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Afghanistan
Bangladesh
India
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka

Afghanistan

Social Watch’s Gender Equity Index (GEI) [1]

Afghanistandoes not have a GEI value (as of 2009 [2])
The most recent GEI data relates to ‘empowerment’ [3] and is from 2005. It indicates that in 2005 women comprised 27.3% of seats in the lower or single House.
With regards to education, the most recent data is from 2004 and indicates a gender gap in tertiary school enrolment of 27.9. In 2000, the gender gap in literacy was 29.2.

Source: Social Watch http://www.socialwatch.org/node/11760

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 [4]

Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Indicators: Ü Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Ü Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old

Ü Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Ü Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

MDG 3 Indicators	1990	1991	1999	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Gender parity index in primary level enrolment	---	0.55	0.08	0.46	0.57	0.44	0.59	0.64	0.63	0.66	---	---
Gender parity index in secondary level enrolment	---	0.51	---	---	0.35	0.21	0.33	0.37	0.38	---	---	---
Gender parity index in tertiary level enrolment	---	---	---	---	0.28	0.28	---	---	---	---	---	---
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (%)	17.8	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Seats held by women in national parliament (%)	3.7	---	---	---	---	---	---	27.3	27.3	27.7	27.7	27.3

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, Millennium Development Goals Indicators website: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx Data last updated on 3 February 2011 [5]

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [6]

· Afghanistan acceded to the Convention with no reservations in March 2003; [7] it has not signed the Optional Protocol. No CEDAW reports have been submitted to date. [8]

Download this information on a factsheet: Factsheet_Afghanistan.pdf

[1] The GEI measures the gap between women and men with regards to education, economic participation and empowerment, based on internationally available comparable data. By comparing the most recent statistics with those of five years ago, the GEI is able to highlight recent trends in bridging these gender gaps and track progress towards gender equality. The GEI value is an average of the values obtained in the three dimensions. It ranges from 0 to 100, with lower values indicating greater gender inequality. A value of 100 would indicate no gender gap at all in each of the three dimensions.
[2] 2009 is the latest year for which GEI figures are available for the majority of countries.
[3] Empowerment’ refers to the % of women in professional, technical, managerial and administrative jobs, the number of seats women have in parliament, and in decision making ministerial posts.
[4] The MDGs are a set of eight goals, with 18 targets to be measured by 48 quantifiable social, economic and environmental indicators – to be achieved by 2015, reflecting the world’s main development challenges. Goal 3 focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The MDGs have been viewed by some gender advocates as a distraction, and by others as a strategic entry point for promoting gender equality.
[5] Blank boxes in the chart indicate an absence of statistics on the UNSD website.
[6] Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
[7] A list of signatories, with the status of ratifications, accessions & successions to the Convention can be found at: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en.
[8] The initial and second reports were due in 2004 and 2008, respectively: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/CEDAW.C.2011.48.2.pdf

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Bangladesh

Social Watch’s Gender Equity Index (GEI) [1]

In 2009, [2] Bangladesh had a value of 53, with the greatest gender inequalities being in the area of ‘empowerment’.
In 2009, Bangladesh ranked 115 out of 157 countries.
This reveals little change since 2008, when Bangladesh had a value of 51, and 2007, when it was 52.

Gender Equity Index Indicators

2009

Education

Literacy gap between men and women; male and female enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education

85.8

Economic activity

% of women and men in paid jobs, excluding agriculture; income ratio of men to women

53.5

Empowerment

% of women in professional, technical, managerial and administrative jobs; number of seats women have in parliament, and in decision-making ministerial posts

18.9

GEI value

Source: Social Watch http://www.socialwatch.org/node/11760

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 [3]

Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Indicators: Ü Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Ü Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old

Ü Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Ü Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

