United Nations Statistical Commission

The success of the first UN World Data Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, confirmed the power of collaboration – of bringing together different data providers and users to discuss, plan and act. We are all aware of the huge challenges involved in implementing and monitoring progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the important role of data as part of the critical infrastructure for progress on sustainable development. The Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data, which was launched at the forum and is expected to be formally adopted by the UN Statistical Commission at its 48th session, sets out the scale of the task we face to create a data ecosystem that can meet this challenge. Achieving these ambitions will require action from all stakeholders, and good collaboration between them.

This joint breakfast meeting, co-hosted by the UN Statistics Division and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, will provide an opportunity to reflect on how collaboration and partnership can help ensure that UN Member States have the data they need to monitor and achieve the SDGs. We will present some examples of successful collaboration across sectors and data communities that aim to address the priorities in the Cape Town Global Action Plan, and we will be seeking input from participants on the challenges they face and how different stakeholders, and the international system as a whole, can help to fill data gaps, increase the availability and use of existing data, and overcome institutional and political barriers to improve data production and use.