Unlocking the Power in Gender Data
As the role of data becomes widely understood, the value of gender data remains underappreciated globally. This is also the case on the African continent. Gender data, which is a step further from sex-disaggregated data, can be understood mainly as data seeking to uncover and untangle the power imbalances within data ecosystems. This research therefore seeks to elucidate this gap and provide a path around it. Specifically, an approach analysing data governance through the Afro-feminist lens has been adopted particularly with the aim to make a case for and put into view gender data, while working towards more equitable data ecosystems. Qualitative research methodologies scoping this study’s countries, which are Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia, were used to apply contextual understanding of data ecosystems on the continent’s realities. From this study’s findings, which indicated a gaping gap in gender data as well as minimal implementation of the existing data governance regulations, approaches towards the centering of gender data are proposed together with six pillars of Afro-feminist data governance oriented toward the creation of data ecosystems that are free from bias.