Like any health issue, the impacts of Covid-19 are strongly gendered. Men are believed to be more susceptible to the virus, while women are more exposed in other ways: to an increased care burden, to heightened incidences of gender-based violence, to limited work opportunities, and to job losses. Understanding these gendered experiences and responding accordingly requires data that is disaggregated. It means going beyond the totals of people accessing facilities or losing their jobs, but disaggregating figures on the balance of men and women facing these challenges, including inequalities and discriminatory effects.
Read MoreIt is estimated that approximately 2 million people around the world have been infected by the coronavirus, and the numbers continue to grow. Yet the data being reported are primarily coming from national governments, which are – for the most part – basing it on who has been tested, which likely reveals only a fraction of the scale of the pandemic. There’s a critical need for real-time reported data from hospitals, health clinics and outreach facilities, based not only on testing, but on symptoms and other key determinants. In addition, we need to know in real-time who lacks access to a health clinic or other basic services, and which clinics don’t have personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators or beds – as well as where the most vulnerable people live, their age, gender and other crucial demographic information. If there is one thing this pandemic has exposed, it is the acute weakness of the world’s data systems.
Read MoreIncreasingly, policymakers and the general public demand both timely and quality data so we can understand how the world is developing. But despite living in an era of unprecedented technological boom and innovation, the truth is that much our data is wildly out of date. Many claim there is a silver bullet. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) between governments and the data and technology giants, all supposedly sitting on a goldmine of big data just waiting to be tapped. But for every one of these exciting shiny examples, there is a graveyard of failed collaborations. Why do some data collaborations succeed while others fail, and what can be done to ensure more effective public-private data sharing and collaboration?
Read MoreOn Wednesday 25 September 2019, SDSN TReNDS, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), the World Bank and UN Statistics Division launch their new initiative, Data for Now, on the margins of the UN General Assembly. The initiative aims to increase the frequency and timeliness of key sustainable development measures to enable governments to make evidence-based decision and drive progress on the world’s biggest challenges.
Read MoreWhen national leadership on the SDGs is missing, local policymakers can and should step up–and they can do so with the help of data. Read our contributed piece for Apolitical here.
Read MoreThe POPGRID collaborative, managed by TReNDS, CIESIN, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, played host to representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Philippines, and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at a UN Statistical Commission side event. Read a recap here.
Read MoreTReNDS Director Jessica Espey reflects on the Bern High-level Dialogue on Funding for Data for Sustainable Development and calls for articulating clear, compelling goals on data for development.
Read MoreTReNDS releases a new report on the return on investment for women and girls when resources are put towards civil registration and vital statistics systems, part of “Why CRVS systems matter for women and girls” from the International Development Research Centre’s Centre of Excellence for CRVS Systems.
Read MoreData are the new currency of the glamorous World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. TReNDS Director Jessica Espey reflects on this and other revelations from the 2019 event.
Read MoreA report from the March 2018 Data for Development Festival, which brought together more than 300 participants from around the world to exchange new ideas to harness the data revolution for sustainable development.
Read MoreWorld leaders and their governments are shifting their attention to SDG implementation. Important questions arise such as what it means to implement the 17 ambitious SDGs? How to prioritize attention given political cycles and limited resources? And what success will look like come 2030, at their end date?
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