STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
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STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Contributors Acronyms & Key Terms
A PMA Resident Enumerator Acronyms
administering the women's
questionnaire to a resident of the CSOs: Civil Society Organizations
Ngilima neighborhood of Kinshasa,
DRC, during data collection.
CRVS: Civil registration and vital statistics
GBV: Gender-based violence
Photo credit: Gloria Mbuya,
Communications Officer for NSO: National Statistical Office
the Kinshasa School of Public
Health, University of Kinshasa.
NSS: National Statistical System
UN: United Nations
Key Terms
Authors:
Center on Gender Equity and Health, UCSD Data infrastructures: Technologies and frameworks for data
Lotus McDougal collection and processing, as well as related processes such as
institutional set-up, capacity development, data planning, and policy.
Anita Raj
Jennifer Yore Digital financial inclusion: Digital efforts to offer a range of
sustainable financial services that reach populations traditionally
Data2X excluded and underserved financially.
Sarah Boyd Gender data: Data which includes, but is not limited to, a primary
Neeraja Penumetcha focus on sex disaggregation, reflects all peoples’ diverse, gendered,
and holistic experiences, explicates drivers of different opportunities
Emily Courey Pryor and outcomes between men and women, and accounts for data
biases derived from social and cultural norms.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Diva Dhar Gender-intentional: An approach in which an understanding
of gender roles, inequalities, gaps, and barriers is intentionally
Global Center for Gender placed at the forefront of all decisions.
Equality at Stanford University Gender measures: Indicators able to measure gender data.
Gary Darmstadt Gender responsive: Results that exhibit an understanding of
Krishna Jafa gender roles and inequalities and support equal and fair
participation and distribution of benefits.
Global Health 50/50
Gender statistics: Statistics that measure aspects of the
Sarah Hawkes
lives of women and men, and of girls and boys.
Anna Purdie
Sonja Tanaka Intersectionality: The interrelation of social categories
(e.g., gender, race) that result in mutual systems of discrimination
International Labor Organization or disadvantage.
Elisa Benes, Mobile money: Provision of financial services through a mobile device.
Kieran Walsh Non-traditional data sources: Data collected outside of
typical health and development data generation sources such as
PARIS21 administrative, census, and survey data. Data may come from
Lauren Harrison diverse sources including the private sector, biometric collection
Johannes Jutting mechanisms, social media, official sensor networks, citizen-
generated data, spatial data infrastructure, and geospatial
Archita Misra observation, and can be quite large (e.g., big data).
UN Women Sex disaggregation: Data collected, analyzed, and reported
Jessamyn Encarnacion separately for females and males.
Papa Seck Traditional data sources: Data collected through government,
NSS, and administrative systems, as well as facility or enterprise
World Bank data, and public or private sector surveys and registers. Traditional
Kathleen Beegle data sources generally rely on established data collection methods,
Niklas Buehren and data collection and aggregation often take more time than
non-traditional data sources.
Isis Gaddis
02STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Contents Executive summary 04 Introduction 07 Key areas for action 09 Conclusion and Implications 19 Appendix 20 References 22 Endnotes 27 03
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Executive summary COVID-19 may be gender blind, but it is not and socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic. Only gender neutral. Emerging evidence shows one in three countries reports sex-disaggregated tremendous gender disparities in the health and COVID-19 case and death data, and this trend socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic, is worsening over time; gaps in testing and with a disproportionately negative impact on hospitalization data are even greater. women’s livelihoods, unpaid care work burden, mental health, and subjection to gender-based Key actions: violence. However, a lack of gender data impedes • Design, develop, and support coordinated our ability to measure, preempt, and respond. statistical infrastructures, capacities, and Understanding the extent of these impacts is the practices to consistently sex-disaggregate first step toward reversing course. The pandemic COVID-19 related data, and has exposed and exacerbated existing gender • Normalize and enable regular reporting of data gaps—particularly around health, education, COVID-19 epidemiologic data by sex and other and economic opportunity—that undermine our key sociodemographic characteristics such ability to intentionally craft gender-responsive as age, race, and occupation. policies and programs. Filling these data gaps poses a significant challenge as many data 2. Beyond disaggregation: collection efforts have been disrupted due to Collect standardized, comparable gender COVID-19 control measures, impacting everything data in areas where women’s and girls’ lives from data production to subsequent data are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. management, analysis, use, and communication. Our understanding of the pandemic’s There is no time to waste. Without addressing disproportionate gendered impacts on women these gender data gaps and collection obstacles, and girls was hindered by a lack of gender- we cannot fully understand or mitigate the intentional measures in early waves of data gendered impacts of the pandemic. The collection collection, as well as a delay in pivoting to and use of timely, quality gender data by all data alternative data collection modes when sources, official or non-official, is critical to traditional, in-person modes of data collection recognizing and addressing gender inequalities. stopped. These early gaps are gradually being More and better data is needed to identify the filled. As data collection operations resume, most urgent needs of populations that have been more gender measures are being included in most harmed by the pandemic and to formulate data collection processes and alternative data gender-responsive policies to effectively spur an collection methodologies are being deployed. equitable recovery. By committing to increased Yet available data indicates that the COVID-19 gender data collection and use now, we can build pandemic is exacerbating existing inequalities a foundation that is better prepared for future shocks. through gender unintentional or more gender › This brief calls on National Statistical Systems and survey managers, funders, multilateral agencies, researchers, and policymakers to act in five key areas: 1. Disaggregate all COVID-19 data at a minimum by sex and, ideally, by other key sociodemographic characteristics. This must be done consistently to effectively analyze and address the differential health 04
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Executive Summary (continued)
› restrictive and discriminatory responses toward 4. Rapidly expand COVID-19 related
women and girls. Collecting policy data that gender data availability, access, and use.
