Gender Equality Demands Gender Data

Advocating for better investments in gender data

Closing the gender data financing gap requires more than an increase in spending. It requires a strategic effort to make dollars go further. Open Data Watch pioneered studies on financing gender data based on a core gender data system (see State of Gender Data Financing 2021 report) and now identifies best practices to guide gender data investments through the Solutions in Scarcity: Smart Gender Data Financing series. Open Data Watch is also committed to improving the coordination and transparency of investments in gender data through the Gender Data Channel of the Bern Network’s Clearinghouse for Financing Development Data..

Using the power of partnerships to increase country capacity

Collaboration and partnerships are fundamental to increasing the use and impact of gender data. Open Data Watch works closely with representatives from national statistical offices and creates networks to ensure that data reach their full potential. The Gender Data Network, a joint initiative of PARIS21, Data2X, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, brings together gender data experts from national statistical systems in 15 countries to share innovative solutions to overcome common barriers for producing and using  high quality gender data. Building on the insights and successes of the work, the network will scale and expand to new countries and regions.

Identifying and documenting gender data gaps

Open Data Watch conducts in-depth research into gender data gaps in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and other global programs. The Bridging the Gap series examined around 100 gender-relevant indicators in 25 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific. The forthcoming Open Gender Data Monitor will expand on the current analysis of gender data in ODIN while also advocating fo more  open gender data and providing technical  assistance to countries to apply open data principles to the gender space.

Finding solutions to close  gender data gaps

Open Data Watch identifies gender data gaps and finds and maps solutions to close them. In partnership with Data2X, Open Data Watch recently published Transforming the Data Landscape:  Solutions to Close Gender Data Gaps, which documents more than 140 innovative solutions that have emerged in the last five years to improve women’s economic opportunities, education, environment, health, human security, and public participation. These solutions encourage gender data use and uptake and strengthen the linkages between data, policy, and impact.

BY THE NUMBERS

500

million 
USD

needed from donors
to close the gender
data financing gap

15

African
countries

participating in
the Gender Data
Network

150

documented
solutions

to close
gender data
gaps

100

gender-relevant
indicators

across Africa
assessed for
availability