Measuring Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment in Africa Measuring Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment in Africa Measuring Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment in Africa To order copies of Measuring Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa, please contact: Publications Section Economic Commission for Africa P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: +251 11 544-9900 Fax: +251 11 551-4416 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.uneca.org © 2019 Economic Commission for Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia All rights reserved First printing July 2019 Material in this publication may be freely quoted or reprinted. Acknowledgement is requested, together with a copy of the publication. The designations employed in this report and the material presented in it do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa or the African Union concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Designed and printed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by the ECA Printing and Publishing Unit. ISO 14001:2004 certified. Printed on chlorine free paper Cover photos: Shutterstock.com Contents Abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................................................... xii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. xiii 1.Introduction and background .............................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Structure of the African gender and development index ...................................................................... 3 1.3.1 Gender Status Index ................................................................................................................ 3 1.3.2 African women’s progress scoreboard ...................................................................................... 4 1.3.3 Countries covered by the present report .................................................................................... 5 1.4 Structure of the report ...................................................................................................................... 7 Annex I: Gender Status Index and African Women’s Progress Scoreboard........................8 2.Commitment to women’s rights ........................................................................................15 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women .......................................17 2.3 Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women ............... 19 2.3.1 Examples of compliance and non-compliance ......................................................................... 20 2.4 Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women ............. 23 2.4.1 Examples of compliance and non-compliance ......................................................................... 25 2.5 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women .. 29 2.6 Beijing Platform for Action .............................................................................................................. 29 2.7 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child...................................................................... 30 2.8 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) .......................................................................................................................... 31 2.9 Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, 2004 ................................................................... 32 2.10 Review and modification of customary law ....................................................................................... 33 2.11 Concluding remarks ....................................................................................................................... 34 2.12 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 35 Annex II: Country scores on commitments on women’s rights on the African Women’s Progress Scoreboard ...........................................................................................................37 3. Commitment to combat violence against women ..........................................................42 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 42 3.2 Practices harmful to women and girls .............................................................................................. 44 3.2.1 Child marriage ...................................................................................................................... 46 3.2.2 Female genital mutilation ....................................................................................................... 49 3.3 Domestic violence .......................................................................................................................... 51 3.3.1 Does legislation on domestic violence exist? ............................................................................ 52 3.3.2 Does the legislation include a comprehensive definition of ........................................................... domestic violence? ................................................................................................................ 52 3.3.3 Does the legislation take a holistic approach to domestic violence? .......................................... 53 3.4 Sexual violence: rape and statutory rape .......................................................................................... 54 3.5 Sexual harassment ......................................................................................................................... 55 3.6 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children ....... 56 iii 3.7 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography ........................................................................................... 57 3.8 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts .............................................................................................................................. 58 3.9 Concluding remarks ....................................................................................................................... 59 3.10 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 60 Annex III: Country scores on commitment to combat violence against women on the African Women’s Progress Scoreboard ..............................................................................61 4.Commitment to education for all ......................................................................................66 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 66 4.2 Pre-primary education .................................................................................................................... 68 4.3 Primary education .......................................................................................................................... 70 4.3.1 Enrolment ............................................................................................................................ 70 4.3.2 Completion .......................................................................................................................... 71 4.3.3 Barriers to girls’ education .................................................................................................... 72 4.4 Secondary and tertiary education .................................................................................................... 75 4.4.1 Secondary education ............................................................................................................. 75 4.4.2 Tertiary education .................................................................................................................. 76 4.5 Policies to improve the education of girls ......................................................................................... 79 4.6 Literacy rate .................................................................................................................................. 84 4.7 Education on human rights ............................................................................................................. 85 4.8 Concluding remarks