Closing the gender gap requires closing the data gap
By Sarah Hendriks, Director, Gender Equality, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Read the Development Co-operation Report 2017 to find out more about data for development
In many ways the world now is in better shape than ever. The global poverty rate fell below 10%; we see 9 out of 10 girls and boys entering primary school, and around 85% of all the world’s children are vaccinated against the most common diseases.
While we have come a long way, challenges remain. Perhaps the most pressing one is gender equality, since it affects all other areas of a society’s development. Nowhere in the world are males and females truly equal. Women learn less, earn less, have fewer rights and have less control over their assets and bodies. One stark example is that women are less likely to be financially included: 1.1 billion women around the world still do not have a formal bank account.
Underpinning these gaps, one challenge is particularly acute for women and girls: data.
Continue reading “Closing the gender gap requires closing the data gap”