MDG 3 Indicators	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Gender parity index in primary level enrolment	---	---	---	---	---	1.05	1.06	1.08	1.06	---	---
Gender parity index in secondary level enrolment	---	1.10	1.11	1.11	1.03	1.07	1.07	1.06	---	---	---
Gender parity index in tertiary level enrolment	---	0.54	0.50	0.50	0.49	0.53	0.57	0.57	---	---	---
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (%)	24.7	---	---	21.6	---	---	20.1	---	---	---	---
Seats held by women in national parliament (%)	9.1	9.1	---	2.0	2.0	2.0	14.8	---	---	6.3	18.6

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, Millennium Development Goals Indicators website: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx. Data last updated on 4 February 2011. [4]

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [5]

· Bangladesh was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention in November 1984

· It was among the first 10 countries to ratify the Optional Protocol in September 2000, albeit with reservations – opting out of the inquiry procedure.

· The most recent (sixth periodic) CEDAW report was submitted for examination at the 48^th session in 2011. [6] Prior to that, Bangladesh’s fifth periodic report was examined in 2004.

CEDAW Country Report

Key Improvements*

Key Challenges*

Education

-Gender parity has been achieved in primary and secondary education enrolment.

-There is a high drop out level among girls, especially in rural areas.

-There are gender gaps in technical/vocational and tertiary education.

-A high number of girls suffer sexual abuse and harassment en route to and in schools.

-School facilities for girls are lacking.

-Early marriages have negative impacts on female education.

Economic activity

-The revised Bangladesh Labour Act (2006) provides for equal pay for equal work, maternity leave and redress for workplace harassment.

-Women’s participation in the labour force increased by 24.4% in 2005-2006.

-The 2006 Bangladesh Labour Act does not cover workers in the informal sector where a large portion of women and girls are employed.

-There is persistent occupational segregation and discrimination against women in the labour market, and a wide gender wage gap.

Empowerment

-Bangladesh has recently adopted policies to promote gender equality and eliminate discrimination against women, including the Policy for the Advancement of Women and the ‘Vision 2021’ programme.

-The National Council for Women and Child Development was established in 2009.

-Ten ministries have a gender responsive budget (2009-2011).

-Recent legislation introduced gender quotas in political parties and women’s reserved seats increased from 30 to 45.

- The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (2009) entitles Bangladeshi women to transmit citizenship to their children.

-The Domestic Violence Act was approved in 2010.

-The Constitution doesn’t guarantee equal rights to women in the private sphere.

-Women continue to be underrepresented in public and professional life, including the judiciary, diplomatic service, civil service and Parliament.

-There remain laws and provisions (including in relation to marriage, divorce, nationality, guardianship and custodial rights) which deny women equal rights with men.

-Deep-rooted gender stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes perpetuate discrimination against women and girls.

-There is a persistent problem with violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, rape, dowry-related and fatwa-instigated violence and workplace sexual harassment.

-The trafficking of women and girls remains prevalent.

* These lists are exemplary; information about other issues relevant for the SDC-country portfolio can be downloaded from the CEDAW-site, according to the needs of the respective user.

Download this information on a factsheet: Factsheet_Bangladesh.pdf

[1] The GEI measures the gap between women and men with regards to education, economic participation and empowerment, based on internationally available comparable data. By comparing the most recent statistics with those of five years ago, the GEI is able to highlight recent trends in bridging these gender gaps and track progress towards gender equality. The GEI value is an average of the values obtained in the three dimensions. It ranges from 0 to 100, with lower values indicating greater gender inequality. A value of 100 would indicate no gender gap at all in each of the three dimensions.
[2] 2009 is the latest year for which GEI figures are available.
[3] The MDGs are a set of eight goals, with 18 targets to be measured by 48 quantifiable social, economic and environmental indicators – to be achieved by 2015, reflecting the world’s main development challenges. Goal 3 focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The MDGs have been viewed by some gender advocates as a distraction, and by others as a strategic entry point for promoting gender equality.
[4] Blank boxes in the MDG chart indicate an absence of statistics on the UNSD website.
[5] Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
[6] The 48^th CEDAW Committee session reports for Bangladesh are available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws48.htm

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India

Social Watch’s Gender Equity Index (GEI) [1]

In 2009, [2] India had a value of 41, with the greatest gender inequalities by far being in the area of ‘empowerment’.
In 2009, India ranked 155 out of 157 countries.
This shows little change since 2008 when India had a value of 40 (it did not have a value in 2007).

