Providing women with the same rights and opportunities as men in the private and public spheres is not just a matter of human rights: it is an economic opportunity that no Eurasian country can afford to miss. As this report points out, the 2017 cost to the regional economy of gender-based discrimination in laws, social norms and practices is estimated at USD 39 billion (7.5% of the region’s income). The social impact of gender inequality affects the quality of life of millions of women in every sphere, and also has consequences for their families and communities.

Since its launch in 2009, the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) has been measuring and addressing gender-based discrimination by looking at the invisible part of the iceberg and providing a clearer vision of how social institutions shape women’s lives. The SIGI looks at the gaps that legislation, social norms and practices create between women and men in terms of rights and opportunities. This innovative tool assesses social institutions holistically by looking at the de jure and the de facto situations. Where customary laws and social norms still largely determine communities’ and individuals’ behaviour, standard policies to promote gender equality are insufficient to precipitate social transformation. The SIGI 2019 has also been adapted to meet the needs of the development community as it works towards Agenda 2030. The SIGI is an official data source for SDG indicator 5.1.1. on legal frameworks and for almost all targets included in SDG 5, providing a comprehensive vision of national progress on gender equality.

This report provides an overview of the main outcomes of the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) 2019 in 12 Eurasian countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The report considers gender equality in relation to women and the family, women’s physical integrity, women’s access to productive and financial resources, and women’s civic rights. Building on this assessment, the report provides a set of good practices and policy recommendations to enhance stakeholders’ efforts to deliver on gender-equality commitments and to accelerate the pace of change.

Each thematic chapter of this report provides detailed policy recommendations on the 16 SIGI indicators (providing a comprehensive legal framework to address violence against women, for example). This section lists cross-cutting policy recommendations.

Eurasian countries are committed to promoting gender equality and to the empowerment of women, notably through the ratification of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which most of the 12 countries in the region have ratified. Moreover, many countries in Eurasia have a long history of including gender equality in their national strategies, notably through the Soviet legacy. However, attention to discriminatory legal and social institutions has been limited. As this report demonstrates, putting the reform of discriminatory laws, social norms and practices at the core of gender strategies in the Eurasia region will open new opportunities for the achievement of Agenda 2030.

This chapter presents an overview of regional trends and results from the 2019 Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) and its four dimensions: discrimination in the family, physical integrity, access to productive and financial resources, and civil liberties. It outlines the main areas of progress and challenges regarding formal and informal laws, social norms and practices related to gender equality in Eurasia. It emphasises sub-regional disparities and the heterogeneity of progress.

This chapter demonstrates how gender-based discrimination in social institutions impedes sustainable and inclusive development. It first describes to what extent legal barriers and discriminatory social norms and practices reduce economic growth. It then emphasises how such discrimination compromises women’s empowerment throughout their lives, notably by hindering their school-to-work transition, leading to a high proportion of young women not in education, employment or training, and by increasing the vulnerability of elderly women to poverty, as evidenced by gender pension gaps.

This chapter presents an overview of discrimination affecting women in the family. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that limit women’s decision-making power and undervalue their status in the household across 12 Eurasian countries, covering areas such as child marriage, household responsibilities, parental authority, divorce and inheritance. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies to tackle gender inequality in the family sphere.

This chapter presents an overview of discrimination against women’s physical integrity in Eurasia. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that increase women’s vulnerability to a range of forms of violence and that limit women’s control over their bodies. It covers areas such as violence against women, female genital mutilation, missing women and reproductive autonomy. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies in order to protect women’s physical integrity.

This chapter presents an overview of women’s restricted access to productive and financial resources. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that restrict women’s access to and control over critical productive and economic resources and assets across 12 Eurasian countries, covering areas such as secure access to land, secure access to non-land assets, secure access to formal financial services and workplace rights. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies in order to improve women’s economic empowerment.

This chapter presents an overview of discrimination against women’s civil liberties in Eurasia. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that obstruct women’s access to, participation and voice in the public and social spheres across 12 countries, covering areas such as citizenship rights, political voice, freedom of movement and access to justice. The chapter seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies in order to strengthen women’s political participation and civil liberties.