Sierra Leone has been invited to participate in a landmark United Nations project which seeks to increase the use of new methods and tools to improve data.
The ‘Data For Now’ (Data4Now) initiative, which is co-led by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), supports closer and more effective collaboration with local, national and global partners from academia, civil society and the private sector. It emphasizes country ownership, with the goal of integrating new methods and data sources into existing national statistical systems.
Launched in September 2019, the initiative, which is funded by the Italian government, was designed with the goal of increasing the use of new and robust methods and tools that improve the timeliness, coverage, and quality of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) data through collaboration and partnership, technical and capacity support, and information sharing.
The initiative was launched by UN Deputy-Secretary General Amina Mohammed, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The other implementing partners are the World Bank, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
“Through this initiative, we can blaze a trail of success, by working together to unlock data, protect people’s privacy and to fight for inclusion. We must make sure data-or lack of data-does not reinforce disadvantage.” Mrs Mohammed said at the time.
Given the key principle of the ‘Data for Now’ initiative of country ownership, countries would first agree on the policy areas that they wish to prioritize based on the national plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and on how the project can help address those needs through the use of innovative data sources, methods and approaches. The implementation is done through engagement of relevant stakeholders and experts that can help a country achieve the goals.
When it started, the Data4Now initiative supported an initial group of eight “trailblazer” countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America: Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, Mongolia, Nepal, Paraguay, Rwanda, and Senegal. They were provided support in the development and implementation of country-led activities that streamline the use of new data, methods and technology to complement existing official statistics and improve the availability of timely data for sustainable development and help provide information on uncounted populations.
Sierra Leone was approached by the UN to be among the latest batch of members of the initiative. The UN extended the invitation through the national statistical agency – Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) – which announced the development in a statement on Wednesday night.
Stats SL said the country’s inclusion into the programme illustrated the potential embedded in the ongoing digital mid-term population and housing census.
“The availability of disaggregated data at the level of every locality in Sierra Leone after the digital census positions it to revolutionize the timely production and dissemination of credible data for national development,” the statement said.
Sierra Leone’s Statistician General Prof. Osman Sankoh, who is the Rapporteur of the United Nations Statistical Commission, received the Special Invitation on behalf of the country. He was quoted saying that Stats SL was ready to showcase the country.
“We are positively different; ever more ready to showcase Sierra Leone nationally and internationally,” he said.
