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With 13 SADC countries having signed and nine countries ratified the SADC Gender Protocol; the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance has shifted focus to pushing for governments to fully implement the SADC Gender Protocol. This is important because once all those who have ratified deposit their instruments, the Gender Protocol will get into full force. This came out of the Alliance annual strategy meeting report just released. Click here to read full report.
The Southern Africa Gender Development Index (SGDI), introduced in the 2011 SADC Gender Protocol Barometer for the first time has been well received by governments, development partners and civil society where this has been shared at the report launches and several meetings in the last month. In complementing this innovation, it is believed to be one of the most comprehensive indices for measuring gender equality and could contribute to improving the MDG Gender Inequality Index beyond 2015.
The SGDI is a basket of empirical scores that can be used to assess how governments are performing by sector, as well as relative to each other. With empirical data on 23 indicators in six sectors, the SGDI puts SADC countries at 64% of where they need to be by 2015: the target date for meeting the 28 targets of the Protocol.
In addition to strengthening institutional mechanisms to ensure capacity at national levels with support from UN Women and the SADC Gender Unit, the Alliance is calling on national governments to:
The Alliance national focal points have identified the following strategic entry points for interventions at country level to push governments towards implementation as highlighted in the 2011 SADC Gender Protocol Barometer:
Click here for the full Alliance meeting report.
Comment on Regional: Alliance to step up push for implementation of the SADC Gender Protocol