For evaluating trends in, for instance, economics, climate, and health, US government data have long played a vital role in guiding policy, both at home and internationally. But the production and reliability of long-standing, widely used US data sources are now under threat.
While traditional data disaggregation — separating data by gender, age, or income — helps identify disparities, it often misses how multiple factors overlap. Intersectional data allows us to see the full picture.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) this year looked at how data can drive change for women and girls, emphasizing that comprehensive, accessible, and inclusive data are essential both to making and tracking progress.
Topics at this year’s United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) ranged from the new System of National Accounts (SNA), to the 2030 Population and Housing Census, the new framework for Citizen Data, SDG progress, time use surveys, data financing, and the impact of AI. Six key takeaways emerged.
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.
ODW had an active role at the recent UN World Data Forum where data experts, policymakers, civil society groups, and advocates focused on inclusive data, trust and ethics, effective partnerships, and maximizing the use and value of data in decision-making.
For a decade, TReNDS has gathered leading experts and actors to discuss the power of data to achieve progress on SDGs. It’s latest report reflects on the network’s achievements and proposes a way forward.
Aiming to spark innovative ideas, collaboration, and partnerships for better sustainable development data, this year’s World Data Forum in Medellín, Colombia, will for the first time be running concurrently with a global “Commit to Data” campaign. ODW is active in both.
Some critics see the outcomes of the UN’s recent “Summit of the Future” as out of touch with reality, but we believe the initiatives address key areas of importance that are worth watching.
Gender data is now deeply woven into SDGs with ten notable areas of achivement to close data gaps, integrate gender data into policymaking, and create lasting partnerships that improve gender equality worldwide.