Gender Equity Index Indicators

2009

Education

Literacy gap between men and women; male and female enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education

77.5

Economic activity

% of women and men in paid jobs, excluding agriculture; income ratio of men to women

36.6

Empowerment

% of women in professional, technical, managerial and administrative jobs; number of seats women have in parliament, and in decision-making ministerial posts

7.9

GEI value

41

Source: Social Watch http://www.socialwatch.org/node/11760

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 [3]

Goal:              Promote gender equality and empower women

Target:            Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Indicators:   Ü Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

                  Ü Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old

Ü Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Ü Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

MDG 3 Indicators

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Gender parity index in primary level enrolment

0.85

0.85

0.87

0.97

0.97

0.96

0.96

0.97

---

---

---

Gender parity index in secondary level enrolment

0.71

0.72

0.75

0.81

0.81

0.82

0.83

0.86

---

---

---

Gender parity index in tertiary level enrolment

0.66

0.69

0.70

0.68

0.72

0.71

0.72

0.70

---

---

---

Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (%)
16.6

16.8

17.3

17.6

17.9

18.1

---

---

---

---

---

Seats held by women in national parliament (%)

9.0

9.0

8.8

8.8

8.8

8.3

8.3

8.3

9.1

9.1

10.8

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, Millennium Development Goals Indicators website: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx. Data last updated on 7 February 2011. [4]

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [5]

·         India ratified the Convention in 1993 with reservations (articles 5(a), 16(1) and 29(1) on discriminatory customary practices, marriage and family relations and the judicial process for complaints) and has not signed or ratified the Optional Protocol.

·         The most recent CEDAW Committee examination of India was at the 47^th session in 2010. [6] For this session, India submitted an exceptional report focusing on the impacts of the Gujarat incident of 2002 on women. Prior to that, second and third periodic reports were examined in 2007. [7]

·         The combined fourth and fifth periodic report is due by October 2011.

CEDAW Country Report

Key Improvements*

Key Challenges*

Education

- The government has increased girls' enrolment in primary education. However, there are gaps in the educational status of scheduled caste/tribes and Muslim women.
- Text books have been revised to eliminate gender-based stereotypes at the national level.

- The right to education guaranteed in 2002 by a Constitutional amendment has not been made operational despite circulation of a model bill.
- There is a gap in literacy rates between men and women.

Economic activity

- The government enacted the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.
- The monitored goals for the National Policy for Empowerment of Women include the provisions of training, employment and income generation activities.

- The government has set up a scheme to support women’s access to microcredit.

- The wage gap between women and men persists.
- The number of poor urban women engaged in unskilled labour with poor work conditions and a lack of access to basic amenities has increased.

Empowerment

- 1/3 of local government seats are reserved for women and their numbers have increased.

- The Women Component Plan in the national budget stipulates 30% of planned development expenditure in all sectors to be spent on women.

- The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) has been passed and amendments made to other laws.
- Poor women are entitled to free legal aid and legal literacy support. However, the quality and scope of services is low.

- Women’s participation is low in other areas of government and there is no data regarding the effectiveness of their participation.

- The law does not sufficiently address sex discrimination by non-state actors, gender-based violence and discrimination against Dalit women.
- Marital rape and child sexual abuse are not criminalised.
- Patriarchal values, limited resources and harassment of politicians inhibits women’s political participation.

