Gender in niGeria report 2012 - Economic Commission for Africa

Gender in Nigeria Report 2012: Improving the Lives of Girls and Women in Nigeria 75
APPENDIX 1
Terms of reference of the
literature research
This analysis of literature and review of evidence is being undertaken as part of a wider
rapid assessment of gender equality and empowerment of adolescent girls and women
in Nigeria. The aim is to establish the state of knowledge in this area, and locate the
evidence base (data) to support key and emerging points of consensus on the problems
and experiences of intervention on this issue in Nigeria. A major objective of this paper
is also to identify areas where timely intervention can make a difference.
The specific terms of reference asked the researchers to:
• Identify key trends in inequality i.e. changes in the Gini coefficient to assess: whether
economic inequality is increasing
• Clearly synthesise best available quantitative evidence on the status of girls and
women in Nigeria
• Highlight the MDGs where progress is particularly slow such as maternal mortality.
• Set out the proportions of girls and women in different economic quintiles and
regions who are able to deliver in a health facility.
• Identify any evidence of the determinants of age of first pregnancy.
• Identify the key determinants of age of marriage.
• Highlight and compare areas where girls and women are falling behind their male
counterparts such as school enrolment and drop out rates for boys and girls or
access to employment, banking opportunities and decision-making bodies for men
and women.
• Demonstrate the relationship between maternal education and child survival in
Nigeria (independent of maternal economic status).
• Identify gaps in information, such as the private education sector.
• Identify main geographic, social and economic disparities amongst girls and women.
• Identify other key differences such as those between married and unmarried girls of
the same age.
The literature review was also asked to cover relevant academic, ethnographic literature
and qualitative studies, such as those produced by the Population Council, that explain
and describe the current situation of women and girls.
The researchers were asked to:
• Seek out ethnographic evidence of the underlying reasons and causes of
disadvantage or exclusion faced by specific groups of girls and women.
• Review studies that identify traditional or emerging institutions or spaces that provide
women with opportunities for empowerment.
• Review studies and evaluations that provide evidence of interventions that have
produced positive replicable results.
• Review any studies on the obstacles girls and women face in accessing resources
and services in Nigeria.