Washington, D.C. – April 17, 2015
I thank the World Bank, the UN Foundation and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for organizing this Event.
We have a unique opportunity as we formulate an ambitious and transformative post-2015 development agenda to eradicate extreme poverty, improve livelihoods of people everywhere and preserve our planet.
We have to mobilize adequate financial, technological and capacity building resources in order to implement the new agenda and work towards achieving sustainable development.
The importance of data continues to be underscored in the post-2015 and Financing for Development negotiations and the high-level thematic debates I have convened in New York. Proposed SDG 17 on means of implementation has a 2020 target for increasing significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, disability, geographic location and other characteristics, as well as improving the statistical capacity of developing countries.
Data is an important tool for planning, monitoring, and accountability, particularly with regard to implementation at national, regional and international levels.
Accurate and timely data enables policymakers to design and evaluate policies and programmes, and to ensure that resources are used as efficiently as possible. Quality data will be essential for follow-up and review of the post-2015 development agenda.
Data that is late, unreliable, or inaccessible constrains implementation of sustainable development policies and programmes.
Data is a cross-cutting issue in many areas of the post-2015 agenda. The changing data and technology landscape means that we need to draw on the assets of all actors including governments, the UN system, international financial institutions, civil society, business, academia and others.
I look forward to hearing your perspectives on financing the data revolution for sustainable development.
Thank you for your attention.
