Gaps in gender-specific data are holding back support and legislation for vulnerable women and children around the world, the United Nations has said.
The issue was raised at the World Data Forum in Dubai where speakers from the UN and UNICEF said gender related data was vital in policy planning.
The UN is working with Data2X, an advocacy platform to improve the collection and use of gender specific data.
Gender data is information that reveals the lived experiences of women and men, boys and girls.
“There are major gaps in the data that exists for women,” said Emily Courey-Pryor, executive director of Data2X.
“We’ve found serious gaps across five domains of development; health, education, economic opportunity, equal participation and human security.
“There is a huge problem about a lack of gender specific date that could help effective policy making.”
In 2014, Data2X published an international study on the availability of gender specific data that can be used to improve services and protect women and children.
“There was no comparable international data on women’s unpaid work and little information to assess the gender pay cap across countries,” said Ms Courey-Pryor.
“A third of countries lacked data on girls of primary school age and adult mortality relating to cause of death.
“We need to better understand where the gaps are and why they exist.
“Gender data gaps are persistent and pernicious, but we cannot close them unless we are open to collaboration.”
Data2X has worked with long term partners at Open Data Watch to evaluate global mapping on where the biggest gaps exist.
Just 52 per cent of data sets in 15 African countries had gender specific information in areas of health, education and economic factors.
“We have been asking hard questions about the data we need on women and children that often gets left out of statistics,” said Eric Swanson, director of research at Open Data Watch.
“There is a vastly expanding range of concerns in a world that is changing rapidly.
“We looked at international and national sources of data, as it is important to look at national data first to see how it is interpreted internationally.”
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There were nine areas where no gender specific data existed.
Economic opportunities were found to be an under reported area, with little to no information on the average hourly earnings of female and male employees.
There was also no data on the number of women aged 15-49 who had suffered sexual violence, or on those who felt safe walking alone in the area where they lived.
In September, a new gender data monitoring tool was launched, the Sustainability Development Goal Gender Index, to aid the UN’s current data monitoring system.
The index promises a new perspective on understanding gender inequality, and closing any gaps to promote greater accountability among decision-makers.
At the World Data Forum, case studies revealed how information gathering by UNICEF in Nicaragua and was being used.
In Nicaragua, sexual violence is taboo with the abuse of children and adolescents considered a family matter.
A study of reported cases between 2013-15 found 82 per cent of sexual crimes were committed against girls and adolescents under the age of 17 by a known person or family member.
Data collected allowed for a new communication strategy in the country to break the silence of the issue and show how cases could be reported and dealt with, placing the issue on the public agenda.
Worldwide, gender specific asset ownership and wealth was also severely lacking, putting women and children in vulnerable positions.
“Data on assets is important to discover which women have the level of security needed for female empowerment,” said Francesca Grum, chief of the social and housing statistics section of the UN.
“If women have control over key assets like land or principal dwellings, this adds to their security.
“There is very little information we can use from a gender perspective to fully understand this area.”
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
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6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
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8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
The specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
