Data2X

The signing of a strategic partnership with Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and Safaricom PLC marks the beginning of one of the most significant data partnerships in Kenya's statistical history. Mobile phone data will help Kenya bridge critical information gaps and better understand the needs of key sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and climate adaptation. More information in the new story, linked in the comments 👇️ By Winnie Kamau Open Data Watch-Data2X media fellow

The work women do every day, especially unpaid care at home or work on smallhold farms, has been largely invisible in official labor statistics. “Gender statistics generally have misrepresented women as unproductive and overly dependent on men’s wages, rather than as individual economic agents,” says Mayra Buvinic, Senior Advisor at Open Data Watch-Data2X and Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Center for Global Development. This piece explores the importance of gender disaggregated data and its potential to generate positive change. Read more: https://lnkd.in/expPqkJv

How can global data help us better understand and monitor women’s representation in the judiciary? ⚖️ Join the #GenderDataNetwork (GDN) on 14 September (12:00–13:00 UTC) for a webinar introducing the Women in the Judiciary Dashboard, developed by UNDP in collaboration with UN Women. The session is organized by the GDN and hosted by Open Data Watch, alongside UNDP and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. 📊 Explore the data and methodology behind the dashboard, hear a national perspective from the Maldives, and discuss how global data resources can complement national gender statistics. 🌐 Online on Zoom | Interpretation in French & Spanish 👉 Register here: https://lnkd.in/eMU2KBG6

The inaugural Africa Gender and Child Statistics Forum #AGCSF2026 marked an important milestone for building more inclusive data systems across Africa. ODW-Data2X joined partners, including PARIS21 and UN Women, in discussions on strengthening #GenderData use and exploring how #CitizenData complements official statistics via the Collaborative on Citizen Data while expanding the #GenderDataNetwork. Read our latest blog for key takeaways from the forum: https://lnkd.in/gBjhfbXN

Every year, I look forward to this forum. It has become one of the few spaces where experts and working-level practitioners (not just senior leaders) come together for a week of honest knowledge sharing, collaboration, and planning for the future. This is where we see countries' commitment to advancing more inclusive data systems—one step at a time. It is where we learn from innovative approaches that continue to move the agenda forward despite financial constraints and growing pushback. And it is where we experience the remarkable sense of community among gender and child data statisticians, where collaboration is the norm rather than the exception. A heartfelt thanks to organizers, partners, and funders who make this gathering possible year after year. Isabella Schmidt Papa Seck Meriem Ait OuyahiaLiliana Suchodolska Johannes Jütting William Muhwava Pamela Kakande Samuel Kobina Annim Elizabeth H. Francesca Perucci Haoyi Chen Jenna Slotin Elizabeth Lockwood Mayra Buvinic Caren Grown Jessamyn Encarnacion I am especially delighted that Open Data Watch- DATA2X has had the opportunity to participate in the discussions, contribute, and learn alongside so many inspiring colleagues. https://lnkd.in/dECK_qdn

$3.6 trillion a year. That's what corruption is estimated to cost the world annually. It costs us in schools left unbuilt, infrastructure left unmaintained, and resources that never reach the people that need them. At the Global #DataFest2026 in June, #DataValues Advocate, Riana Bucceri of the Open Government Partnership, asked the room a simple question: think of a corruption scandal that stuck with you. Now ask yourself — what actually broke that story? Her answer: it was the data. The Panama Papers didn't happen because of a lucky tip. It happened because ownership records that had been hidden in plain sight were finally made visible. This is the case for open data as anti-corruption infrastructure. And Bucceri and the Open Gov Partnership team are currently building a tool to help users get a clearer picture of how well countries are adopting open governance and making that kind of data visible. Full story from Winnie Kamau (Open Data Watch-Data2X Media Fellow) in the comments. 👇 #OpenData #FestivalFriday #Data4SDGs

Smallholder farmers are the backbone of African agriculture. Better data serves them directly, giving them access to information they can use to plan their crops, forecast yields, and manage risk. It also helps governments design effective, targeted policy to support farmers where they need it most. Better agriculture data isn't an abstract objective. It isn't about analysis or reporting. It's about delivering information that helps farmers and governments improve productivity and resilience, and meet the challenge of food insecurity. But the payoff depends on people, not just platforms. For example, extension workers are key to translating data into guidance farmers can actually use. Keep reading in the story by Open Data Watch-Data2X Media Fellow, Emmanuel Mulenga: https://buff.ly/jQ6KbEP The The 50x2030 Initiative is implemented by The World Bank Group, FAO, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). #DataFest2026

A government once distributed tractors equally across all its regions — including mangrove areas where the machines couldn't be used. That's the cost of the "dangerous gap" between data and decisions. Most agricultural data governments need already exists somewhere. The barrier isn't technical capacity, it's trust: fears over how sensitive data (like farmers' locations) might be used often lead to blanket refusals to share it at all. The fix? Data-governance systems that protect what's sensitive while opening up what isn't, so fertilizer, food aid, and social protection reach the people who actually need them. As James Henderson put it in the #DataFest2026 session on the The 50x2030 Initiative: "If data is not being used, it is useless." Three groups need to work together to carry this forward: governments coordinating across ministries, extension workers translating evidence into farmer-facing guidance, and geospatial technologies mapping where the need is greatest. Read the article by Open Data Watch-Data2X media fellow, Emmanuel Mulenga for more insights. Full story in comments 👇 The 50x2030 initiative is implemented by The World Bank Group, FAO and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Kenya Space Agency | Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

📣 Open Data Watch-Data2X will be at the UN #HLPF2026 in New York City, commencing tomorrow! The United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development under the auspices of #ECOSOC is taking place this and next week: 7-15 July 2026. It will focus on transformative, equitable, and innovative actions for the #SDG agenda. ODW-D2X will contribute to three #HLPF side events focused on climate, aging, and gender as we get closer to the 2030 benchmark. The emphasis will be on building stronger data systems for better policies and improved lives. Our Director of Policy and Partnerships, Francesca Perucci, will join these informative sessions: 📊 Advancing Gender Indicators for SDGs Implementation and Accountability 📆 7 July | 1:15-2:45pm | UNHQ, NYC: L-133 💬 A lab session convened by UN Women exploring how stronger gender indicators can improve monitoring of SDGs, inform policy, and strengthen accountability through #VoluntaryNationalReviews (VNRs) with insights across different country contexts. 💎 Treasure What We Measure: Older Persons and Data 📆 9 July | 10:00-11:15am | online: https://lnkd.in/eNwhNNkB  💬 A discussion on why age-disaggregated data is essential for inclusive policymaking for aging societies, building on lessons from the Titchfield City Group, and identifying next steps to #LeaveNoOneBehind with the Stakeholder Group on Ageing & United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 🌱Building Equitable Pathways to 2030 and Beyond: Advancing Climate Resilience through the Lens of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment 📆 13 July | 1:15-2:45pm | UNHQ, NYC: Conference Room C 💬 A dialogue on how #CitizenData can strengthen human rights-based governance, climate resilience, and accountability across the SDGs with the Collaborative on Citizen Data and many co-sponsors, including the Danish Institute for Human Rights. Throughout #HLPF2026, ODW-D2X will join diverse partners across sectors to advance data-driven progress towards the SDGs and contribute to strategic conversations beyond 2030 on the sidelines of the forum. 💡 Learn more here: https://hlpf.un.org/