- The government has taken insufficient action to seek justice for victims of human rights violations (including murder and sexual violence against women) that took place in Gujarat in 2002.

These lists are exemplary; information about other issues relevant for the SDC-country portfolio can be downloaded from the CEDAW-site, according to the needs of the respective user.

Download this information on a factsheet: Factsheet_India.pdf

[1] The GEI measures the gap between women and men with regards to education, economic participation and empowerment, based on internationally available comparable data. By comparing the most recent statistics with those of five years ago, the GEI is able to highlight recent trends in bridging these gender gaps and track progress towards gender equality. The GEI value is an average of the values obtained in the three dimensions. It ranges from 0 to 100, with lower values indicating greater gender inequality. A value of 100 would indicate no gender gap at all in each of the three dimensions.
[2] 2009 is the latest year for which GEI figures are available.
[3] The MDGs are a set of eight goals, with 18 targets to be measured by 48 quantifiable social, economic and environmental indicators – to be achieved by 2015, reflecting the world’s main development challenges. Goal 3 focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The MDGs have been viewed by some gender advocates as a distraction, and by others as a strategic entry point for promoting gender equality.
[4] Blank boxes in the MDG chart indicate an absence of statistics on the UNSD website.
[5] Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
[6] Reports for India considered by the CEDAW Committee at its 47^th session (2010) are available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws47.htm.
[7] Reports for India considered by the CEDAW Committee at its 37^th session (2007) are available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws37.htm.

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Nepal

Social Watch’s Gender Equity Index (GEI) [1]

In 2009, [2] Nepal had a value of 51.
It ranked 121 out of 157 countries.
This indicates an increase since 2008 and 2007, when Nepal had a value of 44.

Gender Equity Index Indicators

2009

Education

Literacy gap between men and women; male and female enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education

74.1

Economic activity

% of women and men in paid jobs, excluding agriculture; income ratio of men to women

57.1

Empowerment

% of women in professional, technical, managerial and administrative jobs; number of seats women have in parliament, and in decision-making ministerial posts

22.5

GEI value

Source: Social Watch http://www.socialwatch.org/node/11760

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 [3]

Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Indicators: Ü Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Ü Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old

Ü Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Ü Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

MDG 3 Indicators	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Gender parity index in primary level enrolment	0.84	0.86	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Gender parity index in secondary level enrolment	0.72	0.74	0.77	---	0.86	0.89	---	---	---	---
Gender parity index in tertiary level enrolment	0.27	0.27	0.34	0.40	---	---	---	---	---	---
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (%)	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Seats held by women in national parliament (%)	5.9	5.9	---	---	---	---	17.3	17.3	33.2	33.2

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, Millennium Development Goals Indicators website:

http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx, Data last updated on 8 February 2011. [4]

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [5]

· Nepalsigned the Convention in February 1991 and ratified it in April 1991, with no reservations. [6]

· Nepal signed the Optional Protocol in June 2007.

· The most recent CEDAW report (the combined second and third periodic reports) was examined in 2004. [7]

· The next CEDAW Committee examination of Nepal will take place at the 49^th session in July 2011. [8]

CEDAW Country Report	Key Improvements*	Key Challenges*
Education	-There have been substantial efforts to reduce gender disparity in education. As a result, the overall literacy rate has gone up for both sexes. The government is promoting a policy aiming for universal basic primary education.	-Poverty, a rigid division of labour between women and men, and gender-biased cultural perceptions stand in the way of female education. There is still a distinct gap between the literacy rates of women and men.
Economic activity	-Women’s formal labour force participation rate in Nepal is 66%. One of the major policy initiatives aimed at enhancing women’s socio economic status is the introduction of micro credit schemes for women, both through local banks and NGOs.	-Although women constitute an estimated 43% of all entrepreneurs, they are still found predominantly in low-growth areas earning lower financial returns than their male counterparts, facing socio cultural obstacles as well as legal, regulatory and administrative barriers.
Empowerment	-The Constitution requires all political parties to nominate at least 5% women candidates for House of Representatives elections. Additionally, at least 3 seats in the National Assembly are reserved for women. This has led to an increase in the number of female political representatives. There are at least 40,000 women representatives at the local level.	-Despite the legal requirements to promote women’s political participation, women’s representation in political and administrative offices remains poor, especially in the National Assembly. In the 1999 parliamentary elections, of the 2224 candidates only 141(6%) were women, while no major party allocated more than 7% of its seats for women candidates.

