About this blog

There has never been a more exciting or challenging time in the quest for good data on development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require us to question everything we think we know about the production, analysis and use of data. Tracking progress towards the goals means looking beyond sheer numbers or the pace of change to the quality of the progress that is being achieved. Is it sustainable? Is it transformative? Is it equitable?

The Data for Sustainable Development – UIS Blog showcases innovative solutions as researchers and analysts worldwide explore ways to gather more and better data. On this blog platform, experts from within and beyond the UNESCO Institute for Statistics set out their vision for data that shine a light on what really works for human development.

In the era of the SDGs, this is a vision of data that illuminate effective solutions, that give governments concrete evidence on what works, and that provide a global benchmark for accountability. This vision must be backed by new, more incisive and globally comparable indicators to monitor the true impact of progress on people’s lives, as well as its scale and speed, as well as approaches to data collection that have a tangible and beneficial effect on people’s lives at the grassroots level.

We encourage feedback and comments on the blogs, and we welcome blog contributions from experts and analysts worldwide. For more information: uis.publications@unesco.org