ETHIOPIAN GENDER

DEVELOPMENT INDEX

Produced by the Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations

(NEWA)

BOOKLET
 ETHIOPIAN GENDER
DEVELOPMENT INDEX (2021)
The main objective of EGDI report is to shows the extent to which Ethiopia
has advanced in gender equality, reduced the gender gaps and addressed
empowerment of women in accordance with all its national and international
commitments.

EGDI consists of three dimensions: Rights, which measures Education

and Health,Resources, which measures economic opportunities, and
Representation, which measures power and decision-making.

Composite Ethiopian Gender Development

Index
Through the Ethiopian Gender gap index, efforts have been made to measure
the extent of gender-based gaps among the four key dimensions (Rights
[Education and health], Resources [Economic Participation and Opportunity],
and Representation [power and decision-making). Unfortunately, no reliable
data on health and gender was available that generates information for
advocacy or knowledge purpose. Instead, reproductive health indicators
were employed.

An illustration
Region of the
Education regional
Healthand national EGDI
Economy Participation GDI

Tigray 0.75 0.56 0.60 0.27 0.55

Afara 0.25 0.00 0.87 0.07 0.30

Amahara 0.75 0.33 0.40 0.20 0.42

Oromiya 0.50 0.00 0.47 0.20 0.29

Somali 0.08 0.00 0.53 0.13 0.19

Benshangul 0.50 0.11 0.60 0.20 0.35

SNNP 0.67 0.22 0.53 0.20 0.41

Gambella 0.17 0.11 0.67 0.07 0.26

Harari 0.42 0.33 0.47 0.27 0.37

Addis Ababa 0.75 1.00 0.67 0.40 0.71

Dire Dawa 0.50 0.56 0.47 0.20 0.43

National 0.47 0.11 0.47 0.14 0.30

Source: Computation by authors (2021)

1 Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021

1. Rights
Education and Health

Gross Enrolment rate- Primary Education

The National Gender Parity Index for primary cycle gross
enrolment is 0.89 meaning that the country has about 11
points to fill the gap.

High School
Gross Enrolment Rate- Secondary
Education
The national gender parity index for secondary cycle gross
enrolment is 0.85 meaning that the country has about 0.15 points
to fill the gap.

Enrolment undergraduate Program

Percentage of females in undergraduate and postgraduate
program is very low.
University

36 % in undergraduate and
33 % in graduate program

Tertiary Education Program

34.7% 65.5%

Gender parity 53.0%

Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021 2

 Dropout Rate- Primary Education

For Grade 1-8 13.0 % 14.0 %

Gender Parity (F/M) 1.08

Literacy Rate
Gender disparity in illiteracy between adult men and women

57.1 % 32.2 %

Gender parity (F/M) 0.56

In general, less women are able to read and write than men and the gap between men and
women stands at 0.56. This means there are very high levels of disparity and 44 % gap
needs to be filled.

Standardized Gender Parity index in Education by Region

AGE: 14-49 years

Gross Enrolment With no education(0)

Gross Enrolment Grade 1-8 (2)
Gross Enrolment Grade 9-12 (2)
Gross Enrolment Tertiary (0)
Droupout Grade 1-8 (3)

Standardized disparity index 0.47

3 Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021

Health
Percentage of married women using
a modern contraceptive method (2016) 35.3%

Percentage adjusted as per the national plan 64.2%

At a national level about35 percent (2016) of married women are believed to use
contraceptives but 65 percent are not still benefiting from this important family planning
tool.

Percentage of Married women age 15-49 who received

Antenatal Care(2016)

62.4%

Percentage adjusted as per the national plan

70.0%

Percent distribution of live births in the 5 years

before the survey delivered in a health facility (2016)
26.2%

Standardized gender parity index in health

0 Modern Contraceptive Method use High

1 Antenatal Care Medium High

0 Institutional Delivery High

0.11 Standardized Health Measure High

Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021 4

 Percentage distribution of
women age 15-49 who are
circumcised

Data suggests gradual decrease in the

percentage of women who are circumcised
from almost 80 percent in the years 2000 to
65 percent in 2016. 79.9% 74.3% 65.2%

2000 2005 2016

Attitude toward wife beating

(GBV)
Percentage of respondents who agree that
with at least one specified reason (37) a
husband is justified in hitting or beating his
wife (2016)

63.0 27.7

Percentage of women aged 15-49 who have experienced sexual violence in the 12 months
preceding the survey and ever in 2016
6.5
Experienced in their life (ever) 10.1
Overall, 10 % of interviewed women have said they have ever experienced sexual violence and
6.5% have experienced in the past year nationally.

5 Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021

2.Resources:
Gender and Economic Opportunities
Percentage of Employed Population

75.9 % 84.4 %

Gender parity 0.76(Medium high)

Land and housing Ownership
House ownership

51.9 % 64.2 %

Female headed Male headed

Gender parity 0.81(Medium low)

At national level 64.2% male-headed households and 51.9% female-headed households are
reported to own dwelling or housing.

