Gender statistics

Gender inequality persists in the Arab region, stagnating social and economic progress. The human rights of women and girls are still far from being realized. Improving the production and dissemination of gender statistics is vital to enable policymakers to formulate evidence-based policies and plans, monitor changes, and inform the public.

ESCWA works with member States to improve production, dissemination and communication of gender statistics in critical areas of concern, including the SDGs, and in challenging and neglected areas, by improving existing tools, modernizing data sources and exploring other sources, such as big data and non-traditional data, to provide a more comprehensive picture of the status of girls and boys, and women and men. 

Our approach

Our partners

• ESCWA member States 

• United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs 

• Various other United Nations agencies, including UN Women, UNICEF, UNESCO, ILO and WHO 

• Other regional commissions  

• League of Arab States  

• Statistics, Economic and Social Research and Training Center (SESCRIC)  

• Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS) 

• Experts, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the media 

Our activities

ESCWA seeks to improve countries’ capacity in the following areas:

• producing intersectional statistical analysis highlighting gender issues and gaps;
• providing capacity-building activities, including technical advisory consultations, workshops and training materials;
• developing methodological toolkits to improve the production and analysis of quality and standardized gender statistics;
• organizing interagency and expert group meetings to promote standards and share knowledge and good practices;
• developing and maintaining e-learning capacity-building self-paced software;
• developing and maintaining gender databases and dashboards;
• collecting gender statistics from national and international sources;
• sharing national and regional news on gender activities through the media (bi-annual newsletter).

 ESCWA has also contributed to the revision of the Arabic version of The International Classification of Activities for Time-Use Statistics (ICATUS 2016). It has published the Gender statistics online course (in Arabic only) to enhance