International Women’s Day: Using open data to advance gender
equality
International Women’s Day
[https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day] takes place every year
on 8 March and has a long history rooted in social movements for
women’s rights. Today, the day brings global attention to the
achievements of women while also shining a light on the inequalities
that still exist. From equal pay and access to leadership roles to
education, personal safety, and equal opportunities, International
Women’s Day encourages governments, organisations, and citizens to
reflect on where progress is being made, and where more action is
still needed.  

Across Europe, the day is marked with events, campaigns, and public
discussions that invite reflection, debate, and collective action at
all levels of society. Coordinated through the International Women’s
Day platform, the initiative connects local activities to a shared
global movement. More information about the day and its annual themes
can be found on the International Women’s Day website.
[https://www.internationalwomensday.com/] Taken together, this day
provides an important moment to reflect on progress and persistent
gaps in areas such as employment, leadership, education, and safety.
Reliable data plays a central role in this discussion. European
institutions and agencies collect and publish gender-related
statistics that help track trends over time and compare outcomes
across countries. For example, the European Data Portal
[https://data.europa.eu/en] offers a wide range of datasets on topics
such as the gender pay gap
[https://data.europa.eu/data/combined?query=gender+pay+gap&locale=en&page=1],
employment rates by sex
[https://data.europa.eu/data/combined?query=employment+rates+sex+&locale=en&page=1]
and age
[https://data.europa.eu/data/combined?query=employment+rates+age&locale=en&page=1],
women in decision‑making positions
[https://data.europa.eu/data/combined?query=women+in+decision%E2%80%91making+positions&locale=en&page=1],
and work–life balance.
[https://data.europa.eu/data/combined?query=work%E2%80%93life+balance&locale=en&page=1] 

This International Women’s Day, take a moment to explore the data
behind the discussions. Visit the European Data Portal
[https://data.europa.eu/en] to discover gender-related datasets, use
them to inform your work or research, and share data-driven insights
within your network.  

For more news and events, follow us on X/Twitter
[https://twitter.com/EU_opendata] and LinkedIn
[https://www.linkedin.com/company/publications-office-of-the-european-union/],
or subscribe to our newsletter [https://data.europa.eu/en/newsletter].
You can also connect with other users through our collaboration
channel
[https://data.europa.eu/dashboard/en/community/collaboration-channel]. 

 

Publication Date/Time
2026-03-08T09:00:00+00:00
How open data supports evidence-based action for women’s rights
across Europe