1. Statistics for Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Aspects and the UNECE Road Map
Andres Vikat
Meeting of CIS countries on youth statistics
Moscow, 5-6 December 2018

2. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
2015
Adopted by all countries
economic
Takes a holistic approach to addressing the challenges of sustainable development by integrating at its core the economic, social and environmental dimensions
social
environmental
New, universal set of goals, targets and indicators that are ambitious, integrated, indivisible, global in nature

4. Global SDG indicator list
Tier system to assess availability of the indicators
Tier 1 – internationally agreed methods exist, data widely available
Tier 2 – agreed methods exist but data are not widely available
Tier 3 – no agreed methods, no data
Custodian agencies for each indicator: ~ 50 agencies
Approval by UNSC – statisticians
After that to be approved at the political level – by ECOSOC and General Assembly
IAEG-SDG has met 5 times (New York, June 2015; Bangkok, October 2015; Mexico City, March-April 2016; Geneva November 2016, Ottawa March 2017), several rounds of open consultations
Global indicator framework is intended for global follow-up and review of 2030 Agenda, the global indicators are not necessarily applicable to all national contexts; alternative or complementary indicators for regional, national and subnational levels will be developed at the regional and national levels based on national priorities, realities, capacities and circumstances;
Role of custodian agencies – linked with data flows
The main responsibilities of these agencies are to collect data from countries under existing mandates and through reporting mechanisms, to compile internationally comparable data, to support increased adoption and compliance with internationally agreed standards, and to strengthen national statistical capacity. The custodian agencies should also communicate and coordinate with national statistical systems in a transparent manner, including on the validation of estimates and necessary data adjustments; compile the international data series, calculate global and regional aggregates and provide them, along with the metadata, to UNSD; prepare the storyline for the annual global progress report; and coordinate the methodological development of indicators.
IAEG-SDG has met 7 times, next meeting in beginning of November 2018, Stockholm
4 subgroups (on geo-spatial information, interlinkages, SDMX, capacity building)
work stream on disaggregation
Continuous adjustment of indicators will be necessary – annual refinements; two comprehensive reviews in 2020 and 2025
Metadata (concepts and definitions, data sources, data availability): sdgs/metadata-compilation/
Custodian agencies’ work plans for developing Tier III indicators
Data flows – a drafting group set up (co-chairs Germany and Cameroon); Data provision should take into account existing reporting mechanisms

5. Data and Policy Challenge: No one left behind
“Sustainable Development Goal indicators should be disaggregated, where relevant, by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographic location, or other characteristics, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.”
New gender data requirements are to be fulfilled by the National Statistics Offices (NSOs).
Out of 80 gender-relevant SDG indicators:
43 (54%) have data currently available for global monitoring
22 (28%) have data disaggregated by sex
The Agenda 2030 envisions equity as a foundation of its core principle: “No one left behind.” It focuses on extending the benefits of sustainable development to groups of the population that are routinely and structurally excluded. The approach overlaps with the key concerns of achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.
Disaggregation by sex is specifically important for mainstreaming a gender perspective into SDG implementation: by introducing sex disaggregation into the monitoring framework, national partners can ensure that gender-based differences in progress towards specific targets will not go unnoticed.

6. Gender in SDGs
Gender equality is a cross-cutting theme that is mainstreamed into the 2030 Agenda through 80 gender-relevant indicators in 14 out of the 17 SDGs.
34% gender-relevant indicators
21% explicitly disaggregated by sex
Poverty
Hunger
Health
Education
Gender
Work
Cities
Institutions