tracks government responses, and the ways in Pandemic policy responses to date have been
which they address women, will be crucial. largely gender unintentional. For example, a
mere eight percent of social protection and labor
Key actions: market measures have directly addressed unpaid
• Support the coordinated inclusion and care—the majority of which falls on women.
prioritization of standardized, comparable Open-access COVID-19 related data is largely
gender measures in all surveys, including limited to surveys; there is a gap in open, regular
in surveys to assess COVID-19 impacts; dissemination of administrative and non-
• Prioritize the development, validation, traditional gender data. For policy measures to be
dissemination, and coordinated use of effective, they must reflect what the data shows,
standardized and comparable COVID-19 yet global progress is hindered by data silos and
related gender measures on constructs suboptimal, inconsistent data sharing. When and
that are not currently being assessed; and, where reliable and timely gender data exists, it
• Create survey sampling frames that are should be shared and used. Such a bridge
representative of women and girls at between data production and use can improve
all privilege, marginalization, and both data responsiveness and build public trust.
vulnerability levels.
Key actions:
3. Increase the use of non-traditional • Create bidirectional engagement across gender
gender data to fill critical gender data gaps. data production and use;
Data from non-traditional sources—such as • Expand access to and use of existing
social media activity, news media, mobile device- gender data that is not being used to its
generated geospatial and other data, internet full potential; and,
use, and private sector data—may provide • Mainstream gender data production and
complementary and rapid insights alongside, use in national data systems.
or in the absence of, traditional data sources.
Non-traditional gender data may be harnessed 5. Resource and support coordinated data
and assembled in shorter time horizons than infrastructures to produce gender data during
more traditional modes such as surveys and and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
administrative records and may be produced The pandemic has placed a significant strain on
even when traditional data collection is overstressed and underfunded data systems,
unfeasible. Gender data has been absent in many limiting gender data production and diverting
non-traditional analyses to date, and there is an resources to directly support COVID-19
opportunity to thoughtfully leverage innovations responses. Even in a time of fiscal constraint,
and non-traditional approaches to data collection these budget cuts are shortsighted. Investing in
and analysis. Ensuring safeguards and ethical the expertise and resources to gain deeper data
governance of the data, of course, will be critical. on women’s realities is a smart long-term
investment. Modernizing data collection and
Key actions: strengthening data infrastructures will serve us
• Develop a framework for responsible and now and also prepare our systems to better
ethical governance of gender data, and respond to future shocks. ›
• Expand efforts to link traditional and non-
traditional gender data and modalities.
05STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Executive Summary (continued) › Key actions: This moment presents both a choice and an • Increase funding to support statistical systems’ opportunity. Policy responses are not prioritizing capacities to produce and use gender data women’s needs and rights—or taking into account and provide financial support to modernize the gendered health and socioeconomic impacts administrative data collection and strengthen of the pandemic. There is an urgent need to invest national survey systems, and in a gender-equitable recovery by prioritizing and • Support and adequately resource gender data funding the collection and use of gender data that production and use across the entire National gives a true picture of the challenges women Statistical System (NSS) in order to fulfill face. Now is the time to invest in the foundation of national, regional, and international a robust data system that integrates gender— commitments to gender data and create a system that will empower smart, targeted responsive and robust data infrastructures. policies that achieve real impact. ● 06
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted gaps, it is unlikely that the full health and
the lives of millions of people globally, with more socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic will be
than 2.3 million deaths across the world by the fully understood or properly addressed or that we
beginning of February 2021.1 While few have been will be adequately prepared for future shocks.
left unaffected, there is mounting, albeit incomplete, Unfortunately, COVID-19 related lockdowns
evidence that the health and socioeconomic and other restrictions have disrupted data
impacts of pandemic related lockdowns, social collection efforts, impeding data production as
isolation, restrictions, shortages, and behavior well as subsequent data management, analysis,
change differentially impact women and men.2-9 and communication at a time when the need is
Understanding which populations are most great.13-20 Though gender data generation should
harmed by this pandemic, and how those effects be a standard component of statistical systems
are manifesting in different contexts, is integral to and data generation, analysis, and dissemination
creating an evidence based, action oriented, processes, there is a perceived tension in its
targeted, and gender sensitive policy response. prioritization in some contexts. Rather than being
High quality gender data10 is the bedrock of mainstreamed, gender data is often viewed as
effective policymaking to ensure equal rights and an “add on” or special interest topic in data
opportunities for all, and has become increasingly production systems which are struggling to
critical in the context of COVID-19.2 There is both regularly produce what are considered more
need and demand for gender statistics that can core epidemiologic and economic statistics on
help us better understand COVID-19’s impacts on COVID-19. This is despite growing recognition
health and economic outcomes, as well as ways in from United Nations (UN) bodies, National
which the pandemic is exacerbating underlying Statistical Offices (NSOs), and other global and
social and gender inequalities.11 These pandemic local actors that gender statistics are
related impacts are layered onto existing gender foundational, rather than additive, and should be
data gaps, including inadequate internationally mainstreamed at every stage from planning and
comparable data on health, education, and conceptualization to data collection, analysis,
economic opportunities.12 Without filling these dissemination, and use.10,11,21-23 ›
Figure 1: Framework for strengthening gender measures and data during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
What data do we need? How do we sustain progress?
