Gender Data Hub

Overview: The NCAER National Data Innovation Centre plans to establish a gender data hub. This hub envisages using existing data and new data as a vehicle for engaging feminist scholars, activists, and policymakers. These stakeholders will be invited to undertake and/or guide gender-focused analyses of public policies—both women-focused and gender-neutral—in the economic, health, and educational domains in India. Some of the policies of interest include cash incentives for girls’ education, reducing inequalities in access to health services, and development of a social registry for improving access to government benefits. In recent years, Indian national data collection systems have faced considerable challenges. Lack of data, ironically at a time when data are most needed, has hampered both the evaluation of public policies and an understanding of women’s lived realities. Building a data-focused coalition that utilises diverse data sources will help bring feminist voices to the policy table in a non-partisan manner. Initial funding for the gender data hub is provided by Co-Impact.

Objectives: The overall goal is to shape a data-focused research agenda in conjunction with our civil society and government partners. The initiative will be a tripartite partnership between feminist activists and journalists, policymakers, and researchers. The team has unique access to data and statistical skills; civil society partners will offer an understanding of on-the-ground processes to help define policies that deserve evaluation and conditions that may limit policy impact; NCAER’s location within the Indian policy discourse will help to mobilise gender advocates within both the Government and the media to help disseminate the research results and establish policy linkages.