Devex: Gender data: How expensive is it, really?
“…As the pandemic continues, calls grow louder for sex-disaggregated data to guide policy and address impacts of a health crisis that could force an additional 96 million people into extreme poverty by 2021, 47 million of whom are women and girls. Building a ‘core gender data system’ capable of generating the gender data indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals should be a priority for all stakeholders, [Shaida Badiee, managing director of Open Data Watch] told Devex. But the surveys, censuses, and administrative systems included in a core gender data system have many other applications, making it challenging to break down the exact cost of just gender data. … Still, the question is not necessarily just one of funding, but rather the improved availability, reliability, and use of data. Donor misalignment and weak plans for in-country data use are where gender data progress is more likely to get stuck, experts told Devex…” (Rogers, 10/1).