Data collection and coverage
The first stage of the SheTrades Outlooks project covers 25 countries. The data collection process was divided into two phases. A pilot and testing phase which comprised four countries and a roll-out phase, which included 21 countries.
Countries included in the first stage of the SheTrades Outlook project| Phase 1 | Pilot | Bangladesh, Ghana, Jamaica, Malaysia |
| Phase 2 | Roll out | Australia, Botswana, Canada, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Zambia |
Pilot phase
Countries in the Pilot Phase were selected based on their level of development, geographical location, and political commitment to trade and gender equality. Country selection in the roll-out followed similar criteria.
Data collection for Phase 1 (from January to June 2019) covered more than seventy national institutions and organizations. Before and during Phase 1, intensive stakeholder consultations were held to ensure the relevance of indicators, to test the mapping of relevant institutions, identify potential risks, improve data collection strategy and validate the methodology.
Rollout phase
The Roll-out Phase is still ongoing and is expected to finish during the first trimester of 2020. This Phase also includes stakeholder workshops in selected countries. As of today, more than 460 institutions and organizations have been interviewed, and more than 60 practices have been identified.
Data collection and sources
Data collection relies primarily on primary sources. It also makes use of reliable, publicly available, and recently updated data sources published by the following data providers: The World Bank, UNESCO, UNStats, World Economic Forum, IPU, and the World Trade Organization.
Primary data collection is administered through semi-structured questionnaires. National consultants have been identified and trained by the ITC HQ team in each country. In these countries, the survey was administered by a focal point identified by the government or by an ITC expert in the field. Further, on average, 21 national institutions and organizations have been identified per country. This number depends on the country size and government structure. Examples of institutions surveyed include Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Public Procurement Authority, Customs Authority, Central Bank, National Statistics Office, Ministry of Technology, Ministry of Women Affairs, Business Associations, Chamber of Commerce, other Trade Support Institutions (TSIs), among others.