General Assembly Briefing on Global Indicator Framework, 28 January 2016

President: Mr. Mogens Lykketoft in opening the briefing, referred to his letter of 14 January 2016 on the report of the Interagency and Expert Group (IAEG) on indicators to the Statistical Commission, which includes the list of indicators in Annex. They have been developed through an open and inclusive consultative list. Most of the indicators have been agreed, with the exception of those marked with an *, which need further work. The Group is still working on them and will be submitting its updated proposals in an addendum to the report for the report. Once the report of the IAEG has been agreed by the Statistical Commission, the indicator framework will go to ECOSOC and General Assembly for adoption

Member States were invited to register any further questions or concerns, so that they can be addressed before the Commission meets.

Pullinger: Chair of the UNSC  said in providing an update on the work of IAEG, that there had been a high level of momentum.  The IAEG have developed created global indicators with technical integrity. 

All indicators have been discussed in-depth. Careful assessment of proposals has been provided by experts at national, regional, international, CSO levels. The indicators adhere to the Fundamental principles of official statistics adopted by the General Assembly in 2014. They are the result of highly technical and thorough work and in line with mandate given to the IAEG. The IAEG has been faced with challenges where tools do not already exist and have endeavoured to address specific population groups. All targets have at least one indicator.

The indicator framework has been designed to form the basis for the annual progress report on the SDGs, to be prepared by the UN Secretary-General and  informed by Member States. It will be an input into deliberations of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF).

Pullinger hopes that the Commission will agree with the IAEG proposals, which they have discussed extensively, based on their experiences and their consultations in regions. If there are concerns about specific indicators, Member States should approach him or UNSD, before meeting of the Commission to clarify and/or address remaining concerns.

Providing the data will be a challenge for many statistical systems.  There is a need to strengthen national statistical capacities substantially, especially in developing and least-developed countries. The High Level Group (HLG) has been tasked with promoting national ownership of the post-2015 monitoring system. They are addressing strategic guidance and identifying data gaps. THE HLG is an advisory group to the Statistical Commission, comprised of representatives of National Stat Offices and in most cases by the Head of the National Statistical Office. It met two weeks ago in New York and is working on a Global Action Plan for Data and the holding of a UN World Forum on Sustainable Development Data. 

For some indicators, the data has already been prepared, especially for the “legacy indicators” that were part of the MDG framework as well as some others. However, there are many other indicators for which data is not yet available. 

First phase is ready and the IAEG will now move onto the next stage, so that all countries have the information necessary to ensure that no country, individual, region is left behind. 

Co-Chair of IAEG from Mexico said that that the IAEG had worked hard to prepare within timeline of the process, while seeking to create national ownership and ensure consistency.

He gave a brief summary of activities carried out before last informal briefing, saying that the next meeting of the IAWG will be held in Mexico City at the end of March. Part of the meeting will be for members only with the rest open to countries that are not members and other observers. Since November the Group had held open consultations with experts from agencies on “green” indicators and the “grey” indicators. Those on which agreement has not been reached are marked with an * and are currently being reviewed. 

The global indicators will be complemented by regional and national indicators, which should be set consistent with the ambition of the 2030 Agenda. The IAEG agreed that the indicators should cover all target population groups. Data produced should be disaggregated at all levels. The mechanism, however, for data flow at different levels needs to be defined.  HLG will work on strategic plan for implementation of the SDGs. 

Next the IAEG will start work on three tiers as previously defined and included in the report of the IAEG. The next steps for the work of the IAEG are also set out in the report. In addition to the March meeting, it will meet again in the latter part of 2016. 

Comments were made from the following member states: USA, Nigeria, Zambia, India, Venezuela and Morocco. Stefan Schweinfest responded for the UN Statistical Division, noting that during the next weeks it will be critical for delegates in New York to talk to their chief statistical officers and close any remaining information gaps about the process. He said that the possibility of another more detailed briefing before the Commission meets would be explored. 

The webcast is available here: http://webtv.un.org/watch/general-assembly-the-global-indicator-framework-70th-session-informal-meeting/4726355689001#full-text