Improve availability Collect standardized Increase use of Expand gender Adequately resource and
of sex-disaggregated and comparable non-traditional data availability support data infrastructure
data gender data gender data access and use and production
Ensure intersectionality
07STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Introduction (continued) › Moreover, gender data is produced as part impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding of broader data ecosystems. Therefore, with speed, evidence, and appropriate resources strengthening gender data production, quality, offers an opportunity to create a robust COVID-19 availability, and use also strengthens data response that considers the differential needs systems overall, supporting rapid and efficient and realities of women and men as well as girls gender-intentional responses to future shocks. and boys. It will also allow for the collection of The need for improved gender data is urgent, more nuanced information for intersectional and responsibility for its generation spans analyses and programming and create stronger, different data systems and collection more resilient data infrastructures moving mechanisms, organizations, and mandates forward. Failing to meet this challenge could (Figure 1). However, in order to effectively inform result in a gender-blind recovery that sets back policy and action, the global community of data rather than accelerates work to improve the producers, analysts, and users first needs status, rights, and opportunities for all. adequate resources to provide timely, robust, To this end, we advocate for action across and reliable evidence on the gender-differentiated the following five key areas. ● 08
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Key areas for action 1. Consistently disaggregate COVID-19 related The availability of sex-disaggregated data data by sex and other key characteristics appears to be worsening, rather than relevant in the national context to analyze improving.25,26 Recent estimates indicate that the health and socioeconomic impacts only 73 of 187 countries (39%)—mostly high- of the pandemic. and middle-income countries with robust civil Sex-disaggregated data is the minimum level registration and vital statistics (CRVS) and of information required to gain insights into surveillance systems—reported sex- gender inequalities and the gender-differentiated disaggregated COVID-19 case and mortality data impacts of the pandemic. Ongoing data collection in the first five weeks of 2021.9 Only eight of the by Global Health 50/50 (GH5050) indicates that 10 countries with the highest burden of COVID-19 the most basic epidemiologic information about cases are sex-disaggregating case and mortality COVID-19—cases and deaths—are not data; sex-disaggregated coverage of other comprehensively sex-disaggregated, despite COVID-19 epidemiologic data on testing and World Health Organization (WHO) guidance to hospitalization is lower still.25,26 Given that collect, report, and analyze data, at a minimum, COVID-19 related mortality rates appear to on confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths differ between men and women, and that those disaggregated by sex and age (Figure 2).9,24,25 differences vary across lifespan, consistent › Figure 2: Number of months from March 2020–January 2021 that countries have reported sex-disaggregated data for both COVID-19 cases and deaths. Grey indicates no data. Data source: GH5050 COVID-19 Sex-Disaggregated Data Tracker.9 09
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Key areas for action (continued)
economic domains where women and men
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
as well as girls and boys may be differentially
affected by this pandemic. Achieving this level
• Sex-discriminated COVID-19 data on cases
and deaths are regularly reported by only
of sex disaggregation, and enabling additional
one in three countries. intersectional analyses, requires advanced,
intentional planning to ensure adequate
• Availability of sex-disaggregated sample sizes across affected populations.
epidemiologic COVID-19 data has
decreased over time. ACTION REQUIRED
• Design, develop, and support coordinated
• Sex-disaggregated COVID-19 data are rarely statistical infrastructures, capacities, and
disaggregated by additional characteristics
practices to consistently sex-disaggregate
that they are necessary for intersectional
analyses on health and socioeconomic COVID-19 related data. Governments, UN
impacts. agencies, multilateral and bilateral
organizations, donors, NGOs, research groups,
and other data ecosystem actors should
› and comprehensive disaggregation by both sex recognize the need for sufficiently resourced,
and age is urgently needed.27 Only 61 of 187 coordinated, and ongoing production, reporting,
countries (33%) have ever reported accessible and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data.
sex-disaggregated data on COVID-19 deaths Core administrative data systems such as CRVS
broken out across age groups, despite the known and disease surveillance systems must be
association between older age groups and strengthened to have consistent, ongoing sex
COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.9,25 disaggregation built into regular data processes
Moreover, no country is reporting national in line with existing guidelines.30 This capacity
COVID-19 disease surveillance data for will not only strengthen the immediate
transgender and non-binary populations.25 COVID-19 pandemic response, but will build
In addition to sex and age, the ability to break more robust and gender-intentional data
down sex-disaggregated, COVID-19 data by other systems for future use.