Land ownership

47.5 % 60.0 %

Gender parity 0.79 (Medium high)

In terms of land ownership by gender of the household head, 60 % male headed households
and slightly less, female-headed household (47.5%) reported to own land.

Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021 6

Access to microfinance by gender of the household head

2.4% 4.3%

Gender parity 0.56 (high parity)

Nationally 56 % gap has been closed so far. To date, there is still 44% average gap that
remains to be closed in access to microfinance in the country

Time use Female Male Disparity Index(M/F)

SNA 269 396 0.68
Non-SNA 321 224 0.70
Learning 383 386 0.99
Other non productive 892 945 0.94
activities

3.Representation:
Power and Decision Making

Percentage of civil servants

36.5% 65.5%

Female Male
Gender parity 0.57(high)
Nationally, there is still 43 % average gap that remains to be closed to achieve gender parity
in civil service.

7 Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021

 48.5% 51.5%

Gender parity 0.95

Nationally, there is an only 5% average gap remains to be closed to achieve parity in election
participation

Number of police staff

The police force data indicates that female representation in the police force is very low.
At national level only 17% gap has been closed so far and there is still 83% average gap that
remains to be closed to achieve parity in police service.

120,621 19,972
Male Female

Gender parity 0.17

Percentage of Member of the House of Representatives

38.5% 61.5%

Female Male

Gender parity 0.63

On average, women make 38.5% in the parliament. That means, during the last election
38.5 % gap has been closed so far and there is still 61.5% average gap that remains to
be closed to achieve parity in house of representatives.

Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021 8

Number of Judges Number of persecutors

1020 5466 1226 5856

Female Male Female Male
Gender parity 0.19 Gender parity 0.34

At national level only 34% gap has been closed so far and there is still 66% average gap that
remains to be closed to achieve parity in persecutor composition
Percentage of cabinet at federal level

9 13

Gender parity 0.69

While in October 2018, Ethiopia had a gender-balanced cabinet comprising of 20 members,
currently that number has changed and out of the 22 cabinet positions

Scores on Standardized gender parity index

0 3 0 0
High Low High High

Civil Servants Voters Police HoR

0 0 0 0.14
High High High High

Judges Cabinet Standardized

Attorney
Gender Parity

9 Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021

 Ethiopian Gender Development Index

This result indicates that while Ethiopia has achieved better results in some sub-dimensions,
such as education and economic participation (47%), the country is still behind to achieve gander
parity. Across all the sub-indexes, the largest gender disparity is reflected in health (11%) followed
by Political participation scores (14%).

Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021 10

5.2 Recommendations
Based on preceding discussion, conclusions, CEDAW (2019) concluding observations and Beijing +25
reviews, the following recommendations are targeted at local and international CSO in Ethiopia as well
as aimed at the policy makers for action.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTIONS: CSO AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

The Civil society organizations could build on their community level experience and work with grassroots
organizations to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda by taking the following
actions.

• Engage in targeted awareness campaigns to effect changes in attitudes and encourage women and
girls to claim their legal rights.
• Undertake education awareness programs that target parents and community leaders in order to
tackle the biased cultural and social norms that impede the educational achievement of girls;
• Carry out awareness-raising campaigns that target the general public, the judiciary, law enforcement
institutions and traditional and customary institutions on the legislation, policies and programs
to promote women’s access to economic opportunities and resources. Gender equality awareness
rising needs to be given not only to the public but also targeted at individuals at leadership position.
• Undertake education awareness programs targeting politicians, the media, leaders of traditional
governance institutions and the general public to highlight the importance of women’s full and
equal participation in political and public life, in particular in leadership positions at all levels.
• Advocate so that gender equality remains political agenda
• Advocate and generate continuous public support to hold governments accountable for the
implementation of international commitment.
• Generate evidence. Collection of sex-disaggregated data is essential to assess the status of gender
equality and to engage in evidence-based advocacy. Strengthen the collection and management of
data and statistics disaggregated by sex, age, geographical location, socioeconomic status and other
relevant factors on participation and progression
• Advocate for women’s quotas and affirmative action to promote the participation of women in
political and public life. Advocate for legislative-mandated quotas for proportion of women in the
national parliament and in local governance structures.
• Support women’s entrepreneurship through creation of greater access to skills, and financial and
business support services.
• Help reduce the burden of unpaid work through better infrastructure, in particular energy, water,
sanitation and transportation, the provision of affordable care services.
• The CSOs should seek to increase the access of women to loans and other forms of finance,
including by providing them with soft loans and improving their business and financial knowledge,
and promote their access to income-generating activities.
• Support women to gain access to justice by increasing their awareness of their right to legal aid;
• Provide appropriate training on women’s rights and gender equality, specifically adapted to the
needs of Islamic and customary courts.
• Intensify collaborative efforts with the media to inclusively and accessibly raise public awareness of
gender stereotypes that persist at all levels of society, with a view to their elimination. formal sector
and ensure that women employed in the informal sector are effectively covered by social and labour
protection;
• Provide members of the judiciary, prosecutors, police officers and other law enforcement officials
with adequate training on women’s rights and on gender-sensitive investigation and interrogation
procedures in cases of gender-based violence against women;

