Today at the Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW), an expert panel will discuss 'the availability and use of data and gender statistics to support gender equality and the empowerment of women with specific reference to the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'.
The availability and use of data about women and girls is critical to closing the gender gap. When announcing an US$80million commitment to closing gender data gaps and accelerating progress for women and girls, the Gates Foundation stated:
Through reliable data, women and girls’ lives can become visible and counted, helping to inform programming and holding leaders to account.
At E4A-MamaYe, having data available to inform programming and hold leaders to account is a central tenet of our theory of change. Access to easily digestible information is crucial for evidence-based decision making, enables people to advocate for change and allows the public to hold leaders accountable for commitments.
We work with national and local level authorities and facilities to make data related to women, specifically the status of emergency, obstetric care available for them at health facilities and information on maternal and perinatal deaths, more readily available and used, support Champions to advocate for change and help policy-makers, civil society organisations and media work together through accountability mechanisms to ensure decisions on health budget and resources are backed by evidence.
This is not just a change for women, it’s a change for all.
Through the availability and use of evidence, we are supporting women and men to make maternal and neonatal survival a political priority.When women and men are empowered to achieve gender equality great things happen.