On February 6-7 2019, MEDSTAT IV organised a meeting on the measurement of the SDGs which took place in Athens and gathered representatives from the ENP-S statistical systems, from Eurostat, from three EU countries statistical institutes (Stats Denmark, ISTAT and INSEE), from the UfM, UN-ESCWA and the EEA.
On the demand of the ENP-S countries, MEDSTAT IV re-oriented its sector activities in order to focus more on the measurement of the SDGs. This issue is a key challenge for the ENP-S countries statistical systems in particular for the pressure it puts on the structure and content of the statistical production but also on the resources available for statistics, human, technical and financial. After having addressed the issue through the existing sector working groups, in particular the ones related to labour market statistics, migration statistics and Energy/transport statistics, and through a specific training course, the project called for a specific regional meeting on the SDGs.
The objective of the meeting was first to discuss the “state of the art” in each of the ENP-S countries: what had been done and with which results and problems. Experiences in the North were brought as examples to consider in the discussion that followed on what to do next. Questionnaires were sent to the ENP-S countries in advance of the meeting which helped drafting a detailed synthesis which can serve as a benchmark for the future discussions. The second objective was to bring into the debate complementary perspectives on the existing regional statistics platforms for the SDGs (Eurostat, UN-ESCWA) and on the role statistics could play in feeding sector policy agendas with relevant data (for Gender in the case of the UfM and for Environment in the case of the EEA).
The discussions covered a large ground with a focus on the necessary coordination (within the national statistical systems and with policy makers, with regional and international platforms and between these platforms), the identification of the national and regional priorities among the large number of targets and indicators composing the international SDG framework and the dissemination of the indicators.
The group advocated for the creation of a specific working group on this topic in the framework of the EU-MED cooperation in statistics. It also identified several possible activities that could constitute a relevant regional work programme, building on the regular sharing of experiences, the identification and replication of good practices and investments in training.
For more information, please contact: MEDSTAT4@Expertisefrance.fr
