The collection and use of quality gender data must be a priority for governments’ COVID-19 policy response and recovery efforts.

We lack the comparable data we need to track the long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on women and girls over time, even though we know that data is a powerful tool to fight the pandemic and to inform daily decisions about health, social, and economic policy.
Gender data is the bedrock of evidence-based decision making and without it, policymakers, donors, and governments will be unable to create informed policies to respond and recover from the coronavirus pandemic and to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

This brief illustrates the broad picture of current gender data needs as it relates to COVID-19 response and SDG progress, and recommends actions governments can take to fill these gaps and build a more equitable future.

Data2X. (2020). Invest in Gender Data for COVID-19 Recovery and SDG Progress.