The United Nations (UN) Women Pakistan is working on a portal to help Pakistan to improve reporting on its national and international commitments and policy actions with gender equality. The initiative will enhance the collection, processing, development, and use of structured data to report on the national and foreign obligations of the country and to direct effective policy decisions to enhance women\’s and girls\’ lives in Pakistan. National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) has been engaged as the technical partner for developing this data portal.
Pakistan requires detailed regional data to successfully enforce, track, and disclose foreign gender equality commitments including the Convention on the Abolition of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the SDGs.
Pakistan ranks 151 out of 153 in the latest Gender Gap report developed by the World Economic Forum which highlights the need to address the challenges using evidence-based interventions
The need has emerged time and time again to compile, capture, incorporate, and disseminate gender variable data using diverse methods that can advise and coordinate strategies for tailored interventions. There are numerous sources of data sets at the national and regional levels, which need to be combined into a robust framework for evaluating and publishing policy guidance. This data portal will help to conduct regular analyzes of women\’s status in the country.
A major factor leading to the low status of women in Pakistan is the absence of credible, accurate, and clear national data that could help decision-makers better understand the situation, identify places where problems and inequalities exist, and take effective steps to address them.
Aisha Mukhtar, Country Representative a.i. UN Women Pakistan highlights the importance of a centralized database: “Gender statistics is not just about sex-disaggregated data. We need gender statistics to highlight areas where progress is made, provide evidence of change, and identify gaps that need to be addressed. The National Gender Data Portal is about improving the availability and use of gender statistics for policy action.”
Humera Azam Khan, Secretary NCSW, describing a lack of standardized data for national and international reporting as well as policy advice as a serious gap, says, “This data portal will help in conducting regular analysis on the status of women in the country. Once completed, it will be a landmark achievement.
Mishaal Mariam Moeen, an author and mixed media artist, expresses her creativity through written words and visual art forms.
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