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Data on SDGs are riddled with gaps. Citizens can help

The UN wants to put communities at the heart of its data-collection efforts in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. Now governments must step up.
By
  1. Yongyi Min

    1. Yongyi Min is chief of the SDG Monitoring Section, United Nations Statistics Division, New York City, USA.

  2. Haoyi Chen

    1. Haoyi Chen is coordinator of the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys, United Nations Statistics Division, New York City, USA.

  3. Francesca Perucci

    1. Francesca Perucci is director of policy and partnerships at Open Data Watch in Washington DC, USA.

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The world is more than halfway through the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was agreed in 2015 by 193 countries. Yet only 17% of measurable targets for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track to be achieved by the end of this decade1. A course correction and a renewed push are needed. Both hinge on a crucial element — data.

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Nature 633, 279-281 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02920-6

References

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  10. United Nations. National Quality Assurance Frameworks Manual for Official Statistics: Including Recommendations, The Framework and Implementation Guidance (United Nations, 2019).

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interest

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