The field of gender equality policy has a research problem. Not a shortage of research — there is an enormous and growing body of literature on gender inequality, its causes, and its consequences. The problem is a gap between what is known and what is used in policymaking.
The Data Foundation
Evidence-based policy begins with data. For gender equality, this means gender-disaggregated data: information collected and analyzed separately for women and men, girls and boys, and ideally disaggregated further by age, ethnicity, disability status, and other dimensions of identity.
What We Don't Measure
Some of the most important dimensions of gender inequality are among the least measured. Violence against women is systematically underreported in official statistics. Unpaid care work is invisible in national accounts. Women's asset ownership is rarely captured in household surveys that measure assets at the household level without disaggregating by gender.
What Works: The Evidence on Interventions
Cash Transfers
Research shows that cash transfers to women — rather than to households — are more likely to be spent on children's nutrition, health, and education. Programs that combine cash transfers with information and behavior change communication show particularly strong effects.
Legal Reform
Laws prohibiting discrimination and violence against women are necessary but insufficient. Enforcement is critical: countries with strong anti-discrimination laws but weak enforcement show little improvement in gender equality outcomes.
Economic Empowerment Programs
Microfinance programs targeting women have been extensively evaluated, with mixed results. Access to credit alone does not reliably produce economic empowerment; credit must be combined with business training, market linkages, and social support.
Methodological Challenges
Context Dependence: Gender inequality is deeply shaped by context. An intervention that works in one setting may not work in another.
Attribution: Many gender equality outcomes are the result of multiple, interacting factors. Attributing change to a specific intervention is methodologically challenging.
Participation and Power: Rigorous evaluation requires careful attention to who participates in research and whose knowledge is valued.
Toward a Learning System
The goal is not merely to generate evidence but to build systems that use evidence to improve policy and practice. The Women's Congress UN Forum Hub's research program is designed as a learning system: generating evidence, synthesizing it across contexts, and making it accessible to policymakers and practitioners.
Dr. Yuki Tanaka-Mori is the Director of Research and Evaluation at the Women's Congress UN Forum Hub.