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Civil Registration and Advancing Women’s Rights in Africa: Using the Lens of the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI) Presented by Thokozile Ruzvidzo Director African Centre for Gender and Social Development. Outline of Presentation. Brief Overview of the AGDI
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Civil Registration and Advancing Women’s Rights in Africa: Using the Lens of the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI) Presented by ThokozileRuzvidzo Director African Centre for Gender and Social Development
Outline of Presentation • Brief Overview of the AGDI • Civil Registration and Women’s Rights • Gaps in Civil Registration and Other Forms of Data Collection • Recommended Actions
Background • Part of ECA’s mandate to coordinate, support, monitor, evaluate and report on the implementation of international human rights agreements on the rights of women; • Lack of common set of gender responsive indicators to measure progress made in the advancement of women; • Worsened by the absence of up-to-date relevant disaggregated data.
What is the AGDI? The AGDI is a composite index made up of two complementary components: The Gender Status Index (GSI) and The African Women’s Progress Scoreboard (AWPS) Together, they provide a scan or “X-ray” of government commitment to women
Objectives of the AGDI The design of the AGDI is informed by two main development objectives: • To provide African Governments with an African-owned and specific tool to monitor progress being made in their implementation of regional and international resolutions and conventions on gender equality and the advancement of women in Africa; • To provide African Governments with both quantitative and qualitative insights into the effects of the design and implementation of their social, economic, cultural and political policies.
AGDI Phases I & II • AGDI was initially piloted in 12 countries based on sub regional and linguistic representation. • The countries were: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania; • The project is in its second expansion phase which has been informed by a review of the AGDI undertaken by international experts from 23-25 of March 2010; • The second phase AGDI countries number 17 and are: Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal and Zambia.
Civil Registration and Women’s Rights • Birth registration is key to accessing basic services for both male and female children (e.g. education and health which are MDG indicators); • Age identification is key in criminal matters affecting girls. Example in definition of sexual offences, criminal and contractual liability; • The African Women’s Protocol mandates countries to improve upon the civil registration systems as means of protecting girls from early marriage and documentation of valid marriages
Civil Registration and Women Contd… • Documentation of marriage serves to protect the property rights of women through proof of marriage; • This also extends to land registration systems, particularly where customary land tenure is concerned; • Registration of deaths is needed to adequately capture maternal deaths as well as deaths from other causes such as HIV/AIDS
Gaps in Civil Registration • Many African countries are still struggling with ensuring that children are registered at birth due to social, cultural and economic barriers; • Registration of customary marriages remains a challenge especially for women in polygamous relationships; • Many maternal deaths are not captured especially where delivery takes place in rural communities and/or without professional medical support
Recommended Actions • Overhaul of civil registration systems to take account of developmental goals such as MDG commitments and women’s rights; • Special emphasis on birth registration, maternal deaths, registration of customary marriages and customary land tenure; • Increase investments in data disaggregated data collection as a whole e.g. time use data; • Civil registration officials to be trained in human rights and development, including those aspects affecting women and gender equality issues.
