In Kyrgyzstan, data journalism is being harnessed as a powerful tool to improve data accessibility and use. A group of young journalists from the School of Data non-governmental organization (NGO) partnered with the popular Kloop Media produced compelling stories based on gender statistics about critical issues, such as women’s political participation, violence against women and girls, sexual and reproductive health and rights, access to education, and barriers to women’s labour force participation.
To raise awareness about the problem of violence against women and girls, a cartoon video presented relevant research indicating that Kyrgyz women in forced marriage report significantly lower levels of life satisfaction, while children born as a result of forced marriage tend to have lower birth weights.
An illustrated interactive quiz produced by the School of Data and published by Kloop as part of the collaboration also helped test readers’ knowledge and raise their awareness on women’s reproductive and sexual health and rights.
Another longread with infographics detailed the importance of women’s full and meaningful engagement at the highest levels of decision-making, as only one in five parliamentarians in Kyrgyzstan is a woman.
Meanwhile, a story using a scrollytelling format highlighted how gender stereotypes in education can limit women and girls’ potential and prospects, with data on gender segregation in education and careers.
[Note: This article is originally published by the UN Women’s regional website for Europe and Central Asia]