* These lists are exemplary; information about other issues relevant for the SDC-country portfolio can be downloaded from the CEDAW-site, according to the needs of the respective user.

Download this information on a factsheet: Factsheet_Nepal.pdf

2009 is the latest year for which GEI figures are available.

[3]

The MDGs are a set of eight goals, with 18 targets to be measured by 48 quantifiable social, economic and environmental indicators – to be achieved by 2015, reflecting the world’s main development challenges. Goal 3 focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The MDGs have been viewed by some gender advocates as a distraction, and by others as a strategic entry point for promoting gender equality.

[4]

Blank boxes in the MDG chart indicate an absence of statistics on the UNSD website.

[5]

Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.

[6]

Source: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/protocol/CEDAW%20Ratification%20Table%20IV-8.en.pdf
[7] The report was considered by the CEDAW Committee at its 30^th session in January 2004. It is available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/30sess.htm#nepal30

[8] Reports for Nepal to be considered at the 49^th CEDAW Committee session in July 2011 are available at:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws49.htm.

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Pakistan

Social Watch’s Gender Equity Index (GEI) [1]

In 2009, [2] Pakistan had a value of 43, with the greatest gender inequalities in the area of ‘empowerment’. Pakistan also scored poorly in the area of economic activity.
In 2009, Pakistan ranked 151 out of 157 countries.
This reveals little change since 2008 and 2007, when Pakistan also had a value of 42.

Gender Equity Index Indicators

2009

Education

Literacy gap between men and women; male and female enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education

75.9

Economic activity

% of women and men in paid jobs, excluding agriculture; income ratio of men to women

34.2

Empowerment

% of women in professional, technical, managerial and administrative jobs; number of seats women have in parliament, and in decision-making ministerial posts

GEI value

Source: Social Watch http://www.socialwatch.org/node/11760

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 [3]

Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Indicators: Ü Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Ü Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old

Ü Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Ü Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

MDG 3 Indicators	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Gender parity index in primary level enrolment	0.68	0.68	0.68	0.72	0.73	0.76	0.78	0.82	0.83	---	---
Gender parity index in secondary level enrolment	---	---	---	0.79	0.78	0.78	0.78	0.76	0.76	---	---
Gender parity index in tertiary level enrolment	---	---	0.81	0.81	0.80	0.88	0.85	0.85	0.85	---	---
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (%)	13.0	13.6	13.6	13.9	13.9	13.9	13.4	13.2	---	---	---
Seats held by women in national parliament (%)	---	---	---	21.6	21.6	21.3	21.3	21.3	21.1	22.5	22.2

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, Millennium Development Goals Indicators website: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx. Data last updated on 8 February 2011. [4]

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [5]

· Pakistanacceded [6] to the Convention in March 1996, with reservations.

· Pakistan has not ratified the Optional Protocol.

