| dc.description.abstract | In 2015, 193 countries – every member state of the United Nations
(UN) – pledged to end gender inequality by 2030 when they signed
up to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This global
ambition must now be matched by action. And action demands
robust data and evidence.
Data and evidence can drive accountability on gender equality
issues. This is particularly true when data are in the hands of –
and used effectively by – girls’ and women’s movements and
advocates, backed by champions from government, business, the
media, religious communities and others who have the power to
make a difference.
Data – especially about the lived realities of girls and women, about
what is working and where we’re falling behind – have the power
to hold governments accountable, to shine a light on hidden
issues, and to change laws, policies and budget decisions. If we
want to galvanize political will and policy attention that translate
into positive change for girls and women, we need data as one of
the tools to ensure that gender equality moves up the policy and
political agenda.
Equal Measures 2030 (EM2030) aims for global gender equality,
backed by robust data – a world where every girl and woman
counts and is counted. This unique partnership, led by civil society
and the private sector, connects data and evidence with advocacy
and action. We aim to ensure that girls’ and women’s movements,
advocates and decision makers have the rich data they need,
when they need them, and in a form they can use to drive progress
on gender equality.
EM2030 believes that the urgency of this issue cannot be
over-stated. And according to our recent survey of gender
equality advocates, nine in ten (89 per cent) agree with us that a
breakthrough in SDG progress on helping the most disadvantaged
girls and women will not be possible without relevant data.1
Almost half (49 per cent) of advocates feel that gender equality
has neither improved nor worsened, but has instead remained
static for the past five years. Those on the front-line in the fight for
gender equality are worried about stagnating progress, and believe
that there is a long way to go before we see the transformational
advances needed to achieve the SDGs.
In this, our latest major report, EM2030 introduces a new tool –
the SDG Gender Index – to tell the story of progress for girls and
women and to measure whether the world is on track to achieve
gender equality by 2030. The pilot Index responds to the urgent
need for data on gender equality, given their critical role in progress
towards the goals.
This report unpacks the SDG Gender Index to demonstrate its
use for cross-country comparisons and in-depth analysis, and for
the review of gender equality across the SDGs. It also identifies a
range of ‘missing’ issues that are not sufficiently reflected in the
current stock of global data: issues that are, nevertheless, of critical
importance for girls and women.
This pilot iteration of the Index
provides a solid basis for the further development of data tools for
gender equality and the expansion of country coverage in 2019. | en_US |
