About Data2x, united nations foundation
Data2x, United Nations Foundation: Improving Gender Data for Women and Girls Worldwide
Data2x is a global initiative that aims to improve the quality, availability, and use of gender data in order to make a practical difference in the lives of women and girls worldwide. The initiative was launched by the United Nations Foundation in 2012 with the goal of addressing the critical data gaps that exist when it comes to understanding gender issues.
The lack of reliable gender data has long been a barrier to progress on women's rights and gender equality. Without accurate information about women's experiences, needs, and contributions, policymakers are unable to design effective policies or allocate resources where they are most needed. This is particularly true in developing countries where many women lack access to basic services like healthcare and education.
Data2x seeks to change this by working with governments, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and private sector partners around the world. The initiative focuses on three key areas: improving data collection methods; increasing access to existing data; and promoting greater use of gender data in decision-making.
One way that Data2x is improving data collection methods is through its support for innovative technologies like mobile phone surveys. These surveys allow researchers to collect real-time information from large numbers of people quickly and cost-effectively. They also help overcome some of the barriers that have traditionally made it difficult for women to participate in surveys such as transportation costs or cultural norms around speaking with strangers.
Another area where Data2x is making an impact is by increasing access to existing data. This includes working with governments and other stakeholders to make sure that gender-disaggregated statistics are collected regularly across all sectors including health care systems or educational institutions so they can be used effectively when designing policies or programs aimed at improving outcomes for women.
Finally, Data2x promotes greater use of gender data in decision-making processes at all levels - from local communities up through national governments - by providing training and technical assistance to policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders. This includes developing tools like data dashboards that make it easier for decision-makers to access and use gender data in their work.
Data2x has already made significant progress towards its goal of improving gender data worldwide. Since its launch in 2012, the initiative has supported over 50 projects in more than 30 countries around the world. These projects have focused on a wide range of issues including maternal health, economic empowerment, and violence against women.
One example of Data2x's impact is its work with the government of Tanzania to improve the country's civil registration system. By working with local partners to develop new technologies for collecting birth registration data - including mobile phone apps - Data2x was able to help increase birth registration rates from just 10% in 2013 to over 80% by 2018.
Another example is Data2x's partnership with UN Women on a project aimed at improving gender statistics in Asia-Pacific region. The project involved training statisticians from across the region on how to collect and analyze gender-disaggregated data effectively. As a result of this work, several countries were able to produce their first-ever national reports on violence against women.
Overall, Data2x is an important initiative that is making a real difference in the lives of women and girls worldwide by improving our understanding of their experiences through better quality gender data collection methods; increasing access so that everyone can benefit from this information; promoting greater use by decision-makers at all levels; providing training opportunities for those who need it most; supporting innovative technologies like mobile phone surveys or dashboards which make it easier than ever before for people everywhere – regardless if they live rural areas or urban centers –to participate fully as citizens who are informed about what’s happening around them!