· The most recent CEDAW report (the combined initial, second and third periodic reports) was examined in 2007. [7]

· The next report was due to be submitted in April 2009. [8]

CEDAW Country Report	Key Improvements*	Key Challenges*
Education	---	-There are high illiteracy rates among women, combined with low enrolment of girls in schools and high dropout rates, especially in rural areas. Gender stereotypes are prevalent in school textbooks.
Economic activity	---	-Women face discrimination in formal employment, reflected in higher unemployment rates, the gender wage gap and occupational segregation. -Women in the informal sector, especially home-based workers, have no access to protection under labour laws.
Empowerment	-In 2002, the National Policy for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women was introduced. In 2005, the Gender Reform Action Plan was developed. -Initiatives have begun to provide support to women victims of violence, including the creation of the Gender Crime Cell in the National Police Bureau and the establishment of a Human Rights Wing under the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights, which has a special focus on women. -In 2002, the Constitution was amended to increase women’s political participation in the National Assembly and the Senate.	-Violence against women and girls persists. The CEDAW Committee was especially concerned about the Qisas and Diyat law which allows for the victim of violence or his/her heir to determine whether to exact retribution or payment of compensation or to pardon the accused, thus providing impunity for perpetrators. -There is a low number of women judges in the High Court and a total absence of women judges in the Supreme Court. -The Citizenship Act does not allow Pakistani women to pass their nationality to a foreign spouse. -Women lack access to health care, particularly to sexual and reproductive health services.

* These lists are exemplary; information about other issues relevant for the SDC-country portfolio can be downloaded from the CEDAW-site, according to the needs of the respective user.

Download this information on a factsheet: Factsheet_Pakistan.pdf

[1] The GEI measures the gap between women and men with regards to education, economic participation and empowerment, based on internationally available comparable data. By comparing the most recent statistics with those of five years ago, the GEI is able to highlight recent trends in bridging these gender gaps and track progress towards gender equality. The GEI value is an average of the values obtained in the three dimensions. It ranges from 0 to 100, with lower values indicating greater gender inequality. A value of 100 would indicate no gender gap at all in each of the three dimensions.
[2] 2009 is the latest year for which GEI figures are available.
[3] The MDGs are a set of eight goals, with 18 targets to be measured by 48 quantifiable social, economic and environmental indicators – to be achieved by 2015, reflecting the world’s main development challenges. Goal 3 focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The MDGs have been viewed by some gender advocates as a distraction, and by others as a strategic entry point for promoting gender equality.
[4] Blank boxes in the MDG chart indicate an absence of statistics on the UNSD website.
[5] Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
[6] Accession has the same legal effect as ratification. It is the act by which a state accepts the offer or the opportunity to become party to a treaty, after the treaty has entered into force - http://unifem-eseasia.org/projects/Cedaw/cedawglossary.html
[7] The report was considered by the CEDAW Committee at its 38^th session in May-June 2007. It is available at:

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/38sess.htm.
[8] As of February 2011, this report has not been submitted yet: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/CEDAW.C.2011.48.2.pdf

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Sri Lanka

Social Watch’s Gender Equity Index (GEI) [1]

In 2009, [2] Sri Lanka had a value of 58, with the greatest gender inequalities being in the area of ‘empowerment’.
In 2009, Sri Lanka ranked 96 out of 157 countries.
This is the same as 2007, when Sri Lanka also had a value of 58, but it shows a progression since 2008, when this value had fallen to 53.

Gender Equity Index Indicators

2009

Education

Literacy gap between men and women; male and female enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Economic activity

% of women and men in paid jobs, excluding agriculture; income ratio of men to women

Empowerment

% of women in professional, technical, managerial and administrative jobs; number of seats women have in parliament, and in decision-making ministerial posts

32.4

GEI value

Source: Social Watch http://www.socialwatch.org/node/11760

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 [3]

Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Indicators: Ü Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Ü Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old

Ü Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Ü Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

MDG 3 Indicators	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Gender parity index in primary level enrolment	---	0.99	0.99	1.00	---	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	---	---
Gender parity index in secondary level enrolment	---	1.06	1.06	---	1.02	---	---	---	---	---	---
Gender parity index in tertiary level enrolment	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (%)	30.5	30.4	30.9	30.0	31.0	30.8	32.2	31.0	---	---	---
Seats held by women in national parliament (%)	4.9	---	---	4.4	4.4	4.9	4.9	4.9	5.8	5.8	5.8

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, Millennium Development Goals Indicators website: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx. Data last updated on 14 February 2011. [4]

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [5]

Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention without reservations in October 1981.

