Gender Data Network (GDN)
Connecting practitioners to strengthen gender data systems and inform policies that advance gender equality.
About the Program
Gender data are essential for understanding inequalities and designing policies that respond to the different experiences of women, men, girls, and boys. Yet many countries face gaps in data availability and disaggregation, limited technical and institutional capacity, insufficient coordination, and difficulties translating data into action. The Gender Data Network (GDN) connects practitioners to address these challenges through shared learning and practical solutions.
Established in 2019 with practitioners from 15 African countries, the GDN expanded globally in 2021. Today, it connects national statistical offices and gender data practitioners across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Its approach rests on a simple principle: countries facing similar challenges can learn from one another. By making country experience more accessible, the Network helps turn individual lessons into shared knowledge and approaches that members can adapt to their needs.
Open Data Watch (ODW) serves as the secretariat, coordinating activities, facilitating communication, and supporting the Network’s strategic development. It works with Data2X, PARIS21, and regional partners: the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). These partnerships support statistical capacity development and the Network’s engagement and growth across regions, alongside collaboration with national statistical offices, UN agencies, and other development partners.
What We Do
Connections & Collaboration
We connect gender statisticians and other practitioners across countries, regions, and institutions. The Network helps members build professional relationships and find colleagues facing similar challenges. These connections encourage cooperation, reduce isolation, and create opportunities for practitioners to work together on solutions that strengthen gender data systems.
Peer Learning
We organize community meetings, regional exchanges, and online events where members can share experiences and practical solutions. Practitioners learn directly from one another about what works and where challenges remain. This exchange helps members build on lessons from other countries and adapt successful approaches to their own needs.
Capacity Development
We help members strengthen their knowledge and skills in producing, communicating, sharing, and using gender data. Through learning activities and exchanges with other practitioners, members explore emerging issues and practical approaches. This helps them address technical challenges, respond to changing needs, and improve the quality and usefulness of gender statistics.
Data Use & Impact
We support members with ways to communicate gender statistics and bring evidence into policy discussions. By sharing practical examples of how countries use data to address gender inequalities, the Network helps practitioners understand what makes data useful for decision-making. This work supports stronger links between gender data and policies that advance equality.
Key Resources
A report examining the progress, challenges and opportunities identified through the Gender Data Network’s experience across Africa.
A first-person account from a GDN member on how participation in the Network supported learning and the use of the BRIDGE tool to strengthen Sri Lanka’s gender data system.
Reflections from the Africa Gender Statistics Forum and the role of the GDN in connecting practitioners and strengthening collaboration across the continent.
A Data2X and Open Data Watch report documenting practical solutions that have emerged to address gender data gaps across areas including economic opportunity, education, health, environment, human security and public participation.
A conversation with GDN Coordinator on data systems, inclusion, AI and the role of peer networks in strengthening gender data.
