23 February 2016: The Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) has finalized its report to the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC), thus completing its technical work to propose global indicators for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Group has proposed a set of 231 global indicators for measuring the 169 targets of the SDGs. All of the previously “grey” indicators, or those marked with an asterisk indicating that they are still under discussion, have been finalized by the Group.

The Group’s final report is transmitted to the UNSC in a note of the UN Secretary-General (E/CN.3/2016/2/Rev.1). It will be considered at the Commission’s 47th session, taking place from 8-11 March 2016, in New York, US.

Annex III of the final report shows the preliminary set of indicators submitted on 17 December 2015, which contained 80 indicators marked “still under discussion.” Annex IV shows the revised, final list of proposed SDG indicators. These are the result of further discussion, the report notes, and no indicators remain under discussion.

In a briefing to civil society on 25 February 2016, a representative of the UN Statistics Division said the IAEG-SDGs has reviewed all indicators to ensure they reflect the targets to the extent possible, for all segments of the population. She noted that after action by the UNSC in March, the indicators proposal is expected to be adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN General Assembly (UNGA), “preferably in June 2016.”

The IAEG-SDGs will next concentrate on implementation, she said. The first step will be to classify all of the indicators into three “tiers” for further development, and this will be discussed at the upcoming third meeting of the Group (IAEG-SDGs 3), taking place in Mexico City, Mexico, from 30 March-1 April 2016.

UNSC 47 will take up the report of the IAEG-SDGs under Agenda item 3(a), ‘Items for discussion and decision: data and indicators for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.’ Briefings in preparation for UNSC 47 will take place on 29 February for civil society organizations, and on 2 March for UN Member States. [Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators: Note by the Secretary-General] [IISD RS Sources] [IISD RS Story on Preliminary Proposal] [IISD RS Story on Reports for UNSC 47] IISD RS Story on Expert Input on SDG 16 Indicators] [IISD RS Story on Civil Society Input to IAEG-SDGs] [IAEG-SDGs Briefing to Member States, January 2016]