Introducing the new Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS)

The new Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS) is a streamlined tool for measuring women’s empowerment, intended for use in large-scale, multitopic surveys conducted by national statistical systems. WEMNS is designed to measure empowerment in households with all types of livelihoods, in both urban and rural areas, complementing the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), which focuses on agricultural households. WEMNS was developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Emory University, Oxford University, and the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study Unit in collaboration with country partners and the 50×2030 Initiative, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development.

This event will present the WEMNS metric, review the development of the tool, and discuss its use to advance women’s empowerment. A panel of stakeholders from government and national statistical offices and from multilateral organizations will discuss the potential of WEMNS for promoting and monitoring women’s empowerment as part of national statistical surveys.

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Welcome Remarks

• Johan Swinnen, Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR; Director General, IFPRI

WEMNS: The Next Stage of Developing Empowerment Metrics

• Agnes Quisumbing, Senior Research Fellow, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI
• Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow, Natural Resources and Resilience Unit, IFPRI

Intro to WEMNS

• Jessica Heckert, Research Fellow, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI
• Greg Seymour, Research Fellow, Natural Resources and Resilience Unit, IFPRI

Maximizing the Potential of WEMNS: Panel Discussion

• Shelton Kanyanda, National Statistical Office of Malawi
• Regina Valiente, Sectorialista recursos naturales, tierra y vivienda, Secretaría Presidencial de la Mujer (SEPREM)
• Heather Moylan, Senior Economist, Development Data Group, Development Economics, World Bank
• Chiara Brunelli, Statistician, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Closing Remarks

• Chiara Kovarik, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
• Farzana Ramzan, Senior Gender Advisor, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (invited)

Moderator

• Hazel Malapit, Senior Research Coordinator, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI