March 2018: The UN Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs released several documents on the SDG indicators and 2030 Agenda, for consideration at the 49th session of the UN Statistical Commission. UNSC 49 is convening from 6-9 March 2018.
Data and indicators for the 2030 Agenda are the first item for “discussion and decision” during the 49th session. Participants will discuss and take action on a report of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), which describes the activities undertaken by the Group since the previous session of the Commission (E/CN.3/2018/2). The report covers the methodological development of Tier III indicators and updates to the tier classification, as well as the process of annual refinements of some indicators and a timeline for the 2020 comprehensive review. It also highlights the Group’s work on data disaggregation and on guidelines for data flows and global data reporting for the SDGs, on which the Commission will consider a background document prepared by the IAEG.
During the IAEG-SDGs’ sixth meeting, in Manama, Bahrain, in November 2017, the Group discussed draft guidelines on data flows, for use by custodian agencies and governments in order to harmonize their statistics. Revised draft guidelines were to be circulated among countries and custodian agencies in December 2017 and January 2018.
UNSC participants will also discuss and decide on a report of the High Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG-PCCB) (E/CN.3/2018/4). The report outlines the High-level Group’s work on implementing the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data adopted at the first World Data Forum, and it describes preparations for the second WDF, to convene from 22-24 October 2018, in Dubai, UAE. The report also notes the possible creation of the position of Chief Statistician of the UN.
A note of the UN Secretary-General is provided for information, on ‘Policy decisions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council that are relevant to the work of the Statistical Commission’ (E/CN.3/2018/35). The report recalls that the UNGA requested (71/313) the UN Statistical Commission to: coordinate work to develop international statistical standards, methods and guidelines to fully implement the global indicator framework; to further refine and improve the framework, through the IAEG, in order to address coverage, alignment with targets, definition of terms and development of metadata; and to facilitate its implementation, including through the periodic review of new methodologies and data as they become available. The UNGA requested the Secretary-General to: report on the Goals; ensure transparency of the data, statistics and metadata; facilitate collaboration between national statistical systems and the relevant international and regional organizations to enhance data reporting channels; and ensure the harmonization and consistency of data and statistics for the indicators used to follow up and review the Goals and targets, within existing resources. [UNSC 49 Documents] [Background Paper: Guidelines on Data Flows and Global Data Reporting for Sustainable Development Goals] [Background Document: Does the United Nations need a Chief Statistician?] [SDG Knowledge Hub story on IAEG-SDGs 6]