The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty, deliver the Global Goals, and tackle global challenges in line with the government’s UK Aid Strategy. Our aid budget is spent on tackling the great global challenges – from the root causes of mass migration and disease, to the threat of terrorism and global climate change – all of which also directly threaten British interests. We are ending the need for aid by building peaceful and stable societies, creating jobs and strong economies, fighting corruption, unlocking the potential of girls and women, tackling climate change and helping to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit. We are doing this because it is both the right thing to do and firmly in Britain’s national interest.
Priorities as an Inclusive Data Charter Champion:
FCDO is currently developing an IDC Action Plan. The former Department for International Development's (DFID) IDC Action Plan primarily related to DFID’s programme data and laid out the actions and steps we would take to better understand the situation of the poorest and most marginalised, and make better decisions that positively impact all people’s lives. Key to achieving the ambitions in this action plan was strengthening the culture within DFID of disaggregated and inclusive data. This involved shifting mindsets and improving our capability and capacity.
DFID's 2019 Monitoring Report.
Priorities as a partner of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
We need a data revolution. Without good information on how many men, women and children still live in extreme poverty, it is not possible to identify the actions that are needed to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. There has been significant progress in both the availability and the quality of data. However, vital gaps remain. As many as 350 million people worldwide are not covered by household surveys.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is pleased to announce that we are exploring additional contributions to the broadened World Bank Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building (TFSCB) that will help to fill some of these data gaps. The challenge is to modernise statistical systems at the global, regional and national levels. We need to work through existing channels, learn the lessons from the MDGs, listen to the voices of statisticians in developing countries and align donor support behind national priorities.
The United Kingdom is pleased to announce an additional £6 million for PARIS21 to enable the Partnership to play an enhanced role in helping developing countries to strengthen their national statistical systems in a rapidly changing environment.
The UK Government is strongly committed to the power of Open Data. Prime Minister David Cameron has championed open government in the UK, and has led an international agenda with transparency at its core. That is why, alongside the United States, we are pleased to announce that we will partner with the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition Secretariat to organize a 2016 GODAN Summit.
Official Statistics alone will not generate the disaggregated data needed to leave no one behind. We need to mobilise the private sector and civil society to generate useful data from new sources. This will not happen by itself. The UK supports the call for a World Data Forum in 2016, to generate political commitments and accountability, to inspire action, encourage networking and solve problems among multiple stakeholders, to drive progress on the data revolution for sustainable development.
We recognise the need to involve a wider range of new actors in civil society and the private sector to help mobilise data for development. The UK will participate in discussions to explore options for a Global Partnership that can work in combination with existing partnerships and institutions.