7. SDG data coordination is a challenge
Monitoring progress toward SDGs requires statistics
on 232 indicators
based on data provided by 193 countries
often involving 30 or more agencies within a country
compiled by 50 international organizations
UNECE Statistical Division supports countries in
setting up an efficient system for SDG statistics
producing the SDG indicators
Monitoring progress towards SDGs requires good quality statistics. The Agenda 2030 underlines that tracking progress should be based on data produced by countries.
To measure the global progress, UN has agreed on a list of 232 indicators.
These indicators cover very different areas. Therefore, in each country the data comes together from many sources, often from 30 or more national agencies.
Agencies in countries send these data to 50 international organizations who are responsible for compiling individual indicators that are maintained in the global SDG database.
And there are 193 countries.
This represents a huge coordination challenge!
UNECE supports countries in this area in two main ways:
Providing guidance and practical tools to set up an efficient system of SDG statistics in countries;
methodological support to produce the SDG indicators – here the Statistical Division works together with experts from the Environment and Transport Divisions and the Housing and Land Management and Population Units.

8. Custodian Agencies of SDG indicators
*Agency
icon size is proportional to number of indicators assigned
Here is a graphical illustration of the Custodian Agencies responsibilities
Dark blue=Secretariat – among which UNEP is prominent with 32 Is, followed by UNDESA with 20 Is and UNODC- 16 Is,
Light blue= Specialized Agencies within the UN system - lead by W Health O with 31 Is, followed by the World Bank with 23 Is, and FAO and UNESCO with 20 Is each.
Green = Other Funds, Programs and Related Organizations (outside of the Secretariat)- lead by UNICEF with 18 Indicators
Yellow= Other Entities ouside the Secretariat – prominent UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction with 11 Is.
Gold = Member Countries and Coalitions
Dark Brown = Conventions
Pink = Other International Organizations – you can see the OECD bubble on the top right hand side
Empty bubble (no fill color) = agency has no indicators

9. SDG Data Flow Model (Simplified)
An illustration of the «ideal model» how it should work
Just explain: data providers to NSOs, which coordinate and ensure quality mechanism,
then NSOs send data and metadata to the Custodian Agencies whic may estimate and model
Then CAs consult with the NSOs
CAs send to the Global UNSD Database

10. Reporting on SDGs – UNECE region
High-level Political Forum
UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development
UNECE Statistical Division
Guidance to countries
No monitoring
UNECE region
OECD
European Union
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Statistics Directorate + other statistics
Eurostat
+ other EU sources
CIS-Stat
“Measuring distance to SDG targets”
Update June 2017
100 SDG indicators
based on existing data
51 in global SDG list
111 SDG indicators
based on survey on relevance among CES countries
all in global SDG list
UNECE region:
56 countries, incl.
Canada, US, Europe, Israel, Turkey, Caucasus, Central Asia
National statistics
National indicators
(Sub)regional indicators
Global indicators

11. UNECE Road Map on Statistics for SDGs
Provides guidance to countries how to set up an efficient system of SDG statistics
endorsed in 2017 by over 65 NSOs
Practical tools have been produced
national reporting platforms (34 countries)
testing data transmission (38 countries)
assessment of available data (36 countries)
national road map or work plan (25 countries)
Statistical capacity development is supported by
annual regional expert meetings
workshops and advisory missions
To support countries in setting up an efficient system of statistics for SDGs, UNECE prepared a Road Map on statistics for SDGs*.
In 2017, the Chief Statisticians of 65 countries from UNECE region and beyond endorsed the Road Map.
The Road Map provides recommendations on:
coordinating the statistical work on SDGs in countries (among the many national agencies who produce the data)
transferring the data to about 50 international organizations who are responsible for the different SDG indicators in the global database
identifying statistical capacity building priorities, etc.
Countries are actively using the Road Map. As this was the first such guidance globally, many countries from outside the UNECE region are using it.
Some countries (e.g. Mexico and Serbia) have translated the Road Map into their national language.
The Road Map is used also by the UN regional offices and country teams in organizing their work in countries (some have called it a ‘bible’)
To help with the implementation of the Road Map, a number of practical tools have been prepared. Countries are actively using these tools and guidance, as shown on the slide.
The next two slides describe some of these tools in greater detail.
* Note: UNECE provided the secretariat for a group of 17 countries who worked on the Road Map, including: Canada,, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russian Federation, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and USA. Eurostat and OECD were also members of the group. The work was initially chaired by Untied States and Switzerland, currently by Poland and Sweden (Fall 2018)

