Implementing the SDGs Geospatial Roadmap

Implementing the SDGs Geospatial Roadmap will enable countries to better harness geospatial information for the production, measurement, monitoring and reporting of geospatially related indicators. Further, this will help countries disaggregate indicators by geographic location and combine with data disaggregated by income, sex, age and other statistical dimensions to help countries with making decisions informed by data. While it is already recognised that integration of these forms of data is a critical driver that enables the implementation of the SDGs, this cannot be achieved through statistics alone in part due to the interconnected and interrelated nature of the SDGs.

Unfortunately, the call of Goal 17 to “enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts” by 2020 was not met. However, we collectively have the tools and mechanisms that will enable the production and dissemination of high-quality, timely and reliable data within our grasp. 

At the foundation of this is geospatial information; from adding value to all other disaggregation to providing the key mechanism which will enable the full realisation of the overarching principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, namely to leave no-one behind and to reach those furthest behind first. Geographic information is the key component that can highlight groups which are currently lagging behind, whether through disaggregation of income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability or other characteristics relevant in national contexts. In sum, geospatial information provides the basis to integrate and analyse data, inform decision-making, and enable the ‘where’ needed for action. This Roadmap is the starting point to enable the IAEG-SDGs, custodian agencies and states to fully harness geospatial information for the SDGs, and in turn, this Roadmap calls for geospatial and location-based information to now be recognised and accepted as official data for the SDGs alongside official statistics.

The WGGI is now working on guidance to better enable the disaggregation of SDG indicators by geographic location. The WGGI welcomes the support of the IAEG-SDGs and Member States to implement and raise awareness of its work, so that the ambition of the 2030 Agenda can be fully realised through crossing the geospatial digital divide.