basic sociodemographic characteristics (e.g.,
race/ethnicity, gender identity, region of • Normalize and enable regular reporting of
residence, disability, employment status, and COVID-19 epidemiologic data by sex and other
occupation) is essential to inform intersectional key sociodemographic characteristics. The UN
analyses and gender-intentional policy General Assembly recently passed a resolution
responses, including for COVID-19 vaccine roll calling on member states to ensure availability
out. Unfortunately, there are often challenges in of disease surveillance data disaggregated by
administrative data systems (e.g., CRVS and sex, age, disability, and other characteristics
disease surveillance systems) in terms of variable relevant in national contexts in the analysis
collection, sample size, access, and/or use that of the health and socioeconomic impacts of
impair sex-disaggregated and intersectional the COVID-19 pandemic.23 Open and regular
reporting within most existing national data analysis and sharing of COVID-19 disease
infrastructures.28,29 Disaggregation of COVID-19 surveillance data that is disaggregated by sex
epidemiologic data, including testing, cases, as well as other basic characteristics needed
hospitalizations, deaths, and vaccination, is for intersectional analyses should be a priority
urgent. That disaggregation must extend beyond for those governments, organizations, and
disease surveillance into health and socio- researchers able to produce this information. ›
10STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Key areas for action (continued)
› 2. Beyond disaggregation: KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Collect standardized, comparable gender data
in areas where women’s and girls’ lives may • Data is lacking on the ways that the health
be disproportionately affected by COVID-19. and socioeconomic effects of COVID-19
Available data indicates that the COVID-19 may be exacerbating gender-based bias,
pandemic is exacerbating existing inequalities discrimination, mistreatment, abuse,
through gender-unintentional or more gender violence, norms, and the agency of women
restrictive and discriminatory responses toward and girls and gender minorities to overcome
inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19
women and girls. There is emerging awareness,
pandemic.
based on a mix of anecdotal evidence, smaller
case studies, and research from previous crises, • Our understanding of the ways in which
of the way that pandemic-linked socioeconomic COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting
stressors are affecting paid, unpaid, and domestic women and girls was hampered by an
work,3,8,31,32 intimate partner violence, and mental inability to pivot to alternative modes of
health concerns differently for women than data collection when traditional modes were
men.3,33-35 The pandemic and resultant shutdowns halted, as well as by the lack of gender-
have also reduced access to services, benefits, intentional measures in early waves of
post-pandemic data collection.
and programs that particularly affect women,
including essential reproductive, maternal, • These early gaps in data collection are
and child health services.34-37 Women’s beginning to be filled, as more gender
overrepresentation in sectors hit particularly measures are included in data collection
hard by COVID-19, such as tourism and retail, processes, and alternative data collection
as well as the informal work sector, creates methodologies are deployed.
greater impacts on their livelihoods and requires
gender-intentional social protection responses.38,39
Policy data tracking government responses, inequalities. These types of indicators are less
and the ways in which they address women, commonly seen or used, but may relate to sexual
are also crucial.40 and reproductive health, gender-based violence
Reviews of existing information on the (GBV) and harassment in public and private
gendered effects of the COVID-19 pandemic spheres, choice in who and when to marry,
highlight important gaps in our understanding unpaid domestic labor and care work, mental
of how this pandemic is differentially affecting health, food insecurity, and information
women, girls, men, and boys. Knowledge gaps asymmetries. While there is some existing
include pandemic-related effects on broader research on these topics, the majority is not
health care access and utilization, women’s nationally representative and is insufficient
political participation and leadership related for intersectional analysis to provide a more
to COVID-19 management, social support and comprehensive picture necessary to trigger
women’s collectives, and access to and use of policy and programmatic shifts.
digital technologies and financial services.3,41,42 These gaps were worsened in the early
There is also a need for timely, comparable phases of the pandemic by both the delay and
data collection on the ways that the health and cancellation of many data collection mechanisms
socioeconomic effects of COVID-19 may be which supply gender data,i as well as by the
exacerbating gender-based bias, discrimination, absence of gender-intentional, standardized,
mistreatment, abuse, violence, norms, and the and comparable measures in data that
agency of women and girls to overcome these was collected. ›
11STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Key areas for action (continued) › While rapid surveys and modifications to some offer access to women, potentially exacerbating existing data collection mechanisms are now data gaps.20,52-54 It is also challenging in a remote responding to some of these identified gaps,ii data collection setting to use participatory many areas of importance to women’s and girls’ methods, such as vignettes, that are important lives were not included in initial rounds of data to understand gendered social norms. There are collection earlier in the pandemic. This absence an increasing number of online portals openly is attributable to a number of reasons, including sharing COVID-19 focused gender data and/or safety and privacy considerations, topical gender data measures.iv Encouragingly, these priorities, target population, practical difficulties novel and adapted measures are increasingly in obtaining representative samples of males and being incorporated into rapid response survey females (or other groups of interest) in phone and and data production efforts by NSOs, multilateral internet-based surveys, and lack of validated agencies such as UN Women and the World Bank, measures on key constructs. Further, there is a and research organizations.34,35,62 A brief summary lack of statistical standards and validated best- of gender data topics in illustrative COVID-19 practice guidelines for collecting data on gender related surveys is included in Appendix Table 1. bias, discrimination, mistreatment experiences, Irrespective of the type of data collection beliefs, norms, and agency, the measurement mechanism, it is essential to document the of which should include perspectives and methodologies used so that data can be experiences from men and boys and gender interpreted in context and data quality minorities, in addition to women and girls. Even can be better assessed. where there is guidance, surveys across agencies and countries may use different sampling ACTION REQUIRED methods, frames, and questions. Consequently, • Support the coordinated inclusion and even when these types of gender data is prioritization of standardized and comparable collected, they are rarely comparable across gender-intentional measures in COVID-19 related surveys, hindering broad understanding of key surveys. Beyond sex disaggregation, it is critical gender issues in the time of COVID-19.45,46 that measures in areas which affect women and There are promising advances to address some girls disproportionately are prioritized in of these pandemic-related data measurement surveys in the near and medium terms. This is gaps. Remote modes of survey data collection particularly important in multi-topic and remote (e.g., via phone or internet) are being employed surveys, where questionnaire space is at a by an increasing number of NSOs and other premium. It may be practical to have modules organizations to avoid face-to-face interactions.20 that can be rotated in and out of ongoing surveys Though remote data collection has some so that data on a variety of issues can be collected advantages, including lower costs and shorter within a given sample over time. Survey sampling turnaround times, it can also pose important frames and implementation protocols must be challenges in general, and for providing gender commensurately designed to mitigate or data specifically.iii These challenges span data remove gender bias in data collection. quality, coverage, access, bias, representation, and respondent protection, particularly given • Prioritize development, validation, that phone/digital access and privacy are less dissemination, and coordinated use of likely among women relative to men (in addition standardized and comparable COVID-19 related to other sociodemographic and economic gender measures on constructs that are not imbalances), and survey frames built from currently being assessed. There are aspects (generally male) household heads may not of women’s and girls’ lives that appear to be › 12
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Key areas for action (continued)
› profoundly affected by COVID-19 yet lack ›
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
validated, standardized, and comparable
measures. These include, but are not limited to, • Non-traditional gender data may be
gender bias, discrimination and mistreatment harnessed and assembled in shorter time
experiences, beliefs, norms, and agency. Once horizons than more traditional modalities
validated, these measures should be widely such as surveys and administrative records
shared and rolled out to enable production and may be produced even when traditional
of nationally representative and comparable data collection is unfeasible; however,
gender data in these areas to track changes gender data has not been a focal point of
over time and across populations. most non-traditional data analyses to date.
