A Users' Guide to Measuring Local Governance

Gender-sensitivity in governance is intended to
increase women’s participation in politics – not
only in formal political structures but also in civic
engagement. It is also meant to strengthen gender
awareness and capacities among both male and
female politicians and civil servants; deliver
services addressing the specific needs and
interests of women and men in the community
and create awareness of women’s rights. Gender
specific measures are therefore an important part
of governance assessments including local
assessments.
The most common gender sensitive measures in
governance assessments are ones based on the
number of women in a specific office (e.g. The
Local Democracy Assessment Guide by IDEA on
page 70 proposes to measure the percentage
of women candidates in elections and gender
representation in voter turnout. Similarly, the
MIDAMOS initiative in Paraguay on page 86
proposes an indicator measuring whether there is
“at least 30% of women amongst municipal
officers.”). An important resource for these kinds of
indicators is the United Cities and Local
Governance (UCLG) programme’s database on
women in local decision-making, which provides
an overview of the percentages of female elected
representatives at global, regional and national
levels in 54 countries. 18
However it is arguable whether female politicians
and civil servants do automatically give priority to
gender issues and so increasingly more attention is
being given to the role of organizations that
facilitate women’s participation and stimulate the
defense of gender interests. This approach
emphasizes an important role for civil society in
promoting gender-sensitive local development
and governance and highlights the need to look
deeper for operational measures beyond simply
numbers of female representatives in public
institutions. Gender analysis of the budget process
at the local level is also an area around which gender
specific measures in a governance assessment
might focus. Box 9 provides some examples of
gender sensitive indicators in assessments.
1.10 What kinds of data should be used?
The choice of an assessment methodology is
influenced by the availability of data. Even the best
methodology is meaningless if the data required
for the indicators is not available – or although
available but not in the form required by the
methodology (e.g. when it cannot be properly
disaggregated).
There are many kinds of governance data
including:
• Fact-based evidence: policy and legal
documents (including legally defined
competences, institutional framework and
performance standards); organizational set-up
and management systems (including consultative
mechanisms and decision-making);
• Statistical data and various indexes; expenditure
tracking and budgetary information; previous
organizational audit report; etc.
Box 8.
Developing poverty profiles in Colombo
In Colombo, Sri Lanka, citizen report cards on poverty and governance were developed by the Sevanatha Urban
Resource Centre and the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) that provided the basis for the poverty reduction strategy
of the city. Sevanatha successfully used a report card method to conduct a citizen survey based on carefully defined
determinants of poverty. The report card highlights the poverty situation of low-income settlements in Colombo and
was found to be an effective method to show the problems as well as the positive experiences of people - enabling the
measurement of levels of community satisfaction with services provided by the Municipality. Furthermore, the survey
has created a useful database for the Colombo Municipality, and also influenced CMC staff to work in partnership with
civil society organizations and be responsive to needs identified through a participatory process.
18
www.cities-localgovernments.org/uclg/index.asp?pag=wldmstatistics.asp&type=&L=EN&pon=1.
16 UNDP Oslo Governance Centre