Towards monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals

1. Towards monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals Seminar on Poverty Measurement Geneva 5-6 May 2015

2. Main critique MDGs: • Focused more on least-developed countries and less relevant for middle and high income countries • Countries were not involved in setting the Goals, Targets and, especially, the selection of indicators • Statisticians were not involved in choosing the indicators and setting the targets

3. Post-2015 Agenda UN Secretary General UN General Assembly Inter Agency Expert Group SG Special Advisor UN GA Open Working Group (OWG) High‐level Panel of Eminent Persons (HLP) UN System Task Team (UNTT) Stat, Com. Friends of the Chair (FOC) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) WG on Monitoring and Indicators Task Team Lessons Learned in MDG Monitoring UNDG National, global and thematic consultations RegionalConsultations High Level Political Forum Technical Support Team on SDG UN Global Compact UN Country Consultations WG on Global Partnership for Development Committee of experts on Sustainable Development Financing World We Want web platform My World Global Survey UN Thematic Consultations WG on Financing for sustainable development May 5, 2015 May 5, 2015 May 5, 2015 May 5, 2015 May 5, 2015 United Nations System Governments/Public

4. High‐level Panel of Eminent Persons (HLP) • Report: “A new global partnership: eradicate poverty and transform economies through sustainable development” • With 12 “illustrative’ Goals and 54 Targets • Goal 1: End Poverty • 1a. Bring the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day to zero and reduce by x% the share of • people living below their country’s 2015 national poverty line 1, 2 • 1b. Increase by x% the share of women and men, communities, and businesses with secure rights to land, • property, and other assets 2, 3 • 1c. Cover x% of people who are poor and vulnerable with social protection systems 2, 3 • 1d. Build resilience and reduce deaths from natural disasters by x% 2

5. Open Working Group • Proposal for SDGs: • 17 Goals • 169 (+) Targets • OWG Members UNECE Region: • Australia/Netherlands/United Kingdom • Canada / Israel / United States of America • Denmark / Ireland / Norway • France / Germany / Switzerland • Italy / Spain / Turkey

7. GOAL 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere: 7 Targets • 1.1 by 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day • 1.2 by 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions • 1.3 implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable • 1.4 by 2030 ensure that all men and women, particularly the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology, and financial services including microfinance • 1.5 by 2030 build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations, and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters • 1.a. ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular LDCs, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions • 1.b create sound policy frameworks, at national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies to support accelerated investments in poverty eradication actions

8. Indicators: UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) • Request from Co-facilitators of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda to provide a provisional proposal in relation to indicators for sustainable development goals and targets, to be discussed as an input to the intergovernmental negotiations meeting on 23-27 March 2015 • UNSD compiled a list of 304 indicators from submissions of experts from international agencies • Evaluation by experts from national statistical offices and systems. Rating AAA to CCC (The 1st letter refers to the rating of feasibility, the 2nd to suitability and the 3rd to relevance. • Technical report by the Bureau of UNSC on the process of the development of an indicator framework for the goals and targets of the post-2015 development agenda

12. Other Goals/Targets/Indicators • Goal 8: promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all: GDP per capita, Inclusive Wealth index, Growth rate of GDP per employed person…employment to population ratio, youth unemployment) • Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries: Ginior Palma ratio, change in real disposable income and consumption by quintiles, reduction in inequality gaps over time, % living below 50% of median income, % covered by minimum social protection floor etc.)

13. Indicators: Coming up • Major Groups and other Stakeholders have been invited to contribute their views and assessment of the draft indicators (by 26 April). • Will be submitted to the Secretariat of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (IAEG) working on indicators • IAEG-SDG: 28 country representative, advisory role international agencies

14. Additional points UNSC • The Development of a robust and high-quality indicator framework is a technical process that requires time … the possibility of future refinements as data sources and methodology improve • The global indicator framework should only contain a limited number of indicators • Besides global, universal indicators there will also be additional indicators for regional, national and thematic monitoring • An Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicator, consisting of national statistical offices and, as observers, the regional and international organizations and agencies

15. Statisticians’ involvement • By July 2015 a first note on possible global and universal indicators and an indicator framework • By December 2015, the IEAG-SDGs will provide a global and universal indicators and an indicator framework for consideration by the Statistical Commission at its 47th session in March 2016 • The IAEG-SDGs will report back in the following years an is expected to review any required updates of the global indicator framework based on guidance received But…..

16. Next: Politicians in charge • Post-2015 intergovernmental negotiations (20 - 24 April, 18-22 May, 22-25 June, 20-31 July 2015) • "Strengthening integration, implementation and review - the HLPF after 2015“ High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development, 3rd meeting (26 June to 8 July 2015) • United Nations Summit for the adoption of the post-20 15 development agenda will be held from 25-27 September, 2015, in New York and convened as a High-level Plenary meeting of the General Assembly(Heads of States level)

17. Probable outcome Indicators: • Goals: not change Targets: minimal adjustments • Indicators: • Limited set of Global Indicators (around 100) • Regional Indicators: additional relevant (sub) regional • National Indicators for national monitoring (peer review?) • Thematic Indicators (led by agencies?) • Who: • Based on proposal by UNSC (IAEG-SDGs) • Intergovernmental negotiations • But ultimately: General Assembly decides • Risks: • Politicization of UNSC/IAEG-SDG • Too many indicators, too complicated • IAEG-SDGs not group of experts

18. Coverage of MDG indicators in National Reporting ECE region • Most Indicators have very low coverage: Indicators Country • 6 per cent: >75% • 8 per cent: 50-75% • 20 per cent: 25-50% • 65 per cent: < 25% • 31 per cent: < 10% • N=29 countries • Not always according to internationally recommended definition and/or methodology

19. More Info: • https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.html