Equality Insights is a gender data program delivered by the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). We use inclusive data to drive progress on gender equality and inspire transformative change. We have developed innovative tools that collect high-quality, inclusive data about poverty and inequality. This includes a gender-sensitive, individual-level measure of multidimensional poverty. As a poverty measure, Equality Insights collects information about 15 key areas of life as well as assets. The survey tools have been used in seven countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and were informed by participatory research with over 3000 people across six countries. Some of this work was completed under a previous name, the Individual Deprivation Measure. Our data reveals the experiences of individuals who are often rendered invisible in poverty data, and the intersectional insights we generate are used by governments and civil society to inform policy solutions, fuel feminist advocacy, and inspire social change. By taking a different approach to measuring poverty and inequality, Equality Insights reveals important insights that are essential to creating a just, equitable, and sustainable future for all.

Priorities as a partner of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

Inclusive and gender-sensitive data about poverty and inequality is essential to realising the ambitious goals laid out in the 2030 Agenda, and the broader promise to leave no one behind. It is critical to tracking global progress towards the SDGs, and to understanding how this progress translates into outcomes for individuals. It is also vital for guiding investment to achieve the goals, in ways that have the greatest impact. Equality Insights is a complementary tool that provides robust, quality, and timely data which supports achievement of the SDGs. Gender equality cuts across all 17 SDGs, in which quality gender data is required to meet these goals. Equality Insights collects data relevant to assessing progress on several goals. Equality Insights also provides disaggregated data for a range of SDG indicators. Without individual-level data, we are missing crucial details of the specific needs of people experiencing poverty. By closing the gender data gap and collecting information that helps us see how gender, age, disability, or geographic location among other factors, policymakers can target programs and expenditure where these are needed most, ensuring we deliver on the 2030 agenda.