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By Winnie Kamau
Nairobi, Kenya: After 14 years of significant impact, Data2X and Open Data Watch are uniting in a new strategic partnership to enhance the global use and impact of gender data, furthering their shared vision for gender equality.
This formal alignment represents a natural and strong progression of their long-standing collaboration. Since Data2X was founded in 2012 at the United Nations Foundation, it has worked closely with Open Data Watch.
Together with partners across the global data ecosystem, the organizations have been instrumental in transforming how the world measures and advances gender equality.
The integration will shift Data2X’s gender data programs into Open Data Watch’s broader data systems efforts. This move will position the gender data agenda for greater technical rigor and reach, ultimately leading to better-informed policies and improved outcomes for women and girls worldwide.
Executive Director Data2x
“From the beginning, Data2X has worked to make gender data essential, not optional,” said Krista Jones Baptista, Executive Director of Data2X.
Adding “Data2X’s transition to Open Data Watch is a powerful next chapter for our work: embedding gender considerations more deeply across the broader data ecosystem and strengthening the enabling environment for gender data through strong partnerships from production and access to use and impact. Our goal remains the same: ensuring gender and inclusive data drives accountability and action.”
Data2X has played a central role in shaping the global gender data agenda, identifying critical data gaps, developing widely used frameworks, and mobilizing political will and investment across the development community. Through research, advocacy, and partnerships with governments, national statistical offices, international institutions, and the UN system, the organization has helped expand the availability and use of high-quality gender data worldwide.
“This partnership is more than an organizational merger it’s a strategic step to embed gender data more deeply across the broader data ecosystem in which Open Data Watch works,” said Shaida Badiee, Managing Director of Open Data Watch.
Open Data Watch brings deep expertise at the intersection of open data and official statistics. The organization supports institutional change in data systems around the world, working to ensure these systems not only inform policy and track progress, but also reflect and respect the people they are meant to serve.
“Lasting progress depends on integrating gender considerations throughout the data value chain—from collection and governance to access and use rather than treating gender data as a stand-alone effort. At Open Data Watch, we are committed to carrying forward Data2X’s legacy and working with partners to strengthen gender-responsive, inclusive data systems that drive better decisions and better outcomes for women and girls,” Badiee added.
Building on more than a decade of collaboration, the partnership will sustain ongoing initiatives, strengthen support to national statistical systems, and deepen engagement with governments, civil society, and international organizations.
Data2X’s programs, partnerships, and technical contributions will continue as part of Open Data Watch’s broader efforts to advance open, inclusive, and trustworthy data systems. Among the Data2X’s Program is the launch of Gender Data2X Media Fellowship that started in 2025 and is expected to culminate in study tours.
Together, Data2X and Open Data Watch are expecting to expand collaboration across the global data community, strengthen gender-responsive data practices, and help ensure that gender data informs policies, investments, and accountability efforts worldwide.
Winnie Kamau is an Managing Editor and Tech Editor at Talk Africa also a Gender Data2x Media Fellow
