Data in UN 2030 Agenda reports to generate awareness, encourage success

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted last year will generate a lot of data and the resulting reports will increase awareness of the global development efforts for the next 15 years, a senior official in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said on Wednesday.

"We will see a lot of shadow reports, we will see the publication of indices and, let's say, fast assessments and this is in a way good because it will help to raise awareness for this," said UN Assistant Secretary-General Thomas Gass for DESA's Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs.

"But we have to go much further this time," he said. "It is crucial to build a global data ecosystem replete with quality, reliable and timely data. We must insure that our policies and measures are based on evidence and that reviews and follow-ups will look at all dimensions of the agenda and focus on all people including those who have been left behind who are often uncounted."

"Many statistical systems across the globe face serious challenges in addressing the unprecedented amount of data and statistics needed," Gass told reporters at a briefing in UN Headquarters here. "A global effort to improve data quality and availability therefore is essential to fulfill our promise to present and future generations."

"We have the chance to truly set the world on a different sustainable path leaving no one behind," he said. "The annual sustainable development goals report provides an opportunity to reflect on where we are and where we need to focus our efforts to make this ambitious and transformative agenda a reality for all."

At a High-Level Political Forum on SDGs on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the first-ever report on the ambitious 2030 Agenda, saying. "We are off to a good start."

At the same time, he said the UN family and its partners must work together to successfully reach the 17 sustainable development goals approved by world leaders last September to serve as the blueprint for global development efforts for the next 15 years.

Since the report was issued so relatively soon after adoption of the agenda, it did not show any significant quantitative changes.

"About one in eight people still lived in extreme poverty, nearly 800 million peoples suffered from hunger, the births of nearly a quarter of children under 5 had not been recorded," Ban said in the report's Forward. "It presents and overview of the 17 goals using data currently available to highlight the most significant gaps and changes."

"The first report is a starting point," he said. Enditem