Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development
Topics

Indicators

Description

Indicators in the Transforming Our World - The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

As stated in paragraph 75 of Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, “the Goals and targets will be followed-up and reviewed using a set of global indicators. These will be complemented by indicators at the regional and national levels which will be developed by member states, in addition to the outcomes of work undertaken for the development of the baselines for those targets where national and global baseline data does not yet exist”.

In order to identify a global indicator framework for the goals and targets, the United Nations Statistical Commission gathered in March 2015 at its 46th Session and established an Inter-Agency Expert Group (IAEG) on SDG Indicators, whose composition reflects equitable regional representation.

The group aims at ensuring technical expertise and assistance for the implementation of the indicators, once approved and will be in charge of monitoring the use of harmonized and agreed indicators definitions as well as of reviewing methodological process and issues related to the indicators and their metadata.

In this context, UN DESA's Statistics Division is organising the second meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), to be held on 26-28 October 2015 at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand and hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). On this occasion, the list of possible global indicators will be reviewed in detail, whereas the global indicator framework together with the work plan and the next steps to be followed will be further discussed..

The proposal for Global Indicator Framework will be submitted for consideration by the Statistical Commission at its 47th Session in March 2016 and adopted thereafter by the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly, in line with existing mandates.

Agenda 21

Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 called on countries and the international community to develop indicators of sustainable development. Such indicators were needed to increase focus on sustainable development and assist decision-makers at all levels to adopt sound national sustainable development policies.

Johannesburg Plan of Implementation & CSD-11, CSD-13

The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation in its Chapter X and the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) at its 11th and 13th sessions encouraged further work on indicators for sustainable development by countries, in line with their specific conditions and priorities. CSD-13 invited the international community to support efforts of developing countries in this regard.

Guidelines on Indicators & their Detailed Methodology Sheets

The third, revised set of CSD indicators was finalized in 2006 by a group of experts from developing and developed countries and international organizations. The revised edition contained 96 indicators, including a subset of 50 core indicators. The guidelines on indicators and their detailed methodology sheets became available as a reference for all countries to develop national indicators of sustainable development. The CSD indicator set was based on the previous two (1996 and 2001) editions, which had been developed, improved and extensively tested as part of the implementation of the Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development adopted by the CSD at its third session in 1995 and presented to the CSD in 2001.

 

Displaying 1 - 15 of 21
Title Type Date
Final list of proposed Sustainable Development Goal indicators Outcome Documents 11-Nov-2016
Summary of Side event - Meeting Poor People's Energy Needs – how to measure what matters Side events 20-Apr-2015
Summary of Side event - Measuring what we treasure: exploring how human rights should inform the post… Side events 10-Apr-2015
Summary of Side event - World Vision Event Side events 10-Apr-2015
Summary of Side event - The Poisoned Poor: Why Safe Management of Chemicals and Wastes Matters for Sustainable… Side events 10-Apr-2015
Summary of Side event - Indicators with Impact - How to measure Nutrition in the Post-2015 Development Agenda Side events 10-Apr-2015
Summary of Side event - Making Goal 16 Transformative: Governance Indicators in a Post-2015 World Side events 10-Apr-2015
Technical report by the Bureau of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on the process of the development… Background papers/Special studies 19-Mar-2015
Letter from co facilitators - regarding technical report by the Bureau of the United Nations Statistical… Other documents 18-Mar-2015
A/69/700 - The road to dignity by 2030: ending poverty, transforming all lives and protecting the planet Secretary-General Reports 4-Dec-2014
Concept Note Indicators Logistics 22-Oct-2009
Programme Indicators Logistics 22-Oct-2009
Final Report Indicators Other documents 22-Oct-2009
Background Document No. 2 (CSD-14) - Global Trends and Status of Indicators of Sustainable Development Background papers/Special studies 1-May-2006
E/CN.17/2004/17 - Progress in implementing the decisions of the Commission on Sustainable Development related to… Meeting reports 18-Feb-2004
Displaying 1 - 15 of 107
Title Category Date Sort ascending
Pacific Small Island Developing States Member States 27-Mar-2015
India Member States 27-Mar-2015
Australia Member States 27-Mar-2015
Republic of Korea Member States 27-Mar-2015
Peru Member States 27-Mar-2015
Nauru Member States 27-Mar-2015
European Union Member States 27-Mar-2015
Switzerland Member States 27-Mar-2015
Philippines Member States 26-Mar-2015
Turkey Member States 26-Mar-2015
Joint statements of 21 countries Member States 26-Mar-2015
Switzerland Member States 26-Mar-2015
Nepal Member States 26-Mar-2015
Japan Member States 26-Mar-2015
Cyprus Member States 26-Mar-2015

