Gender Empowerment Measures (GEM)
🔹 Definition: Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) is an index used by UNDP to measure gender inequality in terms of opportunities available to women in political, economic, and decision-making spheres.
🔸 Key Indicators of GEM:
- Political Participation – % of parliamentary seats held by women.
- Economic Participation – % of women in managerial, professional, and technical jobs.
- Power over Economic Resources – Income earned by women compared to men.
🔍 Note:
- GEM is different from GDI (Gender-related Development Index) which focuses on development.
- GEM focuses on empowerment and participation in decision-making.
- Dimensions and Methodologies for Empowerment
🔹 A. Dimensions of Empowerment
(As used in Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index – WEAI)
Dimension | Example Indicator |
Production | Decision-making over agricultural production |
Resources | Ownership and control over land, equipment |
Income | Control over use of income |
Leadership | Participation in groups and community decisions |
Time | Allocation of time to productive & domestic work |
These dimensions help quantify women’s empowerment in agriculture and rural development.
🔹 B. Methodologies for Measuring Empowerment
Methodology/Tool | Description |
WEAI (Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index) | Developed by IFPRI, USAID and OPHI. Measures 5 domains of empowerment (as listed above) + gender parity index. |
GEM (Gender Empowerment Measure) | UNDP index based on political and economic participation. |
GDI (Gender-related Development Index) | Adjusts the Human Development Index (HDI) for gender inequalities. |
Gender Parity Index (GPI) | Ratio of female-to-male values in education, income, etc. |
Gender Inequality Index (GII) | Measures inequality in reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market. |
Longwe’s Framework | Measures 5 levels: Welfare, Access, Conscientization, Participation, Control. |
Moser Framework | Differentiates Practical and Strategic Gender Needs. |
Gender Analysis Matrix | Community-based, participatory gender impact analysis. |
- Gender Impact Assessment
🔹 Definition: A tool to evaluate policies, programs, or projects to determine their differential impacts on men and women and ensure that interventions promote gender equality.
- Gender Budgeting
🔹 Definition: Gender budgeting is not a separate budget for women, but the analysis of government budgets to assess their impact on women and men and to translate gender equality commitments into budgetary allocations.
(📌 NET 2020 Question)
🛠️ Steps in Gender Budgeting:
- Gender Analysis of Policies.
- Identifying Gender Gaps in Resource Allocation.
- Re-prioritizing expenditure to ensure equity.
- Gender-disaggregated outcome tracking.
- Monitoring and evaluation of impact.
Gender Budgeting in India
- Started in 2005-06 in the Union Budget.
- Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is the nodal agency.
- Around 30+ ministries/departments now prepare Gender Budget Statements.
- Gender Audit is conducted after the implementation.
📝 Summary Table for Quick Revision
Concept | Key Focus | Tool/Indicator |
Gender Empowerment | Participation in politics, economy | GEM, WEAI |
Empowerment Dimensions | Production, resources, income, leadership | WEAI, Longwe Framework |
Gender Impact Assessment | Impact of projects on men vs women | Gender Analysis, PRA |
Gender Budgeting | Equity in budget allocation | Gender Budget Statement |
