More Information: View the presentation on the Development Centre's special site on gender Visit the Wikigender site Access OECD publications on SourceOECD (for subscribers)
For International Women's Day 2009 Culture Counts: A new set of indicators to measure gender equality Presentation Denis Dreschler Economist, OECD Development Centre Discussant Katherine Blakeslee Director, USAID Office of Women in Development

Event Description:

Gender inequality has multiple facets, including both overt discrimination (such as sex-discriminatory laws) and more hidden instances of discrimination. With the Gender, Institutions and Development (GID) Database, the OECD proposes a set of innovative indicators to measure gender equality in social institutions such as norms and traditions. Based on these indicators, the OECD will also present a new composite index of gender equality that will complement existing indices such as the Gender Development Index and the Gender Empowerment Measure. GID information on social institutions is based on an in-depth analysis of each country's normative framework.

Through Wikigender, an innovative Internet platform to share and exchange information on gender equality, the OECD has also engaged in a bottom-up dialogue on the importance of social institutions for women's social and economic empowerment. The GID Database and Wikigender are thus closely interlinked. Both initiatives will be presented during this panel discussion, which will also offer room to elaborate how issues of "care" could be better implemented in international databases.

Biographies:

Denis Drechsler co-ordinates outreach activities of the OECD Development Centre, in particular concerning work on gender equality, migration and human security. He is the author of several articles and papers studying the impact of institutions on development and co-initiator of Wikigender. Prior to joining the Development Centre, Denis was a member of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Group of the World Bank and a visiting fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Other employments include assistantships at the German Parliament and the European Institute for International Economic Relations. Denis completed his graduate studies in political science and economics at Potsdam University, the Institute d'Etudes Politiques de Grenoble and the University of Wisconsin.