APEC Measures Women’s Participation in Regional Economy

A dashboard of indicators providing a snapshot of the status of women in APEC has been developed by the APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (APEC PPWE) as a tool to measure the progress of women’s participation in economic-related activities in the Asia Pacific region.
Following consultations with data experts and economy representatives, the Economy Dashboard 2015 includes indicators classified into five priority areas: a) access to capital and assets, b) access to markets, c) skills, capacity-building, and health, d) leadership, voice, and agency, and e) innovation and technology. It is an important tool that helps prioritize gender mainstreaming efforts, as well as monitor progress of ongoing initiatives.
According to the Dashboard, despite efforts to promote the use of financial services among women, more can be done to promote women’s financial literacy.
The Dashboard revealed progress in women’s status as accessibility to training and educational programs, as well the reduction in maternal mortality rates and increasing live births. It also shows that many APEC economies have legislation in place to address cases of domestic violence, but the legal framework is inadequate or faces implementation problems in more than half of APEC economies.
In addition, the participation of women in leadership positions in politics and top management positions in the private sector remains low. Legal issues, such as restrictions in terms of maternity leave, pregnancy and remunerations are impediments for women’s career advancement as they could deter many women from continuing their career paths and reaching influential positions.
The Dashboard also indicates that women face difficult conditions, even before entering the labor market, as several APEC economies do not protect them by law from gender discrimination in the hiring process.
The Dashboard also saw less participation of women in science, technology and engineering in most APEC economies and that women do not have incentives to pursue a career path in research.
Press-release at the official APEC web-site