•P
rivacy, human rights and data security
• Create survey sampling frames that are are critical considerations.
representative of multiple groups, including
women and girls at all feasible privilege, • Emerging data steward networks and data
marginalization, and vulnerability levels. collaboratives are bringing together multi-
There is a need to develop more resilient survey sectoral private and public sources of data
sampling frames that can collect gender data to cooperatively exchange and analyze data
via multiple modalities. This design would not and create public value.
only allow for complete shifts from in-person to
remote data collection, for example, but would
also enable mixed-mode data collection, where
some groups are targeted for face-to-face literacy gender gap must be addressed.64
interviewing while others can be reached by Being able to adapt and leverage innovations
phone or online. It is critical to this process in non-traditional methods of data production has
to recognize and address sources of bias in the capacity to fill some critical gender data gaps
survey sample identification, enrollment, and within much shorter time horizons than most
maintenance, and to ensure robust representation traditional data collection modalities, though
of the target population as well as hard-to- there are aspects of bias and representation that
survey groups via remote data collection. remain unaddressed in much of this data.65-67 The
use of anonymized big data from public and
3. Increase use of non-traditional gender data private sector sources (e.g., telecommunication
to understand the health and socioeconomic companies, financial institutions, social media
impacts of COVID-19. companies, e-commerce companies, geospatial
Non-traditional data (e.g., social media activity, platforms) can allow for descriptive, predictive,
news media, mobile device-generated geospatial and prescriptive analyses related to disease
and other data, internet use, and private sector spread and other effects and may even be able to
data) can be a useful complement to traditional presumptively sex-disaggregate findings, albeit
in-person and remote data collection initiatives, with important limitations in using algorithms
and may be helpful to inform pandemic-related to predict sex.68,69 These techniques were being
forecasting and modeling.63 These non-traditional tested prior to the COVID-19 pandemic—for
data can offer nuanced insights that factor in time example, social media data has been used to
and place, as well as the potential for longitudinal assess attitudes to GBV70-72—and are increasingly
data collection, to understand gender dynamics being developed as a way to provide data during
over time. To do this thoughtfully, known challenges interruptions in traditional data collection
such as representativeness, bias, and the digital modalities.v ›
13STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Key areas for action (continued) › While the majority of non-traditional data ACTION REQUIRED analyses on the impacts of the COVID-19 • Develop a framework for responsible pandemic have not integrated or focused on and ethical governance of gender data. This is gender to date,79-84 there are a few promising critically important to address privacy, ethical examples. This includes research using considerations, interoperability, regulatory administrative payroll data to understand requirements, and other key issues. Involving gendered differences in employment shifts in the governments and policy makers in designing US,85 using a blend of administrative and mobility such a framework will make the resulting data, data to model domestic violence across Mexico,86 analyses, and communication more relevant to using Twitter data to identify topics being context-specific needs. Data steward networks discussed by Indian feminist activists,87 and and data collaboratives offer an opportunity to large-scale surveys of Facebook users to validate such a framework as they often include assess gender equality at home and gender- traditional and non-traditional data and bring differentiated impacts on businesses.88-90 together partners from a wide variety of sectors Key to this work is the careful consideration of and spheres. They also offer opportunities to proper safeguards for quality, privacy, and human leverage the skills, resources, and data available rights as well as full compliance with data from each partner to generate a product greater protection, portability and security laws and than the sum of its parts, while maintaining regulations, particularly given that some non- safety and privacy standards acceptable to all traditional data can potentially be partners. Transparent decision making and identifiable.68,91,92 Safety and privacy concerns expectations about data access and ownership associated with non-traditional data may be should be explicit in all collaboratives. NSOs amplified when looking at gendered topics. should be resourced and trained, as needed, One emerging means of addressing these to enable them to take on stewardship roles in concerns are data steward networks and ‘data this modernization of data governance. collaboratives’, which bring together private and public actors from different sectors to • Expand efforts to link traditional and non- cooperatively exchange and analyze data to traditional gender data and modalities. Use of create public value.93-95 These collaboratives non-traditional data in lower-income settings have agreed-upon protocols and safeguards to has been enhanced by creating links between protect safety and privacy, and are increasingly these data and traditional data, such as survey being called upon to provide access with data. Additional efforts are needed to find ways appropriate oversight and accountability via to appropriately, safely, and ethically generate independent-use agreements, cooperative- richer links that allow for sex-disaggregated and use data pooling, and directed-use prizes and intersectional analysis. This would help expand challenges. vi,95,97 Unfortunately, while some current big data analyses (e.g., Opportunity promising data collaboratives are emerging, vii,103 Insights Economic Tracker,106 Flowminder these efforts are not always connected to policy mobility indicators,107 the Africa COVID responses or efforts related to gender.104,105 Community Vulnerability Index108) on › 14
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Key areas for action (continued)
› the labor, economic, health, and social
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
impacts of the pandemic on women and girls
and potentially on gender minorities. Bringing • Open-access COVID-19 related data is largely
together experts from different sectors and limited to surveys; there is a gap in open,
spheres, from data scientists to gender experts, regular dissemination of administrative
can help generate new insights. Providing and non-traditional gender data.
