Pitch
Have numbers that should be a story?
If you have a dataset, a briefing or a question the public record is not answering, send it to the desk.
Data Lens
Data for a more equal Africa.
Data Lens turns numbers into insights — highlighting the realities, gaps and opportunities shaping gender equality across Africa.
Data Lens uses data, research and evidence to reveal patterns, disparities and stories that conventional reporting can miss. It is a lens on a story, not a separate brand.
NumbersPeopleReal change
Evidence today.A more equal tomorrow.
Data.Insights.People.A more equal Africa.
What we publish
Real data. Real people. Real progress.
Every Data Lens figure sits on a sourced story. We do not publish a number without the reporting that makes it true.
Featured story
83% of new HIV infections among Ghanaian youth are young women but prevention only reaches 3 regions
Young people accounted for 27.5 per cent of Ghana's new HIV infections in 2025. But the country's 2024 HIV estimates reveal a stark gender imbalance: females accounted for 83.1 per cent of new infections among 15 to 24-year-olds. The figures raise urgent questions about whether prevention services are reaching the young women most at risk.
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Explore by topic
Find the data that matters to you.
Read Data Lens stories through the beat where they happened.
Data stories
- Data Story25 Oct 2026Ghana’s Parliament needs 43 more women MPs to meet the 30% affirmative action targetWomen who contested Ghana’s 2024 parliamentary elections were about as likely as men to win a seat. The disparity lies earlier in the process: how many women parties nominate and which constituencies they choose to contest.
- Data Story19 Oct 2026Perimenopause in Ghana: What women need to know about symptoms, treatment and workMany women in Ghana reach perimenopause without information, treatment or workplace support. A new qualitative study in BJOG finds symptoms can disrupt income, caregiving and daily life. This guide explains what perimenopause is, what symptoms Ghanaian women report, what helps, and where health and work gaps remain.
- Data Story17 Oct 2026Period poverty in Africa needs more than pads, new research showsMost Africans say their family lacked cash, water or medical care last year. School and price data show why that matters for periods.
- Data Story17 Oct 2026Ghana returns to the UN Human Rights Council. What does this mean for women and girls?Ghana won 173 votes to return to the UN Human Rights Council for 2027-2029. The seat decides how the world protects women and girls. At home, 41.6% of ever-partnered women report partner violence and funding for survivors was cut by 87.66% in 2025. What will Ghana do with the vote?
- Data Story11 Oct 2026Women leaving Ghana's prisons need more than an open gateAt a triple book launch in Accra, a prison reformer and the Director-General of Prisons asked Ghana to take reintegration seriously. The data shows why women and girls in the system are so easy to miss.
- Data Story10 Oct 2026Breast cancer treatment carried an average economic cost of GH¢34,631 per patient in 2019. Who bears it?A 2024 study estimated the average total cost at GH¢34,631 in 2019. That includes lost income, so it is not an average hospital bill.
- Data Story8 Oct 2026Ghana records about 5,000 breast cancer cases a year. Why are so many women diagnosed late?Screening rises with household wealth. Rural women and women in poorer households are least likely to have been examined, even after contacting a health service.
- Data Story4 Oct 2026Six women contested the NPP’s national executive elections. One won.Hawa Koomson is the only woman among the New Patriotic Party’s 11 new national officers. Ghana’s gender equity law sets a 30 percent target for 2026.
- Data Story3 Oct 2026Hawa Koomson wants to give every woman pepper spray. Ghana's data shows why it won't be enoughHawa Koomson says pepper spray will keep NPP women safe. Ghana's latest national survey shows 1 in 3 women has faced physical violence, most often from a current or former partner.
- Data Story3 Oct 2026Ghana put GH¢400 million into a women’s bank. So where are the loans?Ghana promised a Women’s Development Bank to help women-owned businesses get affordable credit. Government has allocated GH¢452.3 million across two budgets and says GH¢400 million has been deposited as initial capital. The bank is not yet lending. Here is what happened between the promise and the money.
- Data Story1 Oct 2026How African governments can lead the way on ending child marriage Sold for $8.65 to buy a week's food, Thandi* was 14 when she became a wife and mother. Her story is not unique it is the reality for millions of African girls failed by plural legal systems and empty promises.
- Data Story23 Sept 2026Ghana’s Affirmative Action Act promised 30% women’s representation in 2026. Where are the numbers?The first target under Act 1121 is due in 2026. Gender Lens Africa checks the law’s targets against the numbers and asks what happens when institutions fall short.
- Data Story18 Sept 2026The Maputo Protocol says this about women’s work. Ghana signed it in 2003Article 13 of the treaty sets out rights covering women’s employment, earnings, social protection and unpaid work. Ghana ratified it in 2007.
- Data Story17 Sept 2026Esi Kangaroo and the Economy she RanShe crossed borders before sunrise, fed a neighbourhood during COVID, and raised graduates. Ghana runs on women like her.
- Data Story17 Sept 2026Who taught you to shrink? And who are you teaching not to?From an aunty plaiting hair to a For You page, Ghanaian girls are still being taught to take up less space. And the data shows us exactly what that costs.
Methodology
How a number gets here.
Data Lens uses published figures to test claims and deepen reporting. It is a lens on a story, not a dashboard.
01
Source
A figure is published only with the reporting that makes it true. The source is named on the number.
02
Story
The link opens the Data Lens story the number belongs to. An older pin on the front page does not keep the click.
03
Form
The piece is a Data story, a Report, or an Infographic. An infographic is a picture that carries the piece.
04
Record
How we know lists only what the desk used: interviews, documents, datasets, field reporting, or expert review.