9 Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021

 • Collect data on gender-based violence against women, including on the number of cases of
violence against women and complaints lodged, the sanctions imposed on perpetrators, the
number of women who are victims of violence who have been provided with legal assistance
and relevant support services, and the number of women who are victims of violence who have
received compensation.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTIONS: THE ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT

In general the government needs to strengthen gender-mainstreaming agenda and this should be one
of the standards against which the performance of decision-makers is assessed. Accountability can be
promoted through setting gender targets and its evaluation. In addition, there is a need to establish a
special fund to empower women in small and medium-sized enterprises. Similarly, allocate adequate
organizational, human, technical and financial resources to promote gender equality in all sectors
in particular with regard to women in rural and remote communities of high importance. Specific
domain related recommendations targeted at the sate are presented as follows.

Rights - Education

• Gender disparity in literacy rare is high. Strengthen adult literacy programs, especially in rural
areas.
• Ensure that primary education is compulsory for and inclusive of all children and reduce the
indirect costs of schooling, with a view to eliminating them;
• Intensify efforts to improve enrolment, retention and completion rates for women and girls at all
levels of education;
• Ensure that every school has adequate and accessible sanitation facilities for girls to prevent
them from missing or dropping out of school because of menstrual management challenges;
• Ensure a safe school environment for girls and strengthen effective reporting and accountability
mechanisms for investigating and prosecuting cases of sexual abuse and harassment of girls in
schools;

Resources - Economic Participation and Opportunity

• Evidence shows access to microfinance is low. Expand the access of rural women to microfinance
and microcredit at low interest rates to enable them engage in income-generating activities and
start their own businesses.
• Promote women’s ownership of land and enhancing the security of their land tenure, and ensure
that rural women are involved in the development and implementation of agricultural policies;
Ensure that women not only receive land certificates but actually drive economic benefits from
their land resources. ;
• Put mechanisms in place to reduce the burden of unpaid work through better infrastructure, in
particular energy, water, sanitation and transportation, the provision of affordable care services.
• Data suggests women are less represented in formal employment. Increase women’s access to
decent work, promote their transition to the formal sector and ensure that women employed in
the informal sector are effectively covered by social and labour protection;
• Women’s entrepreneurship: Undertake new measures and strengthen current ones to promote
women’s entrepreneurship and ensure that they have greater access to skills, and financial and
business support services.
• Ensure that women domestic workers are guaranteed the same level of protection and benefits
as other workers, and strengthen efforts to protect them from abusive and exploitative working
conditions;

Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021 10

Representation – Power and Decision Making

• Women’s participation in politics and decision is the lowest. There is a need to consider introducing
new quotas and other affirmative action measures to promote women’s participation in political and
public life at all levels, in particular in the civil service, managerial positions and the judicial service;
• Support women’s political leadership by investing in women’s education and economic assets, and
political internships.
• Take specific measures to build the capacity of women candidates and provide incentives to
encourage political parties to nominate equal numbers of women and men to stand for election;
• Conduct awareness-raising campaigns for politicians, community and religious leaders, the media
and the general public on the importance of the participation of women in political life and decision-
making positions.

Rights- Health

• It is difficult to locate gender data in health. There is a need that MOH strengths gender dimension
in its HMIS initiatives.
• Provide for people to have access to comprehensive information regarding sexual and reproductive
health and rights and affordable, modern methods of contraception to all women and girls to reduce
unwanted and teenage pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
• Improve the coverage of and access to health services at a lower cost throughout its territory by
allocating sufficient budgetary resources to the establishment of hospitals, in particular in rural and
remote areas,
• Increase and improve the provision of sexual and reproductive health information and services to
women and girls, including in rural areas, on the basis of the principles of inclusion and accessibility;

GBV and HTPs

• Adopt the national free legal aid strategy developed in 2015 with the provision of procedural and
age-appropriate accommodations ;1
• Ensure that appropriate budget allocations are made for the provision of legal aid to women and
girls;
• Establish fully funded and capacitated Ministry or a Commission whose mandate is Gender Equality
in order to meet international targets.
• Gender machineries need to introduce and move away from women in development approach to
gender in development.
• Allocate adequate organizational, human, technical and financial resources to the institutions that
promote gender equality to enable it to carry out its mandate to coordinate, monitor and assess the
impact of the implementation of public policies and national action plans for the advancement of
women.
• Strengthen mainstreaming gender perspectives in all laws and policies, and ensure its coverage of
the entire territory;
• Adopt a comprehensive and inclusive law on gender-based violence, addressing all forms of violence
against women, including acid attacks, domestic violence, rape, marital rape, gang rape and other
forms of sexual violence;
• Integrate age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights into school
curricula, including comprehensive sex education for adolescent girls and boys.

1 CEDAW concluding remarks recommendation (2019) underlines on legal aid issues and the need

11 Ethiopian Gender Development Index 2021

Produced by the Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations(NEWA)