The UN World Data Forum 2021 convened in a hybrid format in Bern, Switzerland, to face a “new reckoning” on the role of data in making the world safer and more just. The Forum resulted in the Bern Data Compact for the Decade of Action on the SDGs.

The Forum took place from 3-6 October 2021, and was hosted by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. It aimed to address monitoring needs for the SDGs and sustainable development more generally. With the COVID-19 pandemic having highlighted the importance of timely data to inform decision-making, speakers at the Forum called for placing people at the center of data collection and dissemination, using innovative approaches to make marginalized communities visible, and bringing data back to those from whom it was collected, to help localize solutions.

During the Forum, participants announced several initiatives, including the Global Data Facility, the Clearinghouse for Financing Development Data, and the Complex Risk Analytics Fund.

At the closing session a UN representative announced a Compact that had been prepared by the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ( HLG-PCCB ). In the Bern Data Compact for the Decade of Action on the SDGs, participants recognize the need for “fit-for-purpose” data to achieve the 2030 Agenda, with each data ecosystem stakeholder playing their part to achieve the common goal of “a world with data we trust.”

The Compact says participants are increasingly aware that data are critical for responding to disasters, mitigating their effects, and recovering stronger. It calls for commitments to: develop data capacity, establish data partnerships, produce data to leave no one behind, understand the world with data, and build trust in data.

The fourth UN World Data Forum is expected to convene in April 2023, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, followed by the fifth UN World Data Forum in Medellin, Colombia, in late 2024. [Earth Negotiations Bulletin coverage of third UN World Data Forum]