Monitoring SDG 16 and Governance

Monitoring SDG 16 at National Level

Strengthening capacities to effectively monitor SDG 16 and produce governance statistics more broadly will require well-coordinated, well-funded and complementary action at different levels. Global and regional level support to countries is needed to improve the production of governance statistics and ensure that quality standards are met. In turn, robust national SDG 16 monitoring frameworks will strengthen the follow-up and review processes of the SDGs at the global and regional levels since  strong national monitoring frameworks will help produce an integrated evidence base of policy and programmatic lessons that can spur progress, support advocacy and promote accountability.

UNDP, through its Oslo Governance Centre, continues to play a key role in the measurement and monitoring of progress on  SDG 16 and in improving the production of governance statistics more broadly.   To this end UNDP:

1.       Supports the development of standards on governance statistics  

2.       Runs an SDG 16 National-Level Monitoring Initiative

Supporting the development of standards on governance statistics  

UNDP has been active over the years in supporting the strengthening of governance statistics as an active member of the Praia City Group on Governance Statistics.  The Praia Group on Governance Statistics was endorsed by the UN Statistics Commission at its meeting in March 2015 with a mandate to contribute to establishing international standards and methods for the compilation of governance statistics. Working through to 2025, the Praia Group secretariat group is led by the National Statistics Institute of Cabo Verde (INECV) and provides a forum for national and international statistical organizations, international agencies, academia, research groups and civil society organizations to share and develop expertise in governance statistics.

The Praia Group Handbook on Governance Statistics (2020) serves as key guidance for member states and takes stock of and qualifies existing practices in governance data collection, highlights the most important metrics for key dimensions of governance statistics, and discusses the way forward required to achieve international statistical standards in each dimension. It is intended as a tool for those wishing to understand, produce and analyze governance statistics, and is primarily targeted towards national statistical agencies.

This handbook follows eight dimensions of governance:

1.         Non-discrimination and equality

2.         Participation in political and public affairs

3.         Openness

4.         Access to and quality of justice

5.         System responsiveness and satisfaction with services

6.         Absence of corruption

7.         Trust in institutions

8.         Safety and security

National-Level Monitoring Initiative

The national level monitoring of SDG 16 initiative is based an already tested methodology developed and piloted by UNDP in 2017 designed to build and strengthen inclusive and robust SDG 16 monitoring frameworks at national level. The initiative is a UNDP-led Global Alliance collaboration and includes technical and advisory and experience and exchange support to 14 countries.

The methodology includes three main phases:

1. Definition of indicators and baseline data collection. In consultation with national statistical offices (NSOs), drawing from global/international and national (official and non-official) indicators and data sources.

2. Multi-stakeholder consultations and review of progress. Joint reviews by government and civil society of the proposed indicator framework and of indicator results, and joint formulation of broad policy recommendations.

3. Periodic scorecards. Periodic tracking of progress using the selected indicators, identifying and addressing data gaps, and formulating specific policy recommendations for each target.