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21st Inter-agency and Expert Group Meeting on MDG Indicators opens in New York

Paul Cheung, Director, United Nations Statistics Division, commends the work of the IAEG and stresses the importance of its role in defining the indicators for monitoring development. Click here for the opening speech.

The International Conference on MDGs Statistics was held in Manila, Philippines.

The second International Conference on MDGs Statistics, organized by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the Philippine National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) was held in Manila, from 19-21 October 2011. The conference brought together more than 100 representatives from national statistics offices and international agencies to review the MDG monitoring strategies in place and propose recommendations for improved monitoring approaches. Participants reviewed and discussed MDG monitoring tools and strategies and made a number of recommendations to strengthen countries' capacity to monitor the MDGs at the national and sub-national level and to improve existing monitoring approaches.

Recommendations of the Conference
The main recommendations of the conference were:

for the international community:

to support efforts by countries to make MDG targets more ambitious and better tailored to different levels of development (including the use of additional, proxy or complementary indicators;
to address all unresolved issues in the application of standard definitions and methodologies for the compilation of the MDG indicators; to strengthen country ownership of MDG monitoring process;
to continue efforts to enhance data management and analytical tools such as SDMX, country progress snapshots and DevInfo;
to increase efforts to provide guidelines and support for localizing MDG monitoring and addressing inequalities;
and to assess the overall progress of statistical systems around the world as a result of the MDG monitoring process;

for national statistical systems: to improve the compilation of metadata in countries and their accessibility by users;
to reiterate the importance of increased communication and better coordination between and among international agencies and national statistical systems/regional organizations;
to advocate both at the national and international level increased promotion of MDG statistics not only to track progress but also to be used as basis for policy and program interventions by governments and the international community;
to ensure the full involvement of the statistical community in the setting of targets and indicators for MDGs beyond 2015, including sustaining the gains achieved in statistical capacity building.

Addendum to the 2011 MDG Report

MDG Goal 1

New estimates show that the proportion of undernourished people remains discomfortingly high, though slightly lower than last year. Click here for the addendum.

MDG Goal 4

New figures show that the rate of decline in child mortality has accelerated but remain insufficient to reach MDG 4. Click here for the Goal 4 Addendum.

MDGInfo 2011 available online!

MDGInfo 2011 is available online. This database system is designed for the compilation and presentation of development indicators to support data users in their MDG monitoring. The MDG goals and targets are imbedded in the system linked to the MDG indicators in a goal monitoring framework.

MDGInfo has been adapted from DevInfo and presents country-level statistics available as of July 2011 for the global monitoring of progress achieved towards the MDGs since 1990.

Click here for the online version of MDGInfo 2011

Database update: Child Mortality (Goal 4)

The database has been updated with new data on Child Mortality.

Database updated

The database containing data and metadata on the official MDG indicators has been updated with new data series.

MDG Report 2011 released

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 was launched in Geneva by the Secretary-General on 7 July 2011. The report, which presents the yearly assessment of global progress towards the MDGs, shows that although significant strides have been made, reaching all the MDGs by 2015 remains challenging because progress has failed to reach the most vulnerable. The report indicates what is required to ensure continued progress.(Press materials)

The report is based on a master set of data compiled by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG indicators led by the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The report is available in all UN languages. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The Statistical Annex of the report can be found here.

MDG Progress Chart 2011

Most of the targets included in the Millennium Development Goals framework are to be achieved by 2015 — promising clear and measurable improvements from standards prevailing in 1990. The MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators. The MDG Progress Chart 2011 presents an assessment of progress as of June 2011 towards selected key targets relating to each Goal.

The chart is available in all UN languages. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

High Level Course on the MDGs at Sapienza Universita’ di Roma

The DESA Millennium Development Goals Report has become the main textbook of this year’s MDG Course at the Sapienza Universita’ di Roma. Academicians and scholars with senior expertise in building and design, physical planning, poverty analysis, health, education, economics, food production, statistics, sustainable development, energy, gender, demography, anthropology and development cooperation are delivering an intensive course for a select group of 27 graduates from Italy, other European countries and Sub- Saharan Africa on Sustainable Development and the Millennium Development Goals . The course, which will end on 28 May, is the preparatory stage for a summer Millennium University studio hosted by UN-HABITAT on the site of the Lake Victoria Water and sanitation Initiative (LVWATSAN). The studio’s aim is to study development activities designed to attain the MDGs in a Sub-Saharan location characterized by severe water, sanitation, and environment problems.

Sapienza, founded more than seven hundred years ago by Pope Boniface VIII, is now the largest university in Eruope. In 2008, Sapienza has designated itself a “Millennium University” to mark its commitment to training and research in development studies to advance knowledge and know-how in the MDG attainment process.

The course is designed and led by Pietro Garau, former UN staff member and co-chair of the Millennium Project’s Task force on Improving the Lives of Slum Dwellers.

Full information on the course and the overall project, Millennium University Studio Team (MUST), can be found at http://w3.uniroma1.it/sapienzamillenniumcourse/

MDG Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Progress Chart 2010 launched

The MDG Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Progress Chart 2010 was launched in New York on 20 September 2010. The chart presents an assessment of the situation of women in a number of indicators used to monitor progress towards the MDGs, The presented data were compiled by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG indicators led by the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The chart is available in all UN languages. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish