2002 Women of Our World

Sources and Definitions

Main Sources

Demography: PRB, 2001 World Population Data Sheet; United Nations (UN) Population Division, World Population Prospects: the 2000 Revision; UN, The World�s Women 2000; Council of Europe, Recent Demographic Developments in Europe 2000; UN, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Wistat: Women�s Indicators and Statistics Database, Version 4 CD-ROM.

Women�s Reproductive Health: PRB, 2001 World Population Data Sheet; UN Population Division, Levels and Trends of Contraceptive Use as Assessed in 1998; Demographic and Health Surveys; World Health Organization, Coverage of Maternity Care; UNICEF, State of the World�s Children 2000; UN, Demographic Yearbook 1998; Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, World�s Abortion Laws Poster 2000; WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Estimates of Maternal Mortality for 1995, accessed online at www.childinfo.org/eddb/mat_mortal/database.htm; Latest Available Estimates (1985�2000)�Births Attended by Skilled Health Personnel, accessed online at www.childinfo.org/eddb/maternal/database/
dblatest.htm; UNAIDS, Table of Country-specific HIV/AIDS Estimates and Data, accessed online at www.unaids.org/epidemic_update/
report/index.html#table.

Education: PRB, 2001 World Population Data Sheet; UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook 1999; UN Statistics Division, Indicators on Literacy, accessed online at www.un.org/Depts/unsd/social/literacy.htm; PRB, The World�s Youth 2000.

Economic Status: UN, The World�s Women 2000; ILO, Sources and Methods: Labour Statistics, Volume 10, 2000; UN, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Wistat: Women�s Indicators and Statistics Database, Version 4 CD-ROM; World Bank, World Bank Atlas 2001.

Women in Public Life: Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in National Parliaments as of October 12, 2001, accessed online at www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm; UN, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Wistat: Women�s Indicators and Statistics Database, Version 4 CD-ROM.

Definitions

Women per 100 Men: Estimates of the ratio of women to men among the total population.

Life Expectancy at Birth: The average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live under current mortality levels.

Total Fertility Rate: The number of children a woman would have in her lifetime assuming current age-specific birth rates remain constant throughout her childbearing years (usually considered to be ages 15 to 49).

Contraceptive Use: The percentage of currently married or �in-union� women of reproductive age (15�49) who are currently using any form of contraception. �Total� use includes modern and traditional methods. �Modern� methods include clinic and supply methods such as the pill, injectables, implants, IUD, condom, and sterilization. Data refer to the latest survey year through 2001. Data prior to 1995 are shown in italics.

Percent of Births Attended by Skilled Personnel: Skilled personnel include doctors, nurses, and midwives. Data refer to the latest survey year through 2001. Data prior to 1995 are shown in italics.

Maternal Deaths: The number of deaths to women per 100,000 live births that result from conditions related to pregnancy, delivery, and related complications. The estimates for most less developed countries are taken from 1995 consensus estimates of WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA.

Percent of the Population Ages 15 to 49 With HIV/AIDS: The estimated percentage of adults with HIV/AIDS at the end of 1999.

Percent of Women Among Population 15 to 49 With HIV/AIDS: The estimated percentage of women among adults with HIV/AIDS at the end of 1999.

Male and Female Adult Illiteracy: UNESCO defines illiteracy as those who are able to read but not write, as well as those who can write but not read. Rates of illiteracy are prepared from the data published by UNESCO, based on data from national population censuses or sample surveys.

Percent Enrolled in Secondary School: The ratio of the number of students enrolled in secondary school to the population in the applicable age group (such as 12 to 17 years of age) for the country (gross enrollment ratio). It can exceed 100 when the number of students actually enrolled exceeds the population of the relevant age group. Data refer to the latest survey year from 1993-1997. Data from 1990�1992 are shown in italics.

Percent of Female-Headed Households: Percent of households in which a woman is acknowledged as the �head of household� by other members of the household. Data refer to the latest year through 1997. Data from 1985 to 1990 are shown in italics.

Percent in Labor Force (ages 15�64): Percent of men/women ages 15-64 in the labor force as percent of male/female population ages 15-64.

GNI PPP per Capita (US$): GNI PPP per capita is 1999 Gross National Income in purchasing power parity (PPP) divided by midyear population. GNI PPP refers to Gross National Income converted to �international dollars� using a purchasing power parity conversion factor. International dollars indicate the amount of goods and services one could buy in the United States with a given amount of money.

Women as Percent of Parliament: Percent of seats in Parliament that are held by women. (Data given are for one legislative chamber, or combined where information for both chambers is accessed.)

As Percent of Ministerial and Sub-Ministerial Officials: Percent of ministerial and sub-ministerial positions held by women (includes ministers, secretaries of state, heads of central banks and of agencies in the cabinet; sub-ministerial level includes deputy and vice ministers or their equivalent, permanent secretaries or their equivalent, and deputy permanent secretaries or their equivalent, such as directors and advisers).

Notes

More developed regions, following the UN classification, comprise all of Europe and North America, plus Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. All other regions and countries are classified as less developed. World and regional totals are weighted averages of countries for which data are available; regional averages are shown when data or estimates are available for at least three-quarters of the region�s population. Regional totals may include small countries not shown.
Sub-Saharan Africa: all countries of Africa except the northern African countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Acknowledgments

Authors: Justine Sass and Lori Ashford
This work has been funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the MEASURE Communication project (HRN-A-00-98-000001-00).

� February 2002, Population Reference Bureau