Data for Impact Bulletin: Spring 2025 Edition

Register today! Disappearing Data: Implications and Actions for Global Health

This past February, the Demographic Health Survey Program, a cornerstone of health data in many countries, saw its funding discontinued. This major shift in global health data availability is raising urgent questions about access, accountability, and action. In response, CanWaCH is launching a two-part webinar series to explore the far-reaching impacts of these changes and what they mean for the future of global health. Simultaneous interpretation is available.

Webinar 1 – June 11, 2025, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

This webinar will focus on contextualizing the impacts and implications of the DHS termination and discuss actions that stakeholders are taking or could take to ensure the availability and reliability of global health data. Concerns about data preservation and access will also be explored. 

Webinar 2 – June 25, 2025, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT

This webinar will zoom out to present the larger demographic health data landscape and ecosystem. This will include an overview of what remains from the DHS Program, and how gaps might be addressed. External guest speakers will be invited to share their perspectives on how demographic health data systems might be reimagined, focused on themes of cost efficiencies, data quality, sustainability and local ownership.

Highlights from the 2025 Global Health Impact Summit

On May 6 and 7, 2025, CanWaCH hosted its third Global Health Impact Summit in Toronto, Ontario, under the theme Data That Speaks: Actioning Qualitative Approaches in Global Health and Gender Equality Programming. The event brought together Canadian and global practitioners for hands-on workshops, candid peer exchanges, and collaborative workshopping focused on integrating qualitative methods into monitoring and evaluation.

The Summit welcomed 26 project presentations, three interactive workshops, and three participant-led discussions – all centered on qualitative approaches. 

Attendees left with practical tools, stronger networks, and greater capacity to apply inclusive, evidence-driven strategies in their programming. A high-level synthesis document will be forthcoming. In the meantime, here are just a few of the key takeaways that attendees shared with us:

• “The summit reinforced the importance of integrating qualitative insights into global health programming. It showcased how digital storytelling, lived experiences, and participatory research methods can complement and even lead quantitative data to drive more equitable and people-centered health interventions.”
• “There is a wealth of collective knowledge among professionals working in the global health sector. Organizations and teams could benefit from learning how to collaborate more effectively with funders—aiming to allocate more resources to implementation and less to measurement.  The idea of true collaboration with local teams and diverse stakeholders, especially in the context of decolonization and community engagement, is understood and practiced differently across groups and individuals.  Fully embracing the “do no harm” principle can be more complex and challenging than it may initially seem, and acknowledging these challenges is an important step toward more ethical and effective work.”
• “Qualitative methods are a compelling option for various M&E use cases including impact evaluation, formative research and process evaluation; however, funders have not yet meaningfully incorporated qualitative methods into frameworks for measuring results which can make prioritization a challenge. Work plans and budgets should explicitly take into account the time, effort and resources needed to conduct qualitative analysis in a scientifically rigorous way to continue making the case for broader acceptance of these innovative methods in addition to more traditional quant methods.”

Following the end of the first day of the summit, CanWaCH hosted an inspiring evening of connection and creativity. An art showcase at the event featured powerful pieces, including striking photo stories from Plan International Canada and 34 SDG-themed mixed-media pieces from World University Service of Canada. Compelling digital stories from a CanWaCH Collaborative led by Ugandan and Canadian teams offered fresh and thought-provoking perspectives on health through art.

Introducing: HERA Monthly!

Passionate about research? CanWaCH is excited to introduce HERA – the Health Excellence Research Alliance. This sub-brand will be the new home of our work as the Coordinating Centre for the Pan-Canadian Women’s Health Coalition and for the Canadian Collaborative for Global Health. It will also include a growing spectrum of our work supporting critical health research both domestically and around the world. Sign up for updates here and follow the brand on LinkedIn and BlueSky.

On Our Radar

• The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health
• Webinar: Local voices, lasting impact: Rethinking our practice for a future driven by locally led evaluations (June 3)
• Powering rapid responses to food and nutritional insecurity: An IATI Case Study
• Open Data Inventory – A Decade of Progress: Advancing Open and Inclusive Official Statistics
• Webinar: Lessons from CanPath on demystifying data harmonization (June 10)
• Humanitarian data drought: The deeper damage wrought by US aid cuts
• UNICEF: The fundamentals of Social + Behavioural Change – SBC Menu of Results and Indicators

Have any data resources, news updates, highlights and events you would like to share? Please contact us at [email protected].

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