open-source methodologies for this work with
detailed coding, guidelines and instructions • A bridge between data production and
will facilitate more rapid uptake by data actors use can improve data responsiveness
to respond to data system shocks such as and public trust.
COVID-19. Simultaneously developing new
• Data systems that support robust, regular,
approaches to measurement that take advantage and reliable gender data production are also
of our increasing digital footprints and novel able to be more responsive to diverse data
technologies, for example, will further strengthen needs for accomplishing a broader set of
our capacity to collect key gender data without goals and targets.
interruption.
4. Rapidly expand COVID-19 related gender examples above). There is a need for appropriate,
data availability, access, and use. transparent data sharing and documentation to
Despite growing evidence of the negative impacts enable subsequent data-driven advocacy, as well
of the pandemic on women and girls in many as diligent dissemination to overcome extant
countries,3,8,31-37 the policy response has often information asymmetries based on geographic
been lacking in specificity to address these location, internet access, and other factors.
gendered impacts. For example, of more than While this need is not specific to gender data, it
1,300 COVID-19 social protection and labor is an integral part of future efforts to strengthen
market response measures, only eight percent gender data production and use. An intentional,
directly address unpaid care, and only 10 bidirectional bridge between data production and
percent target women’s economic support.109 use, wherein governments and organizations
Ensuring the availability, access, and use of involved in data production are involved in the
gender data is vital to addressing the inequalities consumption of that data, and where end users
exacerbated by COVID-19. This includes using and stakeholders are actively engaged in data
data to inform and track tangible changes in policy production, is a key component of effective data
responses and mitigation measures to address use for gender data and beyond. This interlinked
these gendered impacts. Some organizations approach helps ensure that data are responsive
which have launched COVID-19 gender data to the needs at hand, and builds commitment to,
initiatives are sharing questionnaires, tools, and and greater public trust in, data.78,115,116
data (see Appendix Table 1 for examples).15,110-114 Prioritizing both gender data production and
This type of open-access approach to data data use will require financial support as well as
collection and analysis is an important part of political will and follow through to connect data
pandemic response but is largely limited to to policy and programmatic action. Budgetary
surveys at this point. A gap remains in routine, reallocation of increasingly stretched fiscal
open dissemination of administrative COVID-19 resources for data production and use to direct
gender data, as well as non-traditional gender pandemic response has been a common issue.117
data—particularly when coming from private In the case of gender data, there is a continued
organizations (see social media and big data need to advocate for resources for their ›
15STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE Key areas for action (continued) › production and effective use to enable a It will also help ensure that those end users will targeted response that addresses gender gaps, have more ownership of the data, thus making barriers, and gendered impacts. Such advocacy them more invested in data use. should involve consultation, participation, and involvement of gender experts and women’s • Expand use of gender data that has already groups. been collected but is not being used to its full We must critically review if, and how, existing potential. Without gender data, policymakers, gender data is being disseminated and used. donors, and governments will be unable to Where data exists but is underutilized, it should create evidence-informed gender-responsive be more fully leveraged (as is being done with policies to respond to the coronavirus some labor force statistics118).viii Use monitoring pandemic, as Canada and Hawaii have done by is a key aspect of the data lifecycle, as has been thoughtful intersectional analysis to develop demonstrated by UN Women’s ongoing reviews roadmaps to recovery through gender of its COVID-19 rapid gender assessments transformative policymaking.125 Priority which have directly informed policies to address strategies for this gender data-driven advocacy gendered impacts of the pandemic in seven and use for COVID-19 response and recovery countries. ix,8 Similarly, a recent research review should include—with appropriate data privacy of the gendered impacts of COVID-19 influenced and security protections in place—improved recommendations adopted by the European Union open data access from all data producers Parliament on gender-based violence and including academic researchers, the private economic empowerment.120,121 Governments and public sector, and governments. Resources should work to ensure women are equally and ongoing efforts are also needed to improve represented in COVID-19 policy response and technical capacities for gender data literacy and recovery taskforces,120,122-124 and gender equality communication, gender expertise in NSOs, and expertise is funded and prioritized in National equal representation of women in COVID-19 Statistical Systems (NSSs) and in policy response leadership, management, and advisory roles. planning.119 ACTION REQUIRED • Mainstream gender data production and use • Create bidirectional engagement across in national data systems. Gender data is often gender data production and use by involving treated as an “add-on” or special interest topic. data producers in the data use process and by Recognition that systems that support robust, involving data users in the data production regular, and reliable gender data production process. Maintaining the involvement of data are able to be more responsive to diverse data production organizations throughout data use needs for accomplishing a broader set of goals increases their shared ownership in generating and targets is key to moving forward. Gender data that is better able to respond to challenges data expertise is necessary for individuals such as those generated by COVID-19. Having working in NSOs, in government policy gender data users and decision-makers positions, and in other areas engaged in data involved early on in the gender data production production and use. Similarly, gender data process, through consultations or advisory analysis and dissemination products should groups, increases the likelihood that the be treated as components of the main body of resulting data will speak more directly to the reporting, dissemination, and communication needs of users such as policymakers and in a given setting, rather than as special program implementers. focus publications. › 16
STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Key areas for action (continued)
5. Adequately resource and support coordinated
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
data infrastructures to produce gender data
during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. • The COVID-19 pandemic added strain to
The improvements in gender data noted above overstressed and underfunded data systems,
will not be possible without substantial limiting gender data production.
