Economy
THE Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is set to launch the third phase of the Africa Programme on Gender Statistics (APGS III) aimed at improving gender statistics at regional and national levels.
This is contained in a statement issued on the website of United Nations ECA on Tuesday.
The statement said the launch would be at the ongoing Joint Africa Gender Statistics Conference being held in Nairobi, Kenya.
The conference, which started on Sept. 26, would end on Sept. 30.
The African Group on Gender Statistics in 2012 developed a regional programme on gender statistics to address the issues of generating timely and comparable accurate statistics on gender in Africa.
The programme, called the APGS, is a five-year regional programme aimed at improving the availability of accurate gender statistics at the national, regional and international levels.
It brings together initiatives aimed at the development of gender statistics that need to be undertaken by regional organisations, international agencies and other institutions at the regional level.
The first phase of the programme covered the period of 2012 to 2016 while the second phase was from 2017 to 2021.
According to the statement, ECA is the secretariat for the APGS.
The APGS had, however, contributed significantly to the improvements in gender statistics at both the regional and national levels.
The programme made strides in improving the availability of accurate and standardised gender statistics by developing methodologies and approaches for the production of gender statistics in Africa.
However, much remains to be done in improving coordination and reinforcing partnerships to strengthen knowledge, skills, and communication related to the production, dissemination, and use of gender statistics.
Nonetheless, this would be one of the main focus areas of APGS III.
Speaking, Themba Munalula, Chief Statistician, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), said gender equality had been recognised as essential to the process of sustainable development.
”Gender equality has increasingly been recognised as being essential to the process of sustainable development and the formulation of effective national development policies and programmes,” Munalula said.
Also, Roza Mamuye Bora, Principal Statistician at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) said African countries had benefits producing high-quality, timely and reliable gender data.
“Given the pivotal response of gender equality in socioeconomic and cultural development, ensuring that African countries produce high-quality, timely, and reliable gender data has far-reaching benefits,” said Bora.
Furthermore, Dr Maxime Houinato, UN Women East and Southern Africa Regional Director, said the objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was to improve the lives of women and girls.
“Gender data and statistics are not just important for their own sake.
“The end goal is really to improve the lives of women and girls as envisioned by the SDGs and other regional and international plans.
“While nearly all countries in the region have endorsed the SDGs and incorporated them into national strategies and plans, lack of funding is often cited as the most critical impediment in the region,” said Houinato.
Also speaking, Fatouma Sissoko, Gender Statistician at the United Nations ECA, agreed that lack of funding had hindered the progress of national offices to generate gender data.
“This has hindered the progress of national statistical offices in designing the systems and operations needed to generate gender data for evidence-based policymaking and advocacy,” Sissoko said.
More than 150 public and civil society actors from 40 African countries convened in Nairobi, Kenya for the Joint Africa Gender Statistics Conference.
The conference has as its theme “Gender Statistics Imperatives for Africa.”
It is expected to examine gender statistics through the Agenda 2063 and the SDGs that support gender equality and women’s empowerment, and global guidance on violence against women data, among others.
Delegates would exchange knowledge on the latest innovations and best practices in gender statistics to inform action plans in African Union member states and the region. (NAN)
A.I
Tags: African Union Dr Maxime Houinato Economic Commission for Africa Fatouma Sissoko Roza Mamuye Bora Themba Munalula United Nations ECA
