OWG Proposed Target 17.18
RATING: POOR – Providing this type of data requires significant strengthening of statistical capacity in developing countries i.e. personnel and technical assistance, which represents a non-trivial cost, especially for certain countries where ability to collect is poor. Jerven (2014) shows that the costs of measuring a sustainable development agenda, in the manner envisaged by the data revolution, are in the order of $1Bn USD per target, globally. There is a strong risk that pressing developing countries for more data, specifically for a sustainable development agenda, will mean the transfer of resources away from data collecting activities required for national contexts.
Download the entire report
In our recent report, not just the target above, but all 169 targets have been assessed by 60 teams of the world’s top economists. The targets have been categorized into five ratings based on evidence of economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits. While we applaud that the UN Open Working Group's final outcome document contains 43 fewer targets than the previous document, we are concerned that many targets have simply been combined, therefore reducing the number of both phenomenal and poor targets assessed according to our cost-benefit analysis. Our new assessment includes suggestions for how these can be improved as reported in this article by the Financial Times.
