In the midst of the current global COVID-19 crisis, there is an unprecedented need for data to not only enable decision makers to inform policies and planning but to also minimize the risk for all especially the vulnerable population groups. For this purpose, timely data disaggregated by age, sex, location and other markers is important to inform decision makers and the general public.

From the point of view of the statistical community, are we ready for such a huge challenge? What do we learn from this challenge and experiences? Governments are working together with partners at the national and global level to deal with the current emergency by adapting innovative production methods and processes to ensure collection of critical data at various levels. Daily case information is being collected to provide demographic information disaggregated by various markers. Data collected by National Statistics Offices are also being used to forecast gaps in the required health service resources, such as hospital beds, to respond to the crisis effectively. Also critical is to translate data into actionable, ready-to-use information and insights to benefit decision-makers.

• Bring experiences from 3 entities working at the forefront of this crisis to provide data support
• Highlight the challenges and lessons learnt to improve the data collection and provide sufficient empirical data to respond to the pandemic

The webinar is part of the UN World Data Forum webinar series that aims to showcase some examples on how national and international organisations are leveraging various techniques and methodologies to provide up-to-date information to decision-makers to mitigate the global COVID-19 crisis.