UK National Statistician John Pullinger will address an international audience at the first UN World Data Forum today on the theme of “Counting people to make sure people count”.

The Forum has attracted hundreds of delegates from across the world to explore innovative ways to apply data and statistics to inform evidence-based policy decisions on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and to measure progress towards the Goals.

John Pullinger will talk about the information needed to meet the Global Goals:

“In many cases there is limited information about those furthest behind because data either do not exist, are unreliable, or those people are just invisible to governments and decision-makers. This absence of reliable internationally-comparable data means governments can underestimate the scale of who is being left behind and the impact of different policies.

“Data now exists on parts of the population who may previously have been ‘uncounted’, and new forms of analysis are now possible to gain greater understanding of those who remain un-empowered. For example, the ONS [the Office for National Statistics] has recently launched new statistics on ‘unpaid work’. This recognised and valued the contribution to the economy of productive activities which previously wouldn’t have been recognised as they were not paid in the traditional sense. Initial analysis showed that this unpaid work was worth equivalent to 56% of the UK’s GDP in 2014.

“As we move towards using new sources of data in the production of our national statistics, we must ensure that we are including harder to reach groups, and mindful of those who may be less likely to leave a digital footprint. Using data from a range of different sources can enable voices from all parts of the community to be heard.

“Knowing who is being left behind is essential to be able to include them better. In August last year, the Prime Minister Theresa May launched an audit of public services to reveal racial disparities and to help end the injustices that many people experience. This requires all UK government departments to identify and publish information showing how outcomes differ for people of different backgrounds in a range of areas including health, education and employment, broken down by geographic location, income and gender.

“Without better data on who is being left behind and why, we can’t do the other essential work to empower and include them. The challenge to the data community is significant, but with the tools and resources now available to us, it is an exciting challenge to rise to. We can help ensure that by 2030, no one is left behind.”

The presentation can be viewed live on Tuesday 17 January at 11:30am (UK time).

John Pullinger will also be speaking at the closing ceremony on Wednesday 18 January at 2:30pm (UK time). This, too, can be viewed live on the link above. Among other contributions from an ONS and Department for International Development team are: disability data, the use of official statistics for disaster risk reduction, statistics and climate change reporting, gender data, building statistical capacity, the importance of collaboration and partnerships and the Global Platform for Data, Services and Applications.

Background notes:

  1. At the UK government's Leave No-One Behind event in September 2015 at the United Nations General Assembly, a promise was made by governments, civil society and businesses that every person counts and will be counted.

  2. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for reporting UK data used to track UK progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The Global Goals are underpinned by 231 global indicators, which will be disaggregated (where appropriate) by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographic location.

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