Taking the full measure of development

In 2015, the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals to address the environmental, social and economic challenges faced by every country on the planet. Yet measuring the progress achieved in the SDGs requires an unprecedented number of statistical data to inform the monitoring indicators: over 230 have been selected – poverty rate, density of health professionals, watercourse pollution index...

The problem is that data is sometimes lacking, as all countries do not have a statistical system able to produce them. Furthermore, with no shared methodology, these data are not systematically collected and processed using the same standards – which makes it impossible to compare the performance of various countries.

Consequently, to meet this increasing demand for harmonised quality data, it is essential to strengthen national statistical systems, with support from regional organisations in order to improve coordination. It is with this aim that the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs is financing SODDA, a project to support the monitoring of the SDGs in Africa.

This project is coordinated by Expertise France and aims to develop reflection on the monitoring indicators for the SDGs in French-speaking Africa, in particular by involving the African regional statistical organisation (AFRISTAT), statistical institutes from its member States and African statistical schools. Through a regional working group, SODDA will contribute to identifying relevant indicators for Africa and to capitalising on the experiences of the most advanced countries for a dissemination of good practices on the continent.

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