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News: The United Nations World Data Forum, 3 - 6 October 2021 in Bern in a hybrid format

The UN World Data Forum brings together data and statistical experts and users from governments, civil society, the private sector, donor and philanthropic bodies, international and regional agencies, the geospatial community, the media, academia and professional bodies. Data experts and users gather to spur data innovation, mobilize high-level political and financial support for data, and build a pathway to better data for sustainable development.

The UN World Data Forum 2021 will be hosted by the Federal Statistical Office of Switzerland from 3 to 6 October 2021 in Bern in a hybrid format. The outcome document, drafted by the High-Level Group on Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG-PCCB), will be launched on 6 October. See: Bern Data Compact for a Decade of Action on the Sustainable Development Goals

New and Featured Resources

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021 by UN
The global community is at a critical moment in its pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than a year into the global pandemic, millions of lives have been lost, the human and economic toll has been unprecedented, and recovery efforts so far have been uneven, inequitable and insufficiently geared towards achieving sustainable development. The current crisis is threatening decades of development gains, further delaying the urgent transition to greener, more inclusive economies, and throwing progress on the SDGs even further off track.
Statistical Yearbook 2020 by UN Statistics Division
The Statistical Yearbook provides in a single volume a comprehensive compilation of internationally available statistics on social and economic conditions and activities, at world, regional and national levels, for an appropriate historical period. It is prepared by the Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of the United Nations Secretariat.
World Development Report 2021 by World Bank
Data are everywhere. But what is the data revolution doing for the 700 million people who live in extreme poverty? When data are turned into valuable information, they have the potential to improve lives, transform economies, and help end poverty. Now more than ever, the world is facing new demands for data as our principal weapon in the war against COVID-19. The latest edition of the World Development Report from the World Bank provides a blueprint on how to harness the power of data for development, to ensure no one is left behind.
The World’s Women Report by United Nations Statistics Division
The eight chapters of the report cover several critical areas of policy concerns identified in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action: population and families; health; education; work; power and decision-making; violence against women; environment; and poverty.
Human Development Report 2020: The Next Frontier Human Development and the Anthropocene by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
The 2020 Human Development Report (HDR) doubles down on the belief that people’s agency and empowerment can bring about the action we need if we are to live in balance with the planet in a fairer world. It shows that we are at an unprecedented moment in history, in which human activity has become a dominant force shaping the planet. These impacts interact with existing inequalities, threatening significant development reversals. Nothing short of a great transformation – in how we live, work and cooperate – is needed to change the path we are on. The Report explores how to jumpstart that transformation.
Sustainable Development Goals Indicators by website maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
This is the official website of the United Nations providing information on the development and implementation of an indicator framework for global monitoring of the post-2015 development agenda.

UN Data Strategy

At the core of our Strategy is a simple idea:
We start with data action that adds immediate value for our organization and the people we serve.

António Guterres, Secretary-General

UN Secretary-General's Data Strategy 2020-22
"As structural UN reforms consolidate, we are focused on building the data, digital, technology and innovation capabilities that the UN needs to succeed in the 21st century. The Secretary General’s “Data Strategy for Action by Everyone, Everywhere” is our agenda for the data-driven transformation."

World Statistics Day, 20 October

With resolution 69/282 on 3 June 2015, the United Nations General Assembly decided to celebrate World Statistics Day every five years on 20 October.

World Statistics Day 2020
Theme: Connecting the world with data we can trust
World Statistics Day 2015
Theme: Better data, better lives
World Statistics Day 2010
Theme: Celebrating the many
achievements of official statistics