Public policies can improve if they are based on data
Public policies to improve the quality of life are a core issue for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, not only to advance towards the 2030 Agenda, but also to create more and new effective measures to achieve massive vaccination and deal with COVID-19.
The pandemic brought with it the urgent need to make good use of data to implement public policies capable of mitigating its social impact.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Context and objective
The Statistics Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia (DANE) and Cepei co-organized a side event within the framework of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development. The event addressed the importance of data to strengthen the monitoring and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda, and its relationship with public policies formulation through data monitoring platforms and the construction of Voluntary National Reviews.
CEPEI’S CONTRIBITION
Philipp Schönrock, Director of Cepei, moderated this session, joined by Rolando Ocampo, Director of the Statistics Division of ECLAC; Víctor Hugo Bucheli León, Director of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Ecuador; Iván Ojeda, Director of the National Institute of Statistics of Paraguay; Luis Madera, General Director of Economic and Social Development of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development of the Dominican Republic, and Juan Daniel Oviedo, Director of the National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia.
Highlights
In the LAC region, countries develop different perspectives that combine a statistical vision with approaches that address the planning of public policies aimed at meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets. During the virtual event, the panelists highlighted:
Rolando Ocampo, Statistics Division of ECLAC
“Data will always be important to strengthen the 2030 Agenda and statistical work, and together with the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) they are relevant tools for public policies implementation.
To date, 24 countries have submitted their VNRs; Some will do it for the first time, and for this year 80% of the countries in the region will share their progress on the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Víctor Hugo Bucheli, National Institute of Statistics and Censuses
“The 2030 Agenda establishes the need for statistical information. The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Ecuador has a platform focused on the Sustainable Development Goals so that civil society has access to the progress in their implementation. Today, the country has 74 monitoring indicators that function as tools to create public policies”.
Iván Ojeda, National Institute of Statistics of Paraguay
“78 years have passed since the creation of the law that modernizes the institutional system and allowed the creation of the National Institute of Statistics. In 2019, the platform that hosts the Sustainable Development Goals began to operate, and it is the place in which the progress of the 2030 Agenda is reported. The construction of indicators was carried out from administrative records (46%) as the main source of information, synthesis statistics (19%), surveys (30%) and censuses (5%)”.
Luis Madera, Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development of the Dominican Republic
“The National Development Strategy of the Dominican Republic was implemented so that the plans would exceed the years of government. In addition, to follow-up on the 2030 Agenda, three actions were developed:
1) Integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into short, mid and long-term public policies
2) Consider the SDGs as principles
3) Use statistical data to promote the Global Goals
Juan Daniel Oviedo, National Department of Statistics of Colombia
“Information as evidence is a fundamental tool for countries to advance in the construction of Voluntary National Reviews that guide the design of policies to comply with the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda”.
ORGANIZERS
