FfD4 Event: Investments in Data Can Drive More Effective Development Financing
by the Open Data Watch Team
17 December 2024
National data systems have grown significantly in the last decade, but still fall short in delivering actionable insights needed by policymakers to make better financing decisions for better development outcomes. A recent event sought to ensure that the ongoing FfD4 process recognizes the importance of data and statistics.
The 2nd Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) Session for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) took place from 3-6 December 2024 at the United Nations in New York City in order to provide a space for the facilitators and vice-chairs of the Preparatory Committee to hear from countries, international organizations, and civil society regarding the Elements paper that will act as an input to the zero draft of the outcome document that will be shared with the public in mid-January, 2025. This zero draft will form the basis for further negotiations on the Road to Seville to make sure that the financing for development architecture is fit for purpose for the next ten years.
Open Data Watch hosted a side event at this conference entitled “From Monterrey to Sevilla: How Investments in Data Drive Effective Development Financing” on 5 December 2024. This event took place in the context of national data systems that have grown significantly in the last ten years but which still fall short of delivering the actionable insights policymakers need to make better financing decisions for better development outcomes. At the same time, external financing for these data and statistical systems is stagnating and domestic budgets for statistical systems are extremely constrained. To respond to this global context with national perspectives on the need to support data and statistics as part of the global financing for development infrastructure, the event included representatives from member countries (Rwanda, Ghana, Dominican Republic, Canada, and the United Kingdom) and facilitated a conversation between the statistical community and participants in the FfD4 process.
The event brought together different perspectives on the importance of data and statistics for driving effective financing for development and resulted in broad agreement on the need for the FfD4 outcome document to recognize data and statistics as a cross-cutting issue, to ensure data and statistics are mainstreamed across the outcome areas of FfD4, and to move from discussing data and statistics only as monitoring tools to discussing data and statistics as enablers for decisions around financing for development. There was also a productive engagement with attendees on diving deeper on how to ensure accountability around support to data and statistics and to keep the linkage between digital development and data and statistical systems strong.
Panelists and attendees agreed that the elements paper contained a promising start regarding the importance of data, as well as recognizing the need to invest in statistical systems. This feedback and the overarching points on how to integrate discussions of data and statistics in a future outcome document were also echoed in many of the statements as part of the official discussion of Data, monitoring and follow-up. 22 countries took to the floor to express their position on the importance of data and statistics and how the FfD4 process should reflect them in future discussions.
The event built on the work and consultations that took place over the last few months, including discussions by the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG-PCCB) and conversations held during the Multi-stakeholder days in October 2024, led by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), the UN Statistics Division and country delegates.
As we proceed from these discussions, official statements, and the side event towards the 3rd PrepCom session in mid-February and eagerly await the zero draft of the outcome document, Open Data Watch looks forward to continuing to work with all partners to ensure that data and statistics are recognized as a key enabler for effective development financing and that actions are taken as a result of FfD4 to support statistical capacity building, including by building effective financing mechanisms for data and statistics.
Open Data Watch would like to thank all of the panelists for participating and their respective government colleagues for supporting this event.
Click below to watch the event video:
