The coronavirus is ravaging across the world, causing death, serious illness and changing life as we know it. Beyond the obvious human toll of this fast spreading desease; how is it affecting different aspects of public and private life like individual incomes, employment, the well-being of women and children and access to public services?

A new report released this week, "How COVID-19 is changing the world: a statistical perspective", is trying to answer these questions.

As the dangerous COVID-19 pandemic besets the world, statisticians and data experts around the globe have entered a race against time.

Since ancient times, governments around the world have counted their populations. By counting everyone, communities can determine the needs of their people; where to build homes, schools, hospitals and where to invest in food supply, jobs and transportation. In this way, societies can progress. During the 2020 round of censuses, the majority of countries carry out their census. This year, censuses are scheduled to be carried out in 68 countries and territories.

Geospatial information exists in many forms and mediums, integrating all digital data with a location dimension. It can be as simple as a name on a map or as complicated as a multi-layer 3-dimensional model of that place – containing anything from cities, land-use and traffic distribution to monitoring the environment and climate variables.

All countries and all sectors need geospatial information to make informed decisions, to develop national development plans and strategies and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In today’s digital world, standardized geographical names are vital. They help us find our way in society and they also help us organize the world we live in. They also play a key role in our efforts to achieve sustainable development, providing fundamental channels of communication, facilitating cooperation among local, national and international organizations. We also need standardized geographical names in emergency situations.

On the surface, we are making remarkable progress towards ensuring quality education for all. In 2010, 63 per cent of children of adequate age were receiving early childhood or primary education. By 2016, that proportion grew to 70 per cent, meaning that millions more children were now going to school.

In today's digital age, social movements and policy priorities are increasingly shaped by the use of data to inform our daily decisions and help us connect with each other. From "we are the 1%" to "keep it under 2°C," data has the power to ignite imaginations and rally support for various causes around the world.

There are still “huge gaps at country level,” to be overcome in order to develop an effective global migration data programme, said the head of the Demographic and Social Statistics Branch of UN Statistics, on Monday.

Francesca Grum was addressing a key meeting at UN Headquarters in New York,  convened in response to the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the first-ever global migration pact, which was adopted by more than