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Achieving 2030 Agenda Requires Reliable, Timely Statistics, Secretary-General Says at Launch of Time Machine Installation on Data for Children

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the “Back to the Present” launch of a time machine installation on data for children, in New York, today:

It is a great pleasure for me to join you for this creative and innovative exhibition.  Last year, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  They pledged to leave no one behind.  That means focusing on the most vulnerable, those who are furthest behind.

Meeting that goal requires data.  Reliable data and timely data.  This seems to be an easy one and not much appreciated.  But, I am very much committed in having correct and timely data.  I’ll tell you why.

Yet, far too often, people on the margins are not counted.  And if you’re not counted, you don’t count.  You’re not seen.  You don’t exist.  Blank spaces exist in the statistics of many countries.  For example, as many as 350 million people in the world are not counted in national surveys.  They don’t exist.

We have very limited information about the lives and well-being of refugee and migrant children.  In most countries, accurate and comparable data on children with disabilities is hard to find.  And even where there may be data, far too many people lack the literacy skills to understand and use it.

As a result, decisions are often not based on evidence.  This affects not only the quality of decisions, but the ability to hold policymakers to account.  For example, when I was working as a foreign minister, I also met finance ministers or officials from economic development ministries.  They bring all different data which they themselves don’t understand, which is very difficult to understand.  So that’s why data must be universal and easy to understand.  Even with statistics, you don’t understand simply what does that mean, but I’m now talking much more on the lack of data and unreliable data.

We need to ensure that progress is monitored and information is available in an accessible and usable form as widely as possible.  All of this requires significant investments in systems for the collection, analysis and reporting of data at national, regional and global levels.  Quality numbers alone will not change people’s lives.

But, being counted makes everyone visible, that’s the first thing and this act of recognition makes it possible to address their needs and advance their rights.  In other words, good data is essential to good decisions.  To make every child count, let’s make sure every child is counted.

I thank you here for bringing this vital point to life in such a vivid and fascinating way.

Thank you very much.

For information media. Not an official record.