investment in data infrastructures. While this
agenda is expensive, it will broadly strengthen • Strengthening data infrastructures will be
data systems and increase their resilience to expensive but will create more resilient and
future shocks beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. gender-responsive systems better able to
Financial support should be paired with a strong respond to future shocks.
focus on capacity development with a gender
• Modernizing data collection mechanisms
equality lens across all relevant parties, including will allow gender data production greater
government agencies, civil society, researchers, flexibility to avoid interruption or cessation.
and donors.
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there
were significant gaps in gender data. This is in
part due to broader challenges in data production, Prior to the pandemic, only 13 percent of
and in part due to underlying capacity gaps in countries had a dedicated budget for collecting
resources, technical skills, management, and analyzing gender data (primarily for health
administration, and politics.78,126 Unfortunately, and reproductive health).21 Amidst the economic
recognition of the importance of gender equality fallout from COVID-19, collecting and analyzing
does not always translate into strong support gender data is likely to be pushed even further
for gender statistics. In 2018, while almost 60 down the priority list, thus further exacerbating
percent of statistical projects financed by preexisting data gaps. Despite added demands
bilateral donors considered gender equality to placed on statistical systems from the pandemic,
be an important objective, only six percent of less than half a percent of international aid for
all projects noted gender equality as a primary COVID-19 so far has had a primary focus on
objective.127 Similarly, less than 12 percent data and statistics.127
of bilateral donor commitments are directed COVID-19 has prompted both an increased
towards gender statistics activities; less than demand for, and acknowledgement of, the
half of that commitment goes to activities focused importance of data while hampering the ability
primarily on gender data.127 There is an estimated of NSSs to produce timely, quality statistics.133,134
gap of $200 million annually between now and There are opportunities to close data gaps
2025 in financing needed to sustain a core gender created and/or highlighted by the current
data ecosystem and enable low- and lower- pandemic by supporting data infrastructure
middle income countries to monitor and put in and production pipelines to use resources
place policies that would leave no one behind more efficiently (e.g., reviewing modes of data
by 2030.128 There is thus an urgent need for collection and looking for existing or additional
heightened awareness among donors, data sources) as well as to prepare for the future
governments, and other key stakeholders by creating representative sampling frames
that gender equality is integral across sectors. inclusive of contact information to enable phone
Achieving both gender and sectoral outcomes or online surveys. While the challenges should
should be the new paradigm,129-131 and not be underestimated and aren’t limited to
attaining this paradigm shift requires adequate gender data, the potential benefits of such
and reliable investment in data infrastructures. preparation are substantial. Concurrent with ›
17STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Key areas for action (continued)
› advocacy to fill these gender data gaps should ACTION REQUIRED
be an emphasis on transparency regarding data • Increase funding to support statistical systems’
quality and privacy protection. capacities to produce and use gender data
Supporting the foundation for this modernized and provide financial support to modernize
and multimode data collection extends beyond administrative data collection. Without
COVID-19 based challenges, and is reflected in additional funding earmarked for the support
guidance from the UN Statistical Commission.135,136 of gender data production and use, many of
This work would not only address some of the the steps previously outlined in this brief will
previously noted representation challenges that remain unachievable. This will require both
arise when collecting gender data using remote focused allocations within government budgets,
methods, but would also make data infrastructure as well as, in many cases, external sources of
more resilient to future shocks by allowing NSOs support. Creating data production systems that
and others to pivot between modes of data can shift across data collection modalities as
collection based on the particular challenge being needed, and that have robust data collection
faced at the time. This strategy’s utility has been systems and processes in place, is essential
demonstrated in some settings,132 suggesting that to avoid interruptions in data collection and
it would drive efficiency and potentially create a to be responsive to future shocks.
base for additional, future rapid data collection.
