15 January 2016: The High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building (HLG) for post-2015 monitoring met to review its mandate and working mechanisms, discuss strategic aspects of implementing a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and consider its programme of work for 2016. The HLG is co-chaired by Hungary and Cote d’Ivoire, who are expected to update UNSC members on the Group’s key findings during the 47th session of the UN Statistial Commission (UNSC 47).

The HLG’s third meeting took place from 14-15 January 2016, at UN Headquarters in New York, US. The HLG was created during UNSC 46 to promote national ownership of the post-2015 monitoring system and foster statistical capacity building, partnership and coordination. It is composed of national statistical offices (NSOs), with regional and international organizations as observers.

According to the programme of work of the third meeting of the HLG, the Group sought to consider: the review of HLG terms of reference (TOR) and a summary of HLG activities in 2015; its relationship with the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs); the role of official statistical systems in harnessing the data revolution for sustainable development; partnerships between the statistical community and other stakeholders; priority areas for funding and resource mobilization; and relationship between national and global monitoring and reporting. It also considered the future World Forum on Sustainable Development Data (World Data Forum) and a UNSC 47 side event on partnerships for sustainable development data.

Addressing the HLG on the first day of the meeting, Mogens Lykketoft, President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), remarked that despite progress made in the past 15 years in the production and use of data for development and in the development of new technologies, “monitoring the SDGs will bring more statistical challenges than ever” regarding data availability and quality, data comparability, timeliness and granularity. He said that through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, all Member States have expressed their support for participatory, transparent and integrated review processes at the national, regional and global levels, and he noted the importance of quality data, information and statistics to inform these reviews. Lykketoft called to: fill “existing statistical gaps;” strengthen the statistical capacity of national authorities, particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable countries; make full use of new technologies and innovations; improve cooperation among all stakeholders; and use data in a way that helps determine how implementation affects everyone, particularly the most vulnerable, in the interest of “leaving no-one behind.” On the HLG’s role, Lykketoft said the Group can provide strategic guidance and recommendations, highlight priority areas to target funding for capacity-building, and identify ways to secure resources.

The meeting followed the issuance, on 16 December 2015, of a HLG report providing information on the activities of the Group since UNSC 46, and “points for decision” for UNSC 47, which convenes from 8-11 March 2016. Transmitted in the form of a Note by the UN Secretary-General (E/CN.3/2016/3), the report recalls the mandate and membership of the HLG, and outlines outcomes from the first two meetings of the HLG, which took place virtually, via teleconference, in October and November 2015.

According to the report, the HLG discussed during its first meeting: proposals for strengthening and clarifying its TOR and better delineating responsibilities between the HLG and the IAEG-SDGs; an initial draft concept note for the organization of the World Data Forum; and nominations for co-chairs. The report also notes that the Secretariat created a website for the HLG, including both a public section and a password-protected section, to facilitate communication within the group and with other stakeholders.

At its second meeting, the report outlines, HLG members provided additional suggestions to strengthen and clarify the TOR, and tasked the UN Secretariat with finalizing them for submission to the UNSC. The Group underlined “its unique role in providing strategic leadership” for SDG statistical monitoring, and, according to the report, the World Data Forum appropriately would provide a recurring venue for discussion on data for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda under the leadership of the HLG.

As part of the “points for decision” by UNSC 47, the report: invites the UNSC to express its views on the proposed revised TOR for the Group, which include tasks previously conducted by the Friends of the Chair Group on Broader Measures of Progress (FOC), which would be discontinued. It also notes that the Group will submit its proposed 2016 work programme for decision, as well as a draft concept note for the organization of the World Data Forum. [Agenda for Third HLG Meeting] [Meeting Webpage] [UNGA President’s Remarks] [Report of the High Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Post 2015 Monitoring] [IISD RS Story on HLG’s Establishment] [HLG Website] [HLG Members]