Timely, quality, disaggregated data is vital to achieving the 2030 Agenda. Reliable data helps support effective monitoring and drives informed decision-making. However, the potential of data can only be actualized if internationally comparable SDG data is available. Countries with available data may often only be able to produce estimates very infrequently and with substantial time lags, preventing policymakers from accurately monitoring progress and identifying trends. To help address these problems, the Data For Now (D4N) initiative was launched by UN Deputy-Secretary General Amina Mohammed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2019 with a set of eight trailblazer countries worldwide: Ghana, Rwanda, Colombia, Paraguay, Mongolia, Senegal, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
This UN Statistical Commission side event was held to discuss progress on the D4N initiative. The four core partners spearheading D4N—the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics, the World Bank, and the United Nations Statistics Division—jointly moderated this event.
