Assessing Gender Equality through a New Lens: the OECD’s Social Institutions and Gender Index

December 12, 2011

Despite a broad consensus that gender equality matters in its own right and as a driver of development, gender gaps persist on key economic and social indicators. Discriminatory social institutions - defined as formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – help to explain sluggish progress towards gender equality. The OECD’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) can illuminate key development policy challenges raised by the WDR 2012, especially related to agency and voice. The SIGI is a first attempt to capture, quantify and measure social institutions that discriminate against women. Applied to issues as diverse as employment, hunger, agricultural productivity and achievement of the MDGs, countries which display higher levels of discrimination against women are shown to perform more poorly on a range of development indicators. Policy implications was discussed.

Presenter:
Johannes Jutting, Head, the Poverty Reduction and Social Development Unit
OECD Development Center
Presentation (PDF 780KB)

Discussant:
Pierella Paci, Sector Manager, Gender and Development Group