#ms10: Women in Decision-Making

WHH is committed to advancing women’s opportunities as agents of change through meaningful participation in politics and civil society: When women are discriminated against in the political arena, when their experiences, talents, and perspectives are shut out of decisions, then prospects for inclusive socio-economic development are curtailed. Furthermore, women’s political participation has been correlated with positive nutritional outcomes. WHH therefore considers empowering women to be a crucial requirement for lasting positive change. The Women in decision-making indicator is useful to assess the status of women’s decision-making power and the success of related interventions.

The #ms Women in decision-making indicator assesses the extent to which women are able to influence decisions on a community level.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample (WHH sampling guidelines) of the adult women targeted in your project.

Questions should be addressed to adult women only. Please check definition of “adult woman” in your country/ cultural context and use this definition for data collection.

The indicator requires a baseline and comparison value(s) to yield meaningful information on project outcomes. At minimum, data should be collected as part of both a baseline and an endline survey.  A mid-term survey is optional.

• More information: #ms10 Women in Decision-making Handbook (EN)

Disaggregate the data by age groups and other factors depending on the local context.

This is a 'Measuring Success' (#ms) indicator. It is obligatory for all WHH projects to integrate all #ms indicators that align with the project context, with a minimum requirement of utilizing at least one indicator (and implementing one #ms qualitative tool).

2) Extensive survey skills are required for this indicator. Prior to data collection, enumerators should be trained in basic data collection skills. This training should also address the following issues:

• Enumerators should be aware of possible local governance structures and sensitive to gender-related barriers to women’s political participation.
• Reasons for non-participation in decision-making may be a sensitive topic. Enumerators must be prepared for this and ensure confidentiality.
• Enumerator teams should consist of or at least include female members.