The first step toward improvement of gender • Support and adequately resource gender
data is strengthening national data infrastructure data production and use across the entire
to ensure the flow of relevant, timely, and NSS in order to fulfill national, regional, and
accurate data to monitor gender inequalities international commitments to gender data
and prepare for transitions to multimode data and create responsive and robust data
collection. Gender data is by nature intersectional; infrastructures. When gender data training
therefore, work to strengthen gender data and funding are provided, they are often
production and capacity within governments directed at NSOs. While many NSOs do in fact
must not only ensure that NSOs are adequately need this support (particularly in the face of
resourced and appropriately staffed, but must COVID-19 challenges), having a well resourced
encompass the entire NSS (e.g., Ministries of NSO operating within a poorly resourced NSS
Health, Women and Girls, Education, and presents ongoing barriers to progress for
Justice; CRVS; health surveillance systems).129 an area as intersectional as gender data.
This support, including funding as well as
capacity and logistical development, must
encompass both NSOs and other parts of
NSSs, particularly CRVS systems, health
surveillance, and other existing
administrative data systems.129 ●
18STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Conclusion and Implications
COVID-19 is not an “equal opportunities” • Assess and address budgetary, capacity,
pandemic: emerging evidence shows mounting methodological, technology, and other gaps
gender disparities in its health and socioeconomic that in turn perpetuate gender data gaps;
consequences. However, a lack of gender data • Collaborate and coordinate better on diverse
impedes our ability to understand, preempt, and initiatives and plans being undertaken
respond to the adverse effects of the pandemic. at the national and international levels
To that end, we highlight in this paper the need to: to fill gender data gaps;
a) ensure that COVID-19 related data is collected, • Include non-traditional data actors, e.g.,
disaggregated by sex and other traits (e.g., age, the private sector, in the broader gender
ethnicity, occupation), and shared; b) move data conversation and ecosystem; and,
beyond sex-disaggregated COVID-19 data to • Facilitate improved access to, and use of,
collect standardized, comparable health and gender data.
socioeconomic gender data to better understand
the full impacts of the pandemic; c) increase the Calls for improvements in gender data generation
use of non-traditional data sources such as big and use have been growing for many years, but
data and private sector data to complement more progress has been slow. While the COVID-19
traditional household or sector-based survey data, pandemic has exacerbated existing gender
given the restrictions placed on survey data under inequalities, it offers an opportunity to galvanize
the pandemic; d) rapidly expand COVID-19 related will and sustain political and financial commitments
gender data availability, access, and use, including to generate and use gender data and to create
prioritization of transparent, open access data robust, resilient data infrastructures that can
to the public; and, e) adequately resource and work to support the health of all populations in
support data infrastructure and production to both normal and adverse circumstances. These
build robust systems that capture and report processes must be adequately resourced and
gender data and are responsive to current and funded—by governments and donors alike—
future shocks. and operate as transparently, inclusively, and
Addressing gender data gaps during COVID-19 responsively as possible. Arguably, the process
requires a strengthening of existing data systems. can be as important as the output, particularly if
NSSs, particularly NSOs, survey managers or this moment is used to integrate gender data into
sponsors, funders, and custodians at global, existing data infrastructures while strengthening
regional, and country levels, as well as multilateral and expanding those infrastructures. There is an
agencies and research partners, will need to: opportunity to emerge from this pandemic with a
more robust and gender-responsive data system
• Strategically integrate gender measures than we had at its inception. Direct, decisive, and
including, but not limited to, sex-disaggregated immediate action is needed by all members of the
data in COVID-19 surveys and in future global data community to achieve this goal and
data collection activities; further support gender equality. ●
19STRENGTHENING GENDER MEASURES AND DATA
IN THE COVID-19 ERA: AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE
Appendix
Table Examples of survey modules and large-scale surveys collecting COVID-19 gender data.
Survey Implementing Gender Data Summary
Organization(s)
UN
UNWomen
WomenRapid
Rapid UN Women Assesses a wide variety of gender data,
Gender
GenderAssessment
AssessmentTool
Tool including sex-disaggregated COVID-19
cases, outcomes, knowledge, attitudes
and behaviors, mental health, GBV,
access to health services and goods, paid
and unpaid work, food insecurity, access
to legal services and protections, and
child marriage.
World Bank
World Bank surveys
surveys on
on World Bank Assesses sex-disaggregated information
gender-differentiated
gender-differentiated on COVID-19 cases, outcomes,
COVID-19
impacts of COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and behavior,
access to food, medical, financial, and
other essential resources, education,
employment, income loss, food
insecurity, agriculture, and social
protection or safety nets.
insight2impact
insight2impact COVID-19
COVID-19 insight2impact (i2i), Assesses sex-disaggregated information
Livelihoods
Livelihoods Tracking
Tracking FinMark Trus on COVID-19 knowledge, behavior,
Survey
Survey in
in 77 African
African mental health, education, access to
countries
countries health services including contraceptives,
business challenges, food insecurity,
and social protection or safety nets.
IPA RECOVR Survey
Survey Innovations for Assesses sex-disaggregated information
in 10 countries
countries Poverty Action (IPA) on COVID-19 knowledge, behavior,
education, access to health services,
employment, income loss, financial
health, food insecurity, and social
protection or safety nets.
GAGE COVID-19 Phone Gender & Adolescence: Assesses a wide variety of gender data for
Survey modules
modules Global Evidence (GAGE), adolescents and their primary female
Overseas Development caregivers, including COVID-19 health
Institute (ODI), The outcomes, education, food insecurity,
George Washington risky health behavior such as smoking
University, IPA and alcohol consumption, mental health,
employment, skills training, freedom of
movement, freedom of being connected to
friends, GBV, and family violence.
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