Adoption of Dubai Declaration to measure progress of SDGs

The second United Nations World Data Forum launched a Dubai Declaration to increase financing for better data and statistics for sustainable development.

• Dubai Declarationincludes detailed measures to boost funding for data and statistical analysis for monitoring and speeding up progress towards the 2030 SDGs.
• It aimed towards mobilising domestic and international funds and activating more effective data partnerships.
• It acknowledged that in the 2030 agenda Member States committed to “promote transparent and accountable public-private cooperation to exploit the contribution to be made by a wide range of data, including earth observation and geospatial information, while ensuring national ownership in supporting and tracking progress”
• It recognises that the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data (CTGAP) launched at the first United Nations World Data Forum guides the implementation of programmes and activities to respond to the data needs of the 2030 Agenda.

Need of Dubai Declaration:

• The full ambition of the SDG 2030 agenda cannot be realized without quality, timely, relevant, open and disaggregated data to ensure that no one is left behind.
• There is no data for two-thirds of the indicators set out in the SDGs and this makes it hard to measure the actual progress of the SDGs since their inception in 2015.
• For the full implementation of the 2030 agenda, it requires that national statistical systems transform and develop to be agile and responsive to meet the increased demands of data users.
• 2030 Agenda itself explicitly calls for enhanced support for strengthening data collection and capacity building in Member States and the capacity of national statistical offices and data systems to ensure access to high quality, timely, relevant and disaggregated data.
  
  

  UN World Data forum: United Nations World Data Forum on Sustainable Development Data (UN World Data Forum) would be the suitable platform for intensifying cooperation with various professional groups, such as information technology, geospatial information managers, data scientists, and users, as well as civil society stakeholders. The first United Nations World Data Forum was held in January 2017 by Statistics South Africain Cape Town, South Africa. In this forum Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data (CTGAP) was launched. Recently second UN World Data Forum hosted by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority of the United Arab Emirates October 2018 in Dubai.

• It will lead to the launch of a data interoperability guide by a collaborative and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.
• It identifies practical steps to help countries and development partners on the pathway towards integration of data from multiple sources for better monitoring and policy making to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

• Increased availability of sustainable development data, with the vital support of governments and in closer working partnerships with stakeholders from academia, civil society, the private sector, and the public at large, will enable stronger evidence-based decision-making.