African policymakers, gender experts, and development actors are calling on countries and the region to invest and collaborate more to finance the production and use of gender data to improve the lives of women and girls.

Senior public sector officials and civil society actors from nearly 40 African countries are convened in Gaborone, Botswana for the Africa Gender Statistics Forum 2024 (AGSF24). This year’s AGSF aims to take stock of Africa’s progress and gender perceptions in the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the 3rd Africa Program on Gender Statistics.

Held under the theme Pooling Together for Gender Statistics: Financing the Numbers that Make Women and Girls Count, the 2024 theme is informed by the International Women’s Day 2024 call: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress.

“The financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stands at $1.3 trillion per year,” said William Muhwava, Chief of the Demographic and Social Statistics Section speaking on behalf of Oliver Chinganya, Director of the African Centre for Statistics, at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

“Africa needs at least an additional $800 million per year towards meeting the SDGs. At the current pace, gender equality will only be achieved in 2094,” said Muhwava.

While development assistance for gender equality has increased every year since 2015, funding for gender data and statistics has fallen by nearly half compared to averages from 2019.

“Investing in the production and use of gender data and leveraging this for gender equality is thus the crucial shared goal of AGSF24,” said Aleta Miller, Representative for UN Women’s South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO). (Press Release)