Data drives action. To ensure no one is left behind and inform action to fully implement the 2030 Agenda, addressing the significant gaps in our data systems is crucial. As the world faces a confluence of crises, the ambitions of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda are in jeopardy. Urgent action is needed, underpinned by robust evidence to steer the global community back on course. However, current data systems in many countries are inadequate, particularly in terms of timeliness, relevance, and inclusiveness. These shortcomings are especially pronounced for hard-to-reach populations and those underrepresented in data and statistics due to vulnerabilities, biases, and flawed data collection designs. Addressing these gaps and ensuring open, participatory and transparent processes throughout the data value chain are essential to ensure equitable progress and informed decision-making. Better and more inclusive data can direct improve the living conditions of marginalized populations, help assess the implementation of their rights and access to services.

The commitment will encourage the adoption of tools and principles in line with the Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data for the responsible production and curation of citizen data and enable CSOs, communities and citizens in countries to use the data they produce more broadly and more effectively. The initiative will also help scale up support for the use and uptake of citizen data for impact, including by establishing effective partnerships between state and non-state actors and bringing about visible results for achieving the SDGs and fulfilling the ambition of LNOB and deliver practical tools and guidelines for the work to be carried out in countries. The Steering Committee is committing to establish a mechanism to help scale up resources for the wider agenda of work. It would do so by working to establish a Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) where a wide range of donors – from bilaterals to philanthropies – can contribute. The funds will be used to implement citizen data initiatives with a gender perspective in countries, focusing first on leveraging citizen data on persons with disabilities, LGBTIQ+, and Indigenous Peoples, and gradually expanding to other groups. Contributions for this trust fund would support current and new members of the Collaborative to implement the tools and principles of the Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data through activities covering data collection, documentation, dissemination, and use, establishing citizen data partnerships and sharing knowledge through the Collaborative, resulting in better and more inclusive data for the SDGs. The country-level experiences will be shared through the work of the Collaborative to help promote learnings and insights to inspire others. This will also involve the development of technical solutions to share and visualize data that has been generated in the participating countries and connecting the national projects and experiences with norms setting, developing methodologies and tools and other relevant regional and global processes.