UNECA Launches the National Advisory Panel of the African Gender and Development Index in Cape Verde

22 April 2008 - The African Center for Gender and Social Development (ACGS) in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa has developed the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI); a new tool intended to address the lack of adequate indicators for measuring gender inequality and progress made by Member States in implementing regional and international gender equality commitment such as the Dakar and the Beijing Platforms for Action. Ministers and experts endorsed the AGDI during the Seventh African Regional conference on Women held in Addis Ababa in October 2004.

The AGDI was also recognized by African policy makers as a comprehensive tool to help streamline reporting on various regional and international conventions and documents on gender and women's rights.

So far, the index has been piloted in the following 12 countries that have finalized their national reports: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda. The results of the field trials have been synthesized for publication in the African Women's Report (AWR).

The development of AGDI encompasses the following steps:

1. Setting up of a National Advisory Panel, chaired by the Minister of Gender/Women's Affairs. The panel is composed of senior officials from the ministry of women's affairs, economy and finance, health, education, agriculture, justice, employment and other relevant ministries and official bodies, from the national bureau of statistics and women's NGOs. Two independent gender experts also sit in the panel.

The role of the National Advisory Panel is to provide intellectual advice and professional feedback, facilitate the work of the research institution or team during the field study on the index, and validate the national AGDI report.

2.The selection of a national research institution or team, which will carry out the fieldwork with support from ECA. The institution is responsible for conducting the field research, undertaking the initial data analysis and compiling the national report.

In the framework of extending the index to other African countries, a team from ACGS visited Cape Verde from 8-10 January 2007 to launch the national advisory panel of the AGDI.

The main national body to spear head the process of the launching of the National Advisory Panel was the Institute for Gender Equity. Since this institute is setting up its own consultative council as a subsidiary body, it was agreed to this council as a matrix for the National Advisory Panel for AGDI since all key ministries are represented, and some relevant institutions or resource persons could be added. Prior to the Official Launch of the National Advisory Panel (NAP), Consultations with Minister of Defense and State reform, the Rector of the University of Cape Verde, the National Statistical Institute, the EU Representative, the Austrian Cooperation have been held.

The official launch of the NAP was held on 10 January 2007 and it was officiated by Her Excellency Ms. Maria Cristina FONTES LIMA, Minister for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, State reform and National Defense paid tribute to ECA for developing the AGDI to track progress in gender equality and women's empowerment inline with the Beijing Platform for Action. .

The Minister further emphasized the responsibility of the members of the National Advisory Panel to support the process of national data collection and to steer the national AGDI process as it moves along, thus ensuring the quality of data collected and the submission of a report of high quality. She also stressed the commitment and full support of the Government through the Institute for Gender Equality and Equity to the effective implementation process of the African Gender and Development Index in Cape Verde. To conclude, she declared the National Advisory Panel of the AGDI in Cape Verde officially set up and the launching workshop continued.

UNECA plans to launch the AGDI in several other countries in 2008/9.