Exploring the Role of Open Data
in Gender-Inclusive Development

BACKGROUND

How can open data be used as a tool to promote gender-inclusive development? What can be done to ensure that women are empowered by and benefit from open government data?

This project seeks answers to these questions. To date, little research has been done on gender budgeting and monitoring using open data. We want to change that and begin understanding these questions through our latest research project in Yogyakarta. Specifically, we will look at whether and how public budgets are allocated to advance gender equality at the pilot areas of Girisuko in the Gunung Kidul district and Wonolelo in the Bantul district.

Why is this so important? Through our different projects and experiences at the Jakarta Lab, we’ve noticed that public budgets are often seen as gender-neutral. However, the decisions made about which services and projects receive funding and to what extent impacts men and women differently. Because of this, we’re focusing our initial research on two aspects:

• First, we want to assess whether local government budgets specifically for projects intended to support women have truly been spent on projects that address women’s  most pressing needs.
• Second, for budget lines and programmes where gender budgeting and monitoring is already relatively strong, we want to see how open data initiatives can further strengthen the process of monitoring the allocation, spending, and impact of public funds to benefit women and girls.

We plan to use the findings of our research to raise public awareness of the importance of budgeting in a way that advances gender equality. We will work with citizens to improve their data literacy skills so they can understand budget data and monitor implementation and spending. We also hope this research will incentivise local governments to disclose budget data on gender-related programmes proactively.

PARTNERS