How to improve statistics to report progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: Regional Discussion between National Statistical Offices

From April 3-4, the UNODC-INEGI Center of Excellence in Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice represented UNODC at the Regional Seminar on the implementation of SDG indicators organized by the United Nations Statistics Division together with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). During this seminar, the National Statistical Offices discussed the challenges of reporting progress on the implementation of the Agenda 2030. In addition, countries dialogued with the various agencies, funds and programs of the United Nations System to strengthen the coordination of their work and their different contributions to each country considering its mandate and its role as custodian agencies of each indicator.

Subsequently, on April 5-6, the XVI meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas (SCA) of ECLAC was held. At its opening, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, stated that it should be a priority to strengthen national statistical systems to focus their activities on supporting the implementation of evidence-based policies. Mario Palma, Vice-president of INEGI, in his capacity as President of the SCA, highlighted the methodological work carried out by the National Statistical Offices, as well as their independence, autonomy and quality.

During this meeting, the Center of Excellence detailed how UNODC provides technical assistance and training to countries in the region to strengthen their statistical capacities and thus facilitate the generation of indicators to report progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda, specifically Goal 16.