Bern, October 07, 2021 – The Centro de Pensamiento Estratégico Internacional (Cepei) and the National Statistical Offices of Colombia (DANE), the Dominican Republic (ONE RD), Paraguay (INE Paraguay), Uruguay (INE Uruguay) and Ecuador (INEC) agreed on a strategic cooperation partnership to strengthen their data ecosystems through the use of non-traditional data sources as a complement of statistical production to measure and monitor the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin American and the Caribbean.
In the framework of the United Nations World Data Forum held in Bern, Switzerland, Cepei together with the Directors of the five National Statistical Offices inaugurated the regional cooperation agreement with the purpose of seeking and accelerating sustainable solutions to address the main challenges of the region and support the “Decade of Action to Deliver the SDGs”. Philipp Schönrock, Director of Cepei, highlighted that “data is transforming decision-making processes around the world and National Statistical Offices in the region are the most important link to ensure that these processes are based on quality, timely, disaggregated and complete data”. He remarked that “one of the most urgent needs is to apply reliable data and statistics to the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development
Multi-stakeholder partnerships are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals effectively and efficiently. Cepei will work together with the National Statistical Offices of the region to build capacities and drive progress towards sustainable development.
The Directors of the National Statistical Offices shared their perspectives on the agreements:
“This partnership facilitates the construction of evidence-based public policies in the Dominican Republic, and collaboration for joint projects”, stressed Miosotis Rivas, Director of the National Statistical Office of the Dominican Republic.
Roberto Castillo, Executive Director of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Ecuador, said: “it is necessary to promote a statistical culture based on confidence that facilitates the search and understanding of information. We must also exchange experiences on outreach and data visualization through multisectoral approaches”.
Latin American and Caribbean Community of Practice on Data Driven Communication (CoP)
Within the framework of these agreements, partners were also invited to be part of the Latin American and Caribbean Community of Practice on Data Driven Communication (CoP), an exercise led by Cepei that brings together the public and private sectors, the media, academia, civil society, data scientists and statisticians to develop and exchange knowledge around the use of data and how it is communicated. “This initiative is an opportunity to ground the discussions of the UN World Data Forum in concrete activities that enhance the capacities of the data community”, stated Hernán Muñoz, Senior Advisor of Cepei.
The CoP seeks to provide tools that bring data closer to decision makers, and produce better analysis and visualizations to monitor the SDGs and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the region.
About Cepei
Cepei is a data-driven independent think tank established in 2002 and headquartered in Bogotá D.C. Cepei runs on diversity and the creativity of its multidisciplinary team of issue experts and partners worldwide.
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