A worldwide lack of gender data is leaving women and girls behind
Over the past decade, as NSOs have grappled with the demands of SDG monitoring, not all domains of data production have progressed at an even rate. As data for indicators to measure progress on SDGs related to gender equality gradually increase, progress is however slow and uneven across countries, and statistical capacity to produce gender data still lags behind statistical capacity overall.
Fostering gender-responsive statistical systems
PARIS21 helps countries to mainstream gender into national statistics by integrating gender into the statistical process, PARIS21 enables NSOs to assess gender data collection and identify gaps relating to missing gender-related indicators and capacities with a broader range of stakeholders, including ministries in charge of advancing gender equality or local feminist organisations.
Assessing gender data gaps and mainstreaming gender in statistical planning
Developing gender-responsive statistical systems begins with planning. Gender mainstreaming in the NSDS provides the foundation to close gender data gaps, upskill staff, mobilise resources and forge collaborations to advance gender data production and impact. As part of the original PARIS21-UN Women collaboration under “Women Count”, PARIS21 developed and piloted a novel framework to assess gender data and capacity at the country level to inform national strategies for the development of statistics (NSDS).
Following the inaugural pilots the PARIS21 tools and frameworks in nine countries, PARIS21 consolidated cross-cutting lessons and insights in a global report, Counting on Gender Data, calling for further efforts to work with the grain of national priorities, invest in gender data champions, mobilise resources, and connect gender data to gender equality agendas to scale efforts towards gender mainstreaming in statistics.
Leveraging a suite of targeted tools and guidance, PARIS21 continues to support countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean to assess gender statistics and advance gender mainstreaming in statistical development.
In spite of growing awareness, gender data gaps persist across countries of all income levels across the globe. Data gaps put women and girls at particular risk and closing gender data gaps are a part of the global effort to build back better from the COVID-19 crisis as well as prepare for future crises.
Read the full report here.
Understanding how gender data are used to drive action and change
Efforts to invest in gender data capacity and close gender data gaps are only impactful insofar as gender data is used. Connecting the production and use of gender data is vital to ensure that gender data solutions support better policies for better lives.
PARIS21 is working in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, UN Women, and Global Affairs Canada to develop new analytical products, tools, and training initiatives that address this critical gap. In addition to tracking use of gender data in policy documents using innovative text mining techniques, PARIS21 is developing country studies, cross-country measures, and flagship reports to unpack the dynamics of gender data use and impact and pilot new capacity development initiatives to connect gender data users and producers.
Training media and statisticians to improve dissemination and communication of gender statistics
As key intermediaries between NSOs and the public, media and journalists are vital interlocuters to enable gender data uptake and use. PARIS21 has developed in-person and online training to forge closer ties between statisticians and journalists in order to better disseminate and use gender statistics to the public. By targeting statisticians’ ability to provide data and statistics that are useable by media and journalists, and journalists ability to find and understand statistics media coverage and use of gender statistics increases.
An e-learning module on communicating gender statistics for journalists and producers of statistics is available via the PARIS21 Academy.
Tracking and mobilising more and better financing for gender data and statistics
Despite an urgent need for more and better gender data, domestic resources and international support for gender data and statistics are scarce. As we progress through the SDG Decade of Action, mobilising more and better funding is vital to close gender data gaps and enable evidence-informed action to leave no one behind.
PARIS21 and its partners are working together to increase awareness of the gender data financing gap and identify emerging solutions through data, analysis, and advocacy. Trends in gender data financing are regularly monitored in the PARIS21 Partner Report on Support for Statistics (PRESS) and the Bern Network’s Clearinghouse Gender Channel. PARIS21 continues to expand on these insights through direct engagement with countries to cost gender data strategies and design strategies for resource mobilisation.
Gender Data Outlook 2024: Unlocking Capacity, Driving Change
Over the past five years, PARIS21 and UN Women have collaborated to respond to the need for more and better gender data. This collaboration has involved specific efforts to integrate gender into national statistical planning and programming. To address the critical question of how diverse investments in gender data translate into meaningful change for women and girls, PARIS21 and UN Women are introducing the Gender Data Outlook (GDO), that will assess countries' levels of statistical maturity using the new global framework and corresponding overall measure for gender data capacity.
Read the findings from the Gender Data Outlook here.
The Role of Gender Data in Policy Making: Selected Findings in Brief
PARIS21 has partnered with national statistical offices and national gender machinery through four dedicated case studies on gender data use in policy making that explore the determinants of gender data use at the country-level. The studies aim to better understand data use in practice, exploring the role of gender data in specific policy making contexts.
Read the full report here.
PARIS21's e-learning courses on communicating gender statistics
Read our findings from gender statistics assessments
Learn more about gender data financing through our recent Solutions in Scarcity event series