It ratified the Optional Protocol in October 2002, also without reservations.

The most recent CEDAW report (combined fifth, sixth and seventh reports) for Sri Lanka was examined at the 48^th Committee session in January 2011. [6]

The previous report (combined third and fourth periodic reports) was examined at the 26^th session in 2002. [7]

CEDAW Country Report

Key Improvements*

Key Challenges*

Education

- Sri Lanka is on track to achieve universal primary education.

- Efforts to eliminate gender stereotyping in formal education have been undertaken.

- There are signs that the country will achieve its MDG literacy targets by 2015. In 2006, women’s literacy rate was 89.9% and men’s was 93.2%.

- The percentage of women in higher education is rising.

- There is a lack of gender disaggregated educational data.

- Gender stereotyping leads to the concentration of girls in lower skill learning areas.

- Girls are particularly underrepresented in vocational and technical training.

- Women are not well represented in high education technical and engineering fields.

Economic activity

- The number of women entering the labour force continues to rise.

- There are increasing numbers of women in jobs that were perceived as being inappropriate due to gender stereotypes.

- Female unemployment is high.

- There is no national legislation to guarantee equal pay for equal work.

- Discrimination against women in the labour market causes them to be concentrated in low-skilled and low-paid jobs.

- Women working in the informal sector lack social protection.

- There is no specific legislation regarding sexual harassment in the workplace.

Empowerment

- Sri Lanka is on track to achieve the MDGs targets on child mortality reduction and maternal health improvement.

- The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act was approved in 2005.

- The Citizenship (Amendment) Act No. 16 (2003) enables Sri Lankan women to transmit citizenship to their children.

- The Penal Code (Amendment) Act No. 16 (2006) includes new measures to combat human trafficking and child abuse.

- The new Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare and Sri Lanka National Policy on Labour Migration focus on female migrant workers.

- There are persistent negative gender stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination against women and girls and there is an extremely low level of participation of women in politics and public life.

- The decades-long armed conflict, Tsunami (2004), and recent floods have posed particular challenges to Sri Lanka’s fulfilment of CEDAW, which has not yet been accorded the status of domestic law.

- There have been delays in establishing the National Commission on Women.

- Family relations often prevail over the protection of women from violence, marital rape is narrowly recognised and there is a lack of domestic violence data.

- Measures to combat human trafficking need to be strengthened.

- The sexual and reproductive health of women requires more attention.

- Rural and migrant women face particular challenges.

* These lists are exemplary; information about other issues relevant for the SDC-country portfolio can be downloaded

Download this information on a factsheet: Factsheet_Sri Lanka.pdf

[1] The GEI measures the gap between women and men with regards to education, economic participation and empowerment, based on internationally available comparable data. By comparing the most recent statistics with those of five years ago, the GEI is able to highlight recent trends in bridging these gender gaps and track progress towards gender equality. The GEI value is an average of the values obtained in the three dimensions. It ranges from 0 to 100, with lower values indicating greater gender inequality. A value of 100 would indicate no gender gap at all in each of the three dimensions.
[2] 2009 is the latest year for which GEI figures are available.
[3] The MDGs are a set of eight goals, with 18 targets to be measured by 48 quantifiable social, economic and environmental indicators – to be achieved by 2015, reflecting the world’s main development challenges. Goal 3 focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The MDGs have been viewed by some gender advocates as a distraction, and by others as a strategic entry point for promoting gender equality.
[4] Blank boxes in the MDG chart indicate an absence of statistics on the UNSD website.
[5] Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
[6] The 48^th CEDAW Committee session reports for Sri Lanka are available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws48.htm.
[7] Reports for the 26^th CEDAW Committee session are available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws26.htm.

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