GDP per capita ($ PPP) = 3583.47; GDP per capita growth = 3.7% - Employment: about one third of the total paid work force are women - Education: more than 90% of girls get primary education - Health Care: high maternal mortality • Pakistan - 2ndsecond most populous Muslim country in the world (about 157 million, 2005 = 96%) - GDP per capita ($ PPP) = 2209.97; GDP per capita growth = 4.4% - Employment: about one eighth of the total paid work force are women - Education: only half of the girls get primary education, almost none get tertiary - Health Care: maternal mortality twice as high as in Indonesia

  27. Employment Source: GID Database

  28. Education Source: GID Database

  29. Health Care * of 100,000 life births Source: GID Database

  30. Introduction: Why does gender equality matter? I A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) II III Applying the GID: What is the situation of women in Asia? The underlying causes for gender (in)equality: Social Institutions IV What can be done? V Conclusion VI

  31. IV) The Roots of Gender Discrimination in Asia: Social Institutions • Overall situation • Ownership Rights • Family Code • Early Marriage

  32. Social Institutions Scale: 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) = level of discrimination through social institutions Source: GID Database

  33. Social Institutions and Women’s Participation in the Labour Market Source: GID Database

  34. Country Perspective: Two cases compared Scale: 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) = level of discrimination through social institutions Source: GID Database

  35. Early Marriages in Asia Source: GID Database

  36. Mean Age of Women at Marriage in Asian Countries Country Years Bangladesh (SA) 19 Nepal (SA) 19 India (SA) 20 Pakistan (SA) 21 Papua New Guinea 21 Vietnam 22 China 23 Indonesia 23 Korea, Rep. 25 Sri Lanka (SA) 25 Australia 29 Source: GID Database

  37. Ownership Rights Scale: 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) = level of discrimination through social institutions Source: GID Database

  38. Family Code Scale: 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) = level of discrimination through social institutions Source: GID Database

  39. Introduction: Why does gender equality matter? I A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) II III Applying the GID: What is the situation of women in Asia? The underlying causes for gender (in)equality: Social Institutions IV What can be done? V Conclusion VI

  40. V) What can be done? • Empowerment of women - More participation of women in decision making on community level (example: quota in India) • Sex-disaggregated data collection • Enforcement reform of legal structures - Monitoring systems to ensure changes • Convince men of benefit of reforms - Men should get incentives to accept changes and in some cases compensation for potential losses

  41. Barriers to change: some important caveats • Depth of tradition - Examples: polygamy, early marriage - Rural population remains attached to such traditions despite their legal interdiction • Not in men’s interest - Examples: polygamy, repudiation - Inequality provides men with material advantages that they lose upon reform • Limited enforcement of reforms - Example: Widely toleration of violence against women by police in northern states of India - Wide gap in performance between the publication of a law and its effective implementation

  42. Gender equality is getting more and more attention… Bangladeshi women take part in a protest demanding equal rights in Dhaka. Photo: AFP

  43. …and a voice Women police officers in India have formed a national forum to fight sexual harassment and discrimination from their male colleagues. Source: BBC news

  44. India's first computer-literate village At least one member of every family in the village — there are 850 families — has completed basic computer literacy training. Photo: M.S. Vinod

  45. The Grameen Phone scheme - 'Telephone ladies' connect Bangladesh Grameen phone ladies provide villagers with a vital link to services such as hospitals and to relatives both at home and abroad, in a country with the lowest number of phones in South Asia.

  46. Introduction: Why does gender equality matter? I A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID) II III Applying the GID: What is the situation of women in Asia? The underlying causes for gender (in)equality: Social Institutions IV What can be done? V Conclusion VI

  47. VI) Conclusions • Gender equality is key to development • Role of social institutions overlooked • Changes are possible in different settings • Need to provide the right incentives • Strategies should be flexible and adapted to levels of development and socio-economic context

  48. ¡Gracias por su atención!

  49. Contact: Johannes JüttingOECD Development CentreWeb: www.oecd.org/dev E-mail: Johannes.Jutting@oecd.org GID: http://www.oecd.org/dev/institutions/GIDdatabase

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