Today- The 48th Session of the UN Statistical Commission
This annual event begins today, and lasts through the end of the week.
Today is the opening of the 48th Session of the UN Statistical Commission, one of our main events to keep an eye on this month. The Session is another key milestone for the global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals. Here’s what you need to know.
The Basics
The Session begins today in New York City and ends Friday, March 10th. The Opening session will take place at 10:30 am EST today, with a morning session to follow at 11 am. All times for the proposed agenda take place in the Eastern Time zone.
Sessions will work by allowing discussion of documents made public earlier this year, available here and potentially available as Word docs by searching the UN Document portal. Many of these documents detail the work done by UN bodies and groups in the past year, as well as the order of items discussed and presented during each session. The work of the IAEG-SDGs on the global indicator framework will be the first agenda item discussed.
Following Along
Twitter will be a popular forum for following the session. @UNStats is the account of the UN Statistics Division. The event’s hashtag is #UN48SC. #GlobalGoals and #SDGs as well as #2030Agenda or #Agenda2030 will be other potential hashtags to follow along, as well as #data and #statistics. And, of course, be sure to follow us as we tweet and retweet relevant accounts to guide you through the sessions.
Much of the session will be broadcast on webtv.un.org. Taped sessions will be available afterwards as well.
The Indicator Framework
The framework has yet to be formally adopted by ECOSOC or the General Assembly; it has simply been agreed to as a starting point. It is improbable that the framework will be formally adopted anytime soon, as many indicators still lack a governing entity or are not agreed upon by all countries (tier 2 and 3).
Right now the main conversations around the indicators are the work plans and time tables: How often will they be revised? What methodology should be implemented for review of indicators as technology and data sources change over time?
A revised list of indicators and tiers will become more apparent after today’s sessions. We look forward to following the action here and in real time through our twitter- @SDGCounting
