Calling for development data to be in line with human rights
In occasion of the High Level Political Forum for the Sustainable Development Goals held in New York from the 9th to 18th July 2019, the Monitoring Working Group of the Network has called for a human rights-based approach to data, including SDG data.
Under the Sustainable Development Goals framework, states report voluntarily on the progress made in achieving development goals. However current approaches to data for global development largely marginalise the people about and for whom the data are collected.
As Monitoring WG, we believe that we need the right kinds of data collected in the right kinds of way. In a blog published today by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, we make the case for a human-rights based approach to data and anticipate the development of a collective set of principles on ESCR data which will be launched later this year.
A human-rights based approach to data can effectively address imbalances in power, improve accountability and center policymaking on people's lived experiences and perspectives rather than serving the interests of powerful actors.
The set of principles we are developing will challenge existing narratives around data and provide practical guidance on how to carry out rights-based monitoring and documentation.
If you would like to be involved in the development of these principles, or would like to suggest best practices around data collection, analysis and use, please get in touch with: fferuglio@escr-net.org
Read the blog published by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics written by Erica Murphy (Right to Education Initiative), Mihir Mankad (Center for Economic and Social Rights), and Francesca Feruglio (ESCR-Net Secretariat) on behalf of the Monitoring WG: https://sdg.uis.unesco.org/2019/07/15/sdg-4-making-human-rights-count/