While August is typically a quiet month as offices slow down to enjoy summer vacation, the development data community has kept busy. The 62nd International Statistical Institute World Statistics Congress 2019, a gathering of over 2,500 delegates comprised of statistical researchers, academia, industry practitioners, analysts, and policymakers, took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Additionally, organizations have been actively preparing for the UN General Assembly (UNGA 74) that is approaching quickly in September. Below is a list of additional sustainable development data articles and reports published in July. If there is something else to add, please contact us.
August
Statistical Capacity Building on Forced Displacement: An Urgent Need for SDGs & GCR Indicators? (8/1)
Natalia Baal, the coordinator for the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS), explains the difficulties in monitoring internally displaced people and refugees. She argues that, while it is widely recognized that national statistical capacities need to be strengthened, capacity building training programs need more political will, mutual interest, technical cooperation, and donor support. (source)
Integrating non-traditional data key in producing official Statistics (8/5)
National Bureau of Statistics Tanzania held a two-day national workshop for the promotion of integrating non-traditional data sources in the production of official statistics. The workshop included representatives from the National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Statistics Division. (source)
Ian Diamond appointed as UK’s National Statistician (8/6)
Ian Diamond joins the UK Statistics Authorities as the new Chief Executive and National Statistician. (source)
Standardisation of femicide data requires a complex, participatory process, but key lessons are already emerging (8/8)
Silvana Fumega, from the Latin American Initiative for Open Data, states the urgency of standardizing femicide data. The article includes examples from Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, Jamaica, and Panama which highlight the importance of standardizing data for increasing the visibility of femicide. (source)
Missing women patients: Gender discrimination in access to healthcare (8/8)
The Brookings Institution takes steps to fill the research gaps on gender discrimination regarding access to healthcare. Through an observational study in India collecting data on patients’ age, gender, and distance from the healthcare facility, Brookings releases finding on the countries gender gaps in healthcare (source)
47 Countries to Date Planning to Present VNRs at HLPF 2020 (8/8)
Lynn Wagner, the Group Director of SDG Knowledge Program, announces that 47 countries demonstrated intent to present a Voluntary National Review (VNR) during the 2020 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Out of the 47 countries presenting, 24 countries will present for the first time, while 23 countries will present for a second or third time. (source)
Who will lead the ‘next frontier’ of governance funding? (8/9)
Catherine Cheney, a reporter for Devex, demonstrates the need for greater coordination between private donors and bilateral donors for the extension of funding projects. She explains that new evidence shows that bilateral donors are having an increasingly difficult time financing development data initiatives with no immediate results. (source)
Rwanda: where even poverty data must toe Kagame’s line (8/12)
An investigation lead by the Financial Times reveals a possible misrepresentation and manipulation of Rwandan poverty statistics by providing other alternative estimates. The Financial Times puts into question the proclaimed “economic miracle” in Rwanda and the integrity with Rwanda’s biggest donor, the World Bank. (source)
Geospatial information crucial for Africa’s economic development, says The Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) Chinganya (8/13)
Mr.Chinganya, the Director of the Commission’s African Centre for Statistics (ACS), addresses the importance of spatial data as a key element for Africa’s economic development. In his keynote address on Digital Earth Africa Day, he marks the importance of spatial data to collect data on such a large continent with a complex biophysical environment. (source)
The case for a new Global Edtech Readiness Index (8/13)
Micheal Trucano authors a piece for World Bank Blogs on the importance of tracking investments in educational technologies. He discusses that as low and medium-income countries are investing in these systems they need to closely monitor advancements to understand whether the investment is having an impact and to find improvements.(source)
Australia builds its open data economy: Consumer Data Right passes parliament (8/14)
Australia announces the passing of the Consumer Data Right bill in parliament, which highlights data privacy as a human right. The author states that the bill will ensure that data is kept secure and will be safe for Australian bank customers to use. (source)
Communication, integration key for engaging the world on geospatial information (8/14)
SDSN TReNDS manager, Maryam Rabiee, authors a blog on the importance of geospatial data and technology to support the Sustainable Development Goals. She mentions one of her biggest takeaways from the 9th session of the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) is the importance of developing inclusive technological advancements on geospatial integration and frameworks. (source)
SDG Knowledge Weekly: HLPF Inputs on SDGs 4, 8 and 10 (8/15)
Adam Fishman breaks down the key messages from the High-Level Political Forum at the United Nations and provides key takeaways from the three Sustainable Development Goals reviewed this past July, SDG 4, 8, and 10. (source)
Pricey but priceless: the cost of funding a quality gender data system
Emily Courey Pryor and Shaida Badiee examine the financial implication of championing gender data initiatives. As the G7 leaders gathered to discuss gender inequality at the summit, the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council emphasized that achieving any of the G7 gender equality commitments “means little if national budgets don’t reflect these priorities.” They highlight that it will take 170-240 million US dollars to fund a core data system. (source)
#LearningCounts: We Must Keep Children’s Learning on the 2030 Agenda (8/24)
Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and Jordan Naidoo, Director of UNESCO’s Division for Education 2030 Support and Coordination co-author a piece on SDG 4, indicator 4.1.1, which measures the percentage of children in primary education and at the end of secondary education reaching at least a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics. They argue that this indicator is un-substitutable as it is vital for encapsulating the entire learning process and is critical for understanding where resources are scarce. (source)
Are cell phones becoming more popular than toilets? (8/26)
Vinny Ricciardi reports that the percentage of people with cellphones has exceeded the number of people using at least basic sanitation services. The percentage of people with cell phone subscriptions has reached 97 percent while only about 70 percent of the global population uses basic sanitation services, leaving them susceptible to diarrheal disease and other disorders. (source)
Bangladesh: Court removes ‘virgin’ word from marriage form (8/27)
The high court in Bangladesh rules that women registering their marriages no longer need to declare whether they are virgins upon registering their marriage. The court plans to take the word “virgin” off of registration forms completely and replace it with “unmarried.” (source)
How urban mobility data transformed Freetown (8/28)
Fatima Arroyo Arroyo writes a piece for the World Bank Data Blogs on a transformative data collaborative initiative that helped develop infrastructure for students from Freetown who couldn’t access their university during times of heavy rain. She explains that with the help of local citizens they were able to implement a successful project design and generated the first map of public transport for the Greater Freetown area. (source)