8 April 2016: The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a guidance note identifying six principles for a human rights-based approach to data collection, to support monitoring of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The OHCHR note, titled ‘A Human Rights-Based Approach to Data: Leaving No One Behind in the 2030 Development Agenda,’ outlines the principles for data collection as follows: participation in the data collection process, especially by the marginalized; data disaggregation to guard against discrimination based on sex, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or religion; self-identification that does not reinforce further discrimination against vulnerable groups; transparency regarding the data collection process; privacy of respondents and maintaining confidentiality of their personal data; and accountability in data collection and use.

The Guidance Note is consistent with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, which are the professional and scientific standards adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2014, OHCHR says.

OHCHR launched the 12-page guidance note at a side event during the 47th session of the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC 47) in New York, US, in March. At the event, OHCHR highlighted the work of Mexico in applying a human rights approach to its 2015 national census survey. The Mexico survey collected disaggregated data based on ethnicity and housing status with regard to two segments of the population, adolescents and the elderly. The exercise showed that 21.5% of the population identified themselves as being of indigenous origin, and that indigenous girls spent 5.1 years at school on average, 1.1 year less than indigenous boys.

Enrique Jesus Ordaz Lopez, Director General of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico (INEGI), said gaps revealed by data collection should be clearly communicated to policy makers so they can come up with effective policy responses.

Lisa Bersales, National Statistician and Head of the Philippines Statistics Authority, called on national statistical offices (NSOs) to coordinate national statistical systems, and to promote partnerships between national and global data providers and users. She recommended making better use of existing data sources, such as registries and administrative surveys, while also drawing on new sources, such as big data. [OHCHR Report Webpage] [Publication: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Data: Leaving No One Behind in the 2030 Development Agenda]