Accurate data is the lifeblood of good policy and decision-making.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, The Hague, December 2017
It will not be possible to deliver accelerated action to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without the availability of high-quality, timely, disaggregated and open data and statistics. Today, new technology, paired with existing data sources and methods, gives the world an unprecedented opportunity to address the increased demand for data to monitor the SDGs and strengthen evidence-based policy and decision-making. The Chief Executives Board (CEB) for Coordination and its two high-level committees, the High-level Committee on Management (HLCM) and the High-level Committee on Programmes (HLCP), have been contributing to strengthen, advance and innovate the UN system’s joint efforts to collect, produce, provide and use data and statistics.
System-wide Road Map for Innovating UN Data and Statistics
At its first regular session of 2020, CEB endorsed the System-wide Road Map for Innovating UN Data and Statistics, which contains a set of ambitious and aspirational targets, with the aim of innovating United Nations data and statistical outputs in relation to the two roles played by UN entities in this arena:
- To support the development of national statistical systems, helping countries to produce fit-for-purpose data and statistics;
- To provide authoritative regional and global data and statistics to support the international community in responding in a timely fashion to regional and emerging policy needs.
The road map, which covers data and statistics related to all three pillars of the United Nations, advances the vision of the Secretary-General of a whole-of-United Nations ecosystem that maximizes the value of data responsibly to make better decisions and deliver stronger support to those the Organization serves. It contributes to the overall objectives of the Data Strategy of the Secretary-General for Action by Everyone, Everywhere that in turn constitutes a framework to support the road map as a priority initiative. The road map was developed through HLCP – which stressed the need for an overarching system-wide engagement on data innovation in support of the Decade of Action for the SDGs – by the Committee of the Chief Statisticians of the United Nations System.
Source : CEB
