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I COUNT! A coalition for inclusion and ambition in the Post-2030 Indicator Framework

Organization: Civil Society Data Type: Official statistics, Survey data, Citizen data, Civil registration and vital statistics, Census, Data for SDG monitoring, Cross-cutting
Region: Global Timeline: We will take a phased approach to delivering on this commitment. Initial stages will include outreach and foundational membership (Aug 2024-Jan 2025); annual milestone activities as a collective and an anticipated, significant output by June 2026. Planning beyond 2026 and through 2030 will be done collectively and iteratively to build from, and be responsive to, the dynamic circumstances that will shape the delivery of a post-2030 global agenda for development.
Joanna Pradela (Contact Person)
Jpradela@iwda.org.au
Sponsoring Organization:

Equality Insights

Supporting Organization(s):

ARROW, Data2x, CBM, DataGĂ©nero, Equal Measure 2030, DANE - National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia, Gender + Environment Data Alliance (GEDA), GI-ESCR, Koppa, Minority Rights Group, ONE - Oficina Nacional de EstadĂ­stica (National Statistics Office of Dominican Republic), Open Data Watch, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Women Deliver

Objective:

To create an umbrella collaborative for groups and initiatives working independently or in consortia on data innovations that name, and seek to resolve, limitations of current statistical systems, approaches and standards that perpetuate lack of visibility and inclusion of certain social groups (historically marginalized) in data. This includes reliance on household-level measurement, and gender-insensitive measurement approaches. By providing a common space and coordinating structure, the intention is to increase the level of dialogue, debate, cooperation and shared learning about how best to resolve the need for inclusion and ambition in the Post-2030 Indicator Framework while maintaining responsiveness and recognition of the pressures facing national statistical systems. By bringing together a high ambition coalition, focused on what is needed for equity, sustainability and justice, rather than working from what is possible currently, the commitment aims to enable greater progress, crowding in like-mindeds, and seeding a global conversation that supports ambition for inclusion.

Description:

The call for a data revolution to underpin the 2030 Agenda was a key ambition in moving from the MDGs to the SDGs. With an increased number of goals and targets, developing an indicator framework that was meaningful and achievable was challenging. The pragmatic focus on identifying existing indicators sufficient to track progress was important, but also locked in a history of neglect of gender, disability, age and other characteristics in measurement. The time and resources required to monitor progress against these indicators has limited energy and resources for action on other foundational data gaps. The Tier System that has guided iterative development of the SDG indicator framework and subsequent reviews has also limited consideration of new innovative and more inclusive measurement approaches. This has impacted visibility of social groups in data, and evidence that could drive improvements in their circumstances, hindering realization of commitments to leave no one behind.

This commitment will foster collaboration among actors already working on data solutions to resolve exclusion perpetuated by current statistical approaches, priorities and standards, towards shaping thinking and ambition on post-2030 indicator arrangements, and highlighting action underway on the commitment to leave no one behind. An initial work program will be refined with participating partners. A webpage to communicate the Commitment, rationale, partners and outputs, will provide a focal point for advocacy, outreach and emerging interest, and may be progressively developed as a full website. The Coalition will be made public at the UNWDF, with an opportunity afterwards to engage immediate interest. A social media kit will support collaborator comms and targeted communication to the OECD Gendernet meeting on at the same time, for visibility in the gender policy community. Two post-launch webinars will engage further interest, with initial participation open until end January 2025. A joint strategy/ planning session will be held in the first half of 2025 as an opportunity to align and co-create plans (collective and individual) through to end June 2026, and agree ways of working and mutual accountability. Regular intervals for coming together will be determined to enable face to face and virtual engagement.

This process will scaffold the work and priorities of individual initiatives to strengthen collective communication on measuring what matters for inclusion equity and justice. By providing a modality for coordination and collaboration we will  surface and strengthen visibility of work underway, provide a platform to influence emerging discussions re post-2030 arrangements, and promote ambition on commitments to leave no one behind.  A core activity from August 2024 will be development of a special edition of a prominent journal, to surface and consolidate ideas and initiatives with an anticipated release to coincide with a key moment in the latter half of 2026.

Progress on agreed and co-created collective and individual plans and activities will be monitored at the regular intervals for coming together using a simple shared tracking document, to support mutual visibility and an agile and dynamic approach, to capitalize / amplify what is working and adjust efforts that are less effective. A data-driven / evidence-based approach to social media and website communications will support. By providing a framework that links existing initiatives and efforts, to which participating organisations/netowkrs/coalitions are already committed, and provides opportunities for learning and sharing strategies and elevating individual successes into larger and broader collective successes. A small number of collective indicators will be agreed and monitored, and the collective web presence will give visibility to individual and collective successes and quantify activities in ways that convey momentum.