Milestones

  • The global indicator framework, to be developed by the Inter Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators, will be agreed by the UN Statistical Commission by March 2016 and adopted thereafter by the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly, in line with existing mandates. This framework will be simple yet robust, address all SDGs and targets including for means of implementation, and preserve the political balance, integration and ambition contained therein.
  • January 2015 IAEG-SDGs
    On 6 March 2015, at its forty-sixth session, the United Nations Statistical Commission created an Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), composed of Member States and including regional and international agencies as observers. The IAEG-SDGs will provide a proposal of a global indicator framework (and associated global and universal indicators) for consideration by the Statistical Commission at its forty-seventh session in March 2016. The IAEG-SDGs has been tasked to develop an indicator framework for the goals and targets of the post-2015 development agenda at the global level, and to support its implementation.
  • The SDGs and targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. As far as the indicators are concerned, paragraph 75 reads : "The Goals and targets will be followed-up and reviewed using a set of global indicators. These will be complemented by indicators at the regional and national levels which will be developed by member states, in addition to the outcomes of work undertaken for the development of the baselines for those targets where national and global baseline data does not yet exist".
  • This third set of Indicators on Sustainable Development represents a follow-up to the two earlier sets respectively published in 1996 and 2001 and prepared under the work programme on indicators of sustainable development approved by the Commission on Sustainable Development in 1995. This publication in particular identifies some strategies on how to adapt this third set to national conditions and priorities.
  • The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) at its 13th session encouraged further work on indicators for sustainable development by countries, in line with their specific conditions and priorities. CSD-13 invited the international community to support efforts of developing countries in this regard.
  • January 2003 CSD-11 (Chap.1 A 13)
    The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) at its 11th session encouraged further work on indicators for sustainable development by countries, in line with their specific conditions and priorities. CSD-11 adopted the CSD’s multi-year programme work for the period 2004-2017 and decided to organize the upcoming CSD sessions as a series of two-year action-oriented Implementation Cycles, with a Review Session the first year and a Policy Session the second year. Each two-year cycle would consider a selected thematic cluster of issues and a suite of cross-cutting issues.
  • January 2001 CSD-9 (Decision 9/4)
    The Commission, recognizing that any indicators developed under its work programme are intended only for use by countries at the national level on a voluntary basis, suited to country-specific conditions, and shall not lead to any type of conditionalities, including financial, technical and commercial: (a) reiterates the need to keep under review the full range of indicators with full participation and ownership of Member States, with a view to avoiding duplication, as well as ensuring the transparency, consistency and reliability of these indicators; (b) emphasizes, that the indicators used by the UN Secretariat in the context of the coordinated and integrated follow-up to major UN conferences and summits should be developed with the full participation of all countries and approved by the relevant intergovernmental bodies; (c) notes the important role that national Governments of the 22 testing countries played in developing its work programme on experimental indicators of sustainable development, and in this context notes the usefulness of the above-mentioned exercise and requests that further work on these and other indicators be undertaken, in accordance with Council resolution 2000/27; (d) encourages the further work on these and other indicators for the purpose of sustainable development, in line with national conditions and priorities in defining and implementing national goals and priorities for sustainable development, including integration of gender aspects, and encourages the involvement of all national stakeholders, as appropriate; (e) stresses the need to further develop indicators on means of implementation to evaluate progress towards conference goals in creating an enabling environment for development; (f) urges developed countries and international organizations to assist developing countries, as appropriate, in establishing the basic capacities for the development of national indicators of sustainable development through, inter alia, financial support, capacity-building, technical assistance and twinning arrangements; (g) recalls the invitation of the Council to the Statistical Commission to serve as the intergovernmental focal point for the review of the indicators used by the United Nations system for the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits at all levels, and the methodologies employed in formulating them, including in the context of the elaboration of the common country assessment, and to make recommendations with a view to facilitating future consideration by the Council.
  • January 1992 Agenda 21 (Chap.40)
    Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 called on countries and the international community to develop indicators of sustainable development. Such indicators were needed to increase focus on sustainable development and assist decision-makers at all levels to adopt sound national sustainable development policies.