Gender equality indices in the Western Balkans and Turkey

The Gender Equality Index is an important policy-making tool that measures how far (or close) the EU and its Member States are from achieving gender equality.

The Gender Equality Index also provides results for each of the six core domains: money, knowledge, time, power and health. There are two additional domains: intersecting inequalities and violence.

As a comparable measurement tool, the Gender Equality Index is important for reflecting gender (in)equalities among the Western Balkans and Turkey and monitoring progress of gender equality in different areas of society. It also allows for regional comparison among Member States and EU candidate countries and potential candidates. Our aim is to develop full of partial Indices for up to six beneficiaries by the end of this project.

The development of Gender Equality Indices started in the Western Balkans and Turkey in 2015 and it continues to be the  flagship initiative of the project.

So far, four EU candidate countries and potential candidates have calculated their Gender Equality Index. Their scores are slightly lower than the EU-27 average, which currently has an overall score of 67.4 (2020).

Click on the image below to see the Gender Equality Index scores of the EU Member States, candidate countries and potential candidates.

Gender Equality Index scores in the IPA region

Serbia (2016 and 2018)

Serbia scored 52.4 in 2016 and 55. 8 points in 2018. The biggest progress was done in the domain of power, for both edition of Indices– 52.6, specifically in political power for members of Parliament and members of the Government. The lowest scores were in the domains of money and in the domain of time.

Gender Equality Index for the Republic of Serbia (2018)

Gender Equality Index: Measuring gender equality in Serbia (2016)

North Macedonia (2019)

North Macedonia scored 62 points in 2019. The highest score was achieved in the domain of power. More work needs to be done in domains of time 55.8 and money 62.1. These scores are the lowest when compared with the EU average for these domains.

Gender Equality Index for North Macedonia (2019)

Albania (2019)

Albania scored 60.4 points in 2019. The highest score was in the domain of health, followed by the domain of work, power and money. The lowest scores were in the domains of knowledge and time. Albania’s score in the domain of power (60.9) is higher than the EU average, which scores 47.6.

Gender Equality Index for the Republic of Albania (2019)

Montenegro (2019)

Montenegro scored 55 points in 2019. The highest score is in domain of health, followed by the domain of money, even though this domain has the biggest gap with the EU. The lowest score is in the domains of power (35.1) and time (52.7).

Gender Equality Index Montenegro 2019

Gender-based violence

EIGE supports EU candidate countries and potential candidates in the development of first composite indicators for measuring violence against women in IPA beneficiaries.

This activity aims to contribute towards better development of gender statistics and  towards establishing harmonised administrative data on gender-based violence.

The domain of violence of the Gender Equality Index provides a set of composite indicators that can assist beneficiaries in better monitoring, evaluating and responding to this phenomenon. The domain of violence considers the prevalence, severity and disclosure of violence against women, and as such is an invaluable tool for national, local and international gender equality stakeholders in the region as well as and in the EU.

Data for the development of the first composite indicators for measuring violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey are collected and made available by the OSCE HQ Office in Vienna, through their “Survey on the Well-being and Security of Women in South East Europe and Eastern Europe”. This survey replicates methodology of the Fundamental Rights Agency study on violence against women. EIGE will use the data gained from this survey to develop first composite indicators for measuring violence against women for those countries who have developed their National Gender Equality Indices.

EIGE will continue to actively invite participants from the region of the Western Balkans and Turkey to gender-based violence events to gain knowledge in the area of gender based violence and administrative data collection.