Djibouti’s national development plan, “Djibouti Vision 2035: Inclusion, Connectivity, Institutions", sets ambitious goals for accelerating women’s empowerment by narrowing gender gaps in education, health, economic opportunities, and decision-making. To measure progress towards these objectives, gender data are urgently needed.
To improve the availability of gender statistics, Djibouti Institute of Statistics (INSTAD) recently launched the Women and Men in Djibouti: Gender Factbook 2024. The country’s first gender factbook documents inequalities between women and men in monetary poverty, health, education, employment, decision-making, and many other areas. It was produced through the World Bank’s statistical capacity building project, with technical assistance of the Strengthening Gender Statistics (SGS) project, which works to narrow gender data gaps for 12 partner countries1 by providing technical assistance to National Statistical Offices on their data production systems.
Here are three key takeaways from the Women and Men in Djibouti: Gender Factbook 2024.
1. Despite progress in closing gender gaps in schooling over the past decade, women continue facing disadvantages in access to education: 2 out of 10 school-age girls are not enrolled “because they are girls”, according to data from the Fourth Djiboutian Household Survey for Social Indicators, 2017, in French, the Enquête Djiboutienne Auprès des Ménages, EDAM-4. The adult literacy rate is 44% among women and 63% among men. In addition, more than 70% of women aged 25 and over have not had formal education, that compares to 50% of men who are in the same situation. A significant proportion of youth aged 15 to 24 is Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET), but the share is larger among young women than among men (53% vs. 47%). This limited access women have to formal education might prevent them from economic opportunities later in life and realizing their full potential.
2. Women are less likely than men to join the labor force and hold better-quality jobs. According to EDAM-4 data, fewer than 2 out of 10 women of working age are participating in the labor force, which represents 18%, compared to 47% among men. The gender gap in labor force participation varies according to the place of residence, as well as educational and marital status. The gap is more pronounced in urban areas and among individuals with low levels of education.
Additionally, only 17% of married women are part of Djibouti’s labor force, which compares to 65% of married men. Related to the latter point: one in four women cite domestic tasks and responsibilities as the main barrier to joining the labor force. When employed, Djiboutian women are more likely than men to hold vulnerable jobs (45% vs. 19%, respectively), non-agricultural informal jobs (58% vs. 34%), and to work part-time (63% vs. 47%). In contrast, working women are less likely than men to be employers (14% vs. 23%) and only 12% occupy managerial roles.
3. While multiple forms of gender-based violence remain a challenge in Djibouti, there has been notable progress in reducing their prevalence in recent decades. The prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation remains high, although its practice has seen a remarkable decline of nearly 30 percentage points, dropping from 98% in 2000 to 71% in 2018. According to the Djibouti National Survey on Female Genital Mutilation and Gender-Based Violence, 2019, marriages of girls aged 10 to 14 represent a quarter of all early marriages, and a third in rural areas.
Moving forward
The Women and Men in Djibouti: Gender Factbook 2024 is a significant step towards evidence-based policymaking, yet more is needed to close gender gaps in the country. Two critical steps are required now:
Close persisting gender data gaps. With the 2024 gender factbook, the number of properly calculated indicators from the United Nations Statistics Division’s (UNSD) Minimum Set of Gender Indicators increased from 15 to 30, out of 48. Yet, the country still faces many challenges related to gender data, as many key indicators are not collected at all, and those that are available are outdated. The upcoming EDAM-5 household survey is an opportunity to improve the survey questionnaire to collect data for the missing indicators and update the existing ones. The SGS project and INSTAD are already collaborating in this effort.
Translate the new evidence into policies. Data are the first step towards crafting relevant policies, but concrete actions are also needed. This includes ensuring that policymakers actively use the data to inform decisions, allocate resources and implement targeted interventions. The Djibouti Gender Observatory, which was involved in the production of the factbook, is well placed to play a critical role in this ‘translation’ process, jointly with the civil society and the donor community, as well as relevant ministries. The SGS project remains committed to turning gender data into a powerful tool for policy by strengthening the dialogue between data producers and decision-makers.
1 SGS partner countries include Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ghana, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Tanzania.
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