PROPOSAL FOR POSSIBLE INDICATORS
ON ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AND
VIOLENCE AGAINST THE GIRL CHILD
Division for the Advancement of
Women
Inter-Agency and Expert Group Meeting on the
Development of Gender Statistics,
12-14 December 2006, New York
Outline
A global consensus on the need to expand
availability of data on gender issues and
special population groups of women
New CSW mandate for indicators
Key messages from EGM on the girl child
Findings on mainstreaming the girl child in
PRPs and MDG reports
Next steps
A global consensus to expand availability of data on
gender issues and special population groups of
women
At the 48th session of the Commission on the Status, a
high-level roundtable on gaps and challenges in
measuring progress in implementation of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome
document of the twenty-third special session of the
General Assembly, underscored the importance of sexdisaggregated data and gender-specific indicators
for effective, targeted policy formulation and
programme design to promote gender equality and the
empowerment of women.
A global consensus to expand availability of data on
gender issues and special population groups of
women
A follow-up panel on “Remaining challenges in relation to
statistics and indicators” at the 49th session of the CSW,
while noting the importance of achieving the MDGs,
expressed concern about the lack of gendersensitivity in the existing indicators.
Participants also highlighted the need to ensure
collection of data disaggregated by other factors
than sex, in particular age and race, to ensure targeted
policies in support of vulnerable groups of women.
The mandate
In its resolution 2006/9 of 25 July 2006, the Economic
and Social Council requested the Secretary-General to
submit to the Commission on the Status of Women, on
an annual basis, a report on the priority theme,
including proposals for possible indicators,
elaborated in cooperation with the Statistical
Commission, to measure progress in the implementation
with regard to the priority theme.
At its fifty-first session (27 February to 9 March 2007),
the Commission will consider “The elimination of all
forms of discrimination and violence against the girl
child” as its priority theme.
Key messages from an expert group meeting
on “The elimination of all forms of
discrimination and violence against the girl
child”
Lack of data disaggregated by sex and age is a
serious constraint to formulating and
implementing effective, targeted policies and
programmes, and to monitoring progress in
eliminating discrimination and violence against
the girl child.
=> Need for data and indicators
EGM: Importance of legislative
frameworks
Incorporation of international treaty obligations into
domestic law, in particular CEDAW and the Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC), is critical to ensure the
full protection of the rights of the girl child as these
instruments provide the most comprehensive sets of
rights of the girl child, as well as explicit obligations for
States Parties and other actors to protect these rights.
There is also an urgent need to remove national laws
that are in contradiction to the rights and obligations set
out in the two conventions.
=> Question: how is progress measured?
EGM: Increasing the visibility of the
girl child
The needs of the girl child are often subsumed at policy
and programmatic levels under the larger categories of
“women” or “children” that may not adequately respond
to the needs of the girl child.
The particular situation of the girl child is therefore often
“invisible” in policy and programmatic frameworks.
EGM: Special groups of girls and especially
difficult circumstances
Highlighted for presenting the highest risk of discrimination
and violence; yet, found to be the most invisible groups
in policies and programmes:
adolescent girls aged 10-14;
girls in conflict and post-conflict situations;
those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS;
girls involved in domestic work, in and outside the home;
girls married before the official age of consent.
girl children with disabilities
EGM: The importance of eliminating harmful
practices
Harmful practices that persist and perpetuate violence
against girls were identified, including:




early and forced marriage
son preference
female feticide and infanticide
female genital mutilation and cutting
EGM: Five strategies to empower
girls
Creating safe and supportive girl-friendly spaces and
environments;
Building girls’ social assets;
Providing education, information and skills-building for
girls;
Creating channels for girls’ participation, especially
vulnerable girls, in decision-making processes; and
Engaging men and boys as allies in questioning
traditional and discriminatory gender socialization.
Progress in implementing these strategies also needs to be
measured
Findings on mainstreaming the girl child in
PRSPs and MDG reports
A review of PSRPs and national MDG reports
found that sex and age- disaggregated data was
most commonly provided in the area of
education.
In the area of health, data was not always
disaggregated by age, in particular in the context
of poverty, underweight and undernourished
children, child mortality, child diseases,
immunization coverage and HIV prevalence.
Findings on mainstreaming the girl child
in PRSPs and MDG reports
Although the indicators for the monitoring of the MDGs
provide tools for assessing progress on the girl child in
relation to education, HIV/AIDS, and unemployment,
they only address women and men from 15 years and
older.
Some Member States undertook collection of sexdisaggregated data and research on the situation of the
girl child, in particular in the areas of education, and
violence, including trafficking and sexual exploitation.
What next?
Towards the development of a proposal to CSW and Statistical
Commission, the Division for the Advancement of Women
proposes to discuss:
Which indicators on discrimination and violence against the
girl child are already collected and reported at national and
international levels
Progress, gaps, challenges, and opportunities in collecting
and analyzing statistical data on discrimination and violence
against the girl child
Which policy areas require further data on the girl child,
within and beyond social and demographic areas
Which set of indicators could be recommended to all
Member States?