“Post-2015 development agenda and accountability: a data revolution anchored in human rights to make the SDGs a reality for all”

A very warm welcome to the Palais des Nations. Thank you to CIVICUS for bringing together this diverse group of people on the podium and in the audience today. It is my privilege to represent the Director-General who regrets that he cannot be here this morning but follows the work of civil society in relation to the post-2015 development agenda closely. I am pleased to deliver his message to the meeting:

“Over the past year, we have seen negotiations intensify on what kind of a future we want. 2015 will see many important agreements, providing building blocks for that future. Those on climate change and the post-2015 development agenda are, of course, major priorities, together with financing for development and disaster risk reduction.

With the publication of the Secretary-General’s synthesis report last December, we now have a sketch for what “the road to dignity” may look like. The next step will be to build this road, and then to travel it. In other words, now that the Sustainable Development Goals are taking shape, the discussion is moving towards looking at how these can be implemented, how to make them a reality for all.

It is clear that the SDGs will only become a reality for all if they are implemented on the ground. And for this to happen, regional and local characteristics must be accounted for. This was one of the major outcomes of the regional consultations, held across the globe and here in Geneva hosted by the Economic Commission for Europe in 2014. These consultations also highlighted the need for a multi-stakeholder approach to sustainable development, including business and civil society.

Today’s discussion fits very well into the broader debate that we have had in Geneva. I am particularly happy to see civil society engagement, as I firmly believe that for change to happen everyone needs to work on it. At UNOG, we are working to broaden the engagement of multiple stakeholders. While we do not have a representative of business on the panel today, I am convinced that our discussion should also look at the role that business can play in making the SDGs real.

The title of today’s discussion highlights two dimensions that will be critical in the implementation: first, the data revolution, and second, the importance of looking at data and the SDGs through a human rights lens. Pairing these dimensions bring an important element of innovation to the post-2015 agenda as we draw on the lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals.

One of the main strengths of the MDGs was the ability to compare progress on a well-defined number of goals that were easy to understand. But as we have moved along, we are faced with new opportunities and challenges to development. The data revolution and technological improvements are definitely such a major new opportunity.

In December, those of you were part of the TEDx event at the Palais des Nations had the pleasure to listen to Miguel Luengo Oroz, the Chief Scientist at UN Global Pulse. His fascinating presentation illustrated that, as he put it, “what you cannot measure, you cannot improve.”

This is true for two reasons: first, individuals, organizations and Governments need benchmarks towards which they work. They need to have goals and be able to see when they make progress. Only when they can measure their progress, will they know what works and what does not work.

Second, a clear set of goals and indicators to measure progress enables civil society and other stakeholders to monitor progress. Data can facilitate ongoing dialogue and transparency when used wisely. It also facilitates communication between development actors, to allocate resources efficiently.

However, as the Secretary-General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development has emphasized, there are huge and growing inequalities in access to data and information and in the ability to use it. Therefore, we need not only data for development, but also development for equitable access to data.

But as we talk about numbers and indicators, we should not forget what they stand for. Ultimately, they measure the impact of our work on individuals, and on their rights. Looking through the human rights lens not only enables us to look beyond numbers, but also brings models for monitoring and accountability mechanisms. Learning from the Universal Periodic Review and other mechanisms can be helpful and generate new ideas. Our colleagues from OHCHR have done a lot of creative work in that area which we will hear more about later, also on what can be learnt from the available mechanisms for human rights measurement.

One thing that has become common practice in human rights monitoring is the consultation of civil society actors. The consultations during the post-2015 development discussions aimed to be very inclusive as well. But to maintain accountability, continued dialogue is crucial. This is where the topics of today’s discussion fit together, as new ways of using data can facilitate the inclusion of an even broader range of stakeholders in monitoring mechanisms.

In this context, I would like to highlight one particularly interesting example from right here in International Geneva that shows, in a very practical way, how multi-stakeholder initiatives can promote broad participation in monitoring: the Citizen Cyberscience Centre. It was established as a partnership between CERN, UNITAR and the University of Geneva with private foundations giving support. The centre has, for example, developed mechanisms for crowd-sourcing to analyze satellite images at UNOSAT for timely monitoring of humanitarian disasters. Of course, models need to be adjusted to their precise purpose, but what this shows is that the means to connect actors in generating and analyzing data are available.

As we move towards the High-level thematic debate on the means of implementation for the post-2015 development agenda, today’s discussion is an important opportunity for us to reflect on ways to leverage data for development to enable a more equitable fulfilment of basic human rights.

It is a welcome and a necessary debate.