Information Seminar for Permanent Representatives "Challenges and opportunities for reporting on SDG indicators"

The Office of Chief Statistician organized a Seminar on Statistics to provide Members with the first comprehensive briefing on FAO’s work on the 21 SDG indicators under its custodianship, since the last Seminar of its kind that took place in March 2017.

The Seminar aimed to bring together Permanent Representatives in order to:

• Receive an update on FAO’s work on SDG indicators, the outcomes of the IAEG-SDG process, and the latest decisions of the UN Statistical Commission;
• Explain in more detail the main characteristics of each of the 21 SDG indicators under FAO custodianship, including their main methodological approach, relevance for the target, limitations, main challenges for country reporting and ways to overcome these;
• Discuss the main challenges on SDG reporting and FAO’s strategy geared towards addressing transversal constraints in global SDG monitoring and supporting countries to produce and use SDG indicators for national policy-making. In particular, a specific focus will be dedicated to FAO’s approach to monitoring the impact of the COVID pandemic on food insecurity;
• Discuss how political commitment can be increased to support SDG monitoring efforts.