12. Content of the Road Map
Establishing national mechanisms for collaboration –NSOs to have a key coordinating role
Assessing countries’ readiness to provide data on global SDG indicators, identifying data sources
Selecting national indicators to monitor national SDG strategies and policies
Providing data on global SDG indicators – data flows
Communication and dissemination
Capacity-building

13. Example 1: Guidance on National Reporting Platforms (NRPs)
UNECE developed guidance on National Reporting Platforms (January 2018)
NRPs can be used to
collect data on SDGs from many national agencies
provide national statistics to users, including to international organizations
34 UNECE countries currently have or are setting up NRPs based on UNECE guidance
NRP is a means to report national statistics for the global and/or national SDG indicators. A "platform" refers to an integrated website, databases, and associated IT infrastructure to gather, host, secure, and make available information and related metadata and documentation
UNECE developed guidance on how to set up National Reporting Platforms (NRPs) for SDG data
NRPs are online platforms used for:
collecting data on SDGs from many national agencies
providing national statistics to users, including to international organizations
These platforms make data and statistics accessible to all, and allow to follow progress on achieving SDGs
34 UNECE countries currently have or are setting up NRPs
Building on the experience in the UNECE region, these platforms are now set up also in African and Latin American countries - altogether, in over 50 countries.

14. Example 2: Testing data flows for SDGs
Issue: countries experience serious problems with providing data to international organizations for the global SDG database
statistics produced by countries and international organizations are different
data flows from within a country are not coordinated
UNECE tested data flows
“What information is needed to be able to complete your assigned task regarding the SDG global indicator reporting?”
help countries navigate data flows
report national statistics efficiently and transparently
38 countries from UNECE region and beyond participated
Result: practical recommendations to improve the process, these have been taken into account in global guidance
The second example concerns testing data flows for SDG indicators
Countries experience serious problems with providing data to international organizations for the global SDG database:
Often the data provided by the international organizations for a country is different from the data that the country has. The organizations sometimes adjust the data but countries may not know why, or not agree with that. This was a big problem already with the MDG indicators.
Data provision from the different agencies within a country is often not coordinated (as said earlier, the data comes together from 30 or more agencies within a country, these agencies may have different data for the same indicator, and they may not know what the other agency is sending)
To find practical solutions, UNECE tested on selected SDG indicators how the data moves from the national level to the 50 international organizations responsible for different indicators, and how to facilitate solving the data discrepancies.
38 countries (including from outside the UNECE region) participated in this voluntary pilot testing – it shows how important this issue is for countries
The test resulted in a number of practical suggestions to address coordination bottlenecks and data issues.
The outcomes of the pilot testing have contributed to global guidance to improve the SDG data flows.
The data flow pilots initiated by UNECE have now been used also by countries in the African region, and are considered by the ESCAP Statistical Commission.

15. Issues related to data availability
Proxies
Statistics that are similar to, but not exactly the same, as the global indicator
Not clearly defined what is a proxy, countries are using various approaches
E.g. an indicator can be considered a proxy because of differences in
units
definition
coverage
Availability
Already produced and disseminated - available
Not yet produced but can be easily calculated based on existing data - available
Can be calculated but needs adjustment to existing collection instruments (e.g., adding questions to existing surveys) – short- term
Needs introducing new data collection instruments – mid-term
Needs building capacity and resources in a new area – long-term
Unfortunately there is no agreed list which are statistical and non-statistical indicators

16. More information SDG indicators website (including work of IAEG-SDGs)
STATISTICS
SDG indicators website (including work of IAEG-SDGs)
Road Map on statistics for SDGs (available in Russian)
UNECE wiki on statistics for SDGs
UNECE Expert Meetings on statistics for SDGs
(10-12 April 2017)
(18-19 April 2018)

17. STATISTICS
Thank you!
UNECE