Report of the Statistical Commission – Update 3

The Statistical Commission in its draft report for its 46th session set out succinctly its role in the development of the indicators for the up-coming session of the intergovernmental negotiations on the sustainable development goals and targets. While demonstrating its willingness to provide a preliminary list of indicators as requested by the Co-facilitators, it includes a number of caveats. In addition, the Commission clearly defines it future role in the process for developing the indicators, establishing both an Inter-agency and expert group on SDG indicators (IAEG-SDG) and also a new high-level group (HLG).

It commended the Friends of the Chair (FOC) for their “pro-active support …to the intergovernmental process on the post-2015 development agenda, and in particular its preparatory work on an indicator framework…” and endorsed the proposed roadmap, particularly its suggested timetable aiming at an endorsement of the indicator framework at its next session in 2016. The Commission considered the development of a robust and high-quality indicator framework as “a technical process which requires time and needs to be conducted in stages…” The “global indicator framework should only contain a limited number of indicators, should build on the experiences of the MDGs and take into account conceptual indicator frameworks that have already been developed.”

The Commission expressed its concern about presenting the “preliminary results of an initial list of indicators” at the March intergovernmental negotiating session and emphasized that it should be considered as a preliminary proposal which would not preclude any further refinement of the indicators listed in it, based on later detailed technical discussions. The Bureau, assisted by the FOC, was therefore asked to finalize the technical materials for the March meeting.

The formation of the IAEG-SDG was endorsed, emphasizing the role of national statistical offices to ensure national ownership and taking into account the conclusions of the February Expert Group Meeting. The Commission also supported the formation the HLG to provide strategic leadership for the SDG implementation process. The HLG will be made up of national statistical offices, with regional and international organizations as observers.

The work of the FOC was endorsed for its other areas of work and it was noted that it would not duplicate the work of the IAEG or the HLG. There is, however, an urgent need to invest in national statistical capacity, especially in developing countries.