Gender equality is a fundamental principle embedded within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). High quality, timely, comparable, and disaggregated gender data provide the evidence needed to measure progress towards achieving the gender-related SDG goals and targets. Such data is also indispensable in identifying gaps, informing policy decisions and implementing effective interventions.
With only five years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the availability of gender data remains still limited, despite recent improvements. In the Pacific, only 7% of the data needed to monitor SDG 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment is available. Gender data for other goals is even scarcer in many cases. The Government of Vanuatu has continued efforts to enhance the availability and quality of gender data, statistics, and indicators, along with its use. The updated Vanuatu National Strategy for the Development of Statistics 2024–2028 provides a strategic framework to strengthen the national statistical system, address critical data gaps, and meet national, regional, and global reporting commitments, including the National Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, SAMOA Pathway, and the Pacific Framework for Regionalism. Anchored in national development priorities, the strategy emphasizes the need for high-quality, disaggregated data to support evidence-based policymaking.
To support countries in Asia and the Pacific in producing and using gender data and statistics for SDG monitoring and decision-making, several initiatives and mechanisms have been launched at regional, subregional, and national levels. Among them is the Gender Statistics Training Curriculum, developed in 2020 as a joint initiative of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific to support national statistical offices in the region to acquire necessary statistical capacities to effectively produce and use gender statistics for tracking of progress on the SDGs.