16 April 2016: The 49th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD49) reached agreement on strengthening the demographic evidence base for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, noting the importance of demographic data and analysis for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leaving no one behind. Governments also made decisions on the Commission’s future organization and methods of work.

CPD 49 convened at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 11-15 April 2016, under the theme, ‘Strengthening the demographic evidence base for the post-2015 development agenda.’ The week-long event included keynote presentations, panel discussions and 14 side events.

“To live up to the commitment to ‘leave no one behind,’ we have to make sure everyone is counted,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized in his opening address. Ban underscored the importance of statistics for tracking progress and including everyone, describing the role of data in ending inequalities, helping people who are hard to reach and providing optimal public health services. Observing that the Commission “has a proud tradition of focusing on people,” Ban highlighted its contribution to understanding demographic trends, such as securing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), promoting gender equality, investing in the needs of both youth and older persons, and addressing “mass displacement” and population movements, all of which he said will be critical to achieving the SDGs.

In her opening address, Commission Chair Mwaba Patricia Kasese-Bota (Zambia) stressed the importance of reliable, timely demographic data for planning and implementing the SDGs and monitoring progress. John Wilmoth, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), highlighted the complementarity between the Commission and the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC), explaining that UNSC focuses on data production while CPD focuses on data analysis and resulting policy guidance. He recommended embracing “open data” policies, including access to anonymized micro-data, and applying geo-referencing techniques to document inequalities between social groups.

UNSC Chair Wasmália Bivar stressed the importance of demographic data for the global SDG indicator framework. She highlighted the 2020 population and housing censuses as a critical component in “building national statistical capacities and generating reliable, accurate and regular population statistics,” informing that the UNSC has launched a set of revised principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses.

At least half of the SDG indicators depend on demographic data, said UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin. He recommended: increasing investments in civil registration and vital statistics; developing better ways to reach the uncounted; and building human capacity to use census data as a planning tool for education, health and other public infrastructure, including through an education revolution, among other actions.

The Commission discussed: improving administrative data systems, including strengthening human capacity to build and maintain traditional forms of demographic data, including through censuses, civil registration systems and household data, particularly in developing countries; leveraging information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve data collection and processing; and balancing the opportunities of big data and open data with privacy and confidentiality concerns. Some also recommended balancing excitement about big data with realism about the need for universal coverage of population and events. Participants called on governments around the world to participate in the 2020 population censuses to ensure the enumeration of the entire population and its characteristics. Participants recommended disaggregating data by age, disability, ethnicity, gender, geographic location, income, migratory status, race and other characteristics.

CPD 49 also discussed its methods of work, agreeing that the Commission will contribute to the follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda, within its existing mandate, and that its contribution will reflect the integrated nature or the Goals and their interlinkages. Participants recognized the need for transparent and inclusive discussions and enabling informal consultation on draft resolutions and decisions, including during intersessional periods. Wilmouth called on the Commission re-adopt a multi-year work programme to enable the Bureau and the Secretariat to plan ahead and expand CPD’s overall planning horizon, including possible alignment with the four-year cycle of the High-Level Political Forum’s (HLPF) review of the 2030 Agenda. In its Resolution on the issue, the Commission addresses streamlining its agenda and programme of work, improving communication among the Bureau and Member States and intersessionally, and negotiating the Commission’s resolutions and decisions.

The Commission decided that the special theme for CPD 50, in 2017, will be ‘Changing population age structures and sustainable development’. [UN Press Release] [DESA Press Release on Opening Session] [DESA Press Release, 8 April] [Meeting Summary] [UN Secretary-General Statement] [DESA Opening Statement] [DESA Closing Statement] [UNFPA Opening Statement] [UNFPA Closing Statement] [CPD 49 Website] [Side Events] [E/CN.9/2016/L.4] [Resolution on Future organization and methods of work of the CPD] [UNSC Chair Statement]