Civil Society indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals

Civil Society indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals

In the context of the UN 2030 Agenda, the European Economic and Social Committee invites you to a public debate where we will explore and propose indicators suited to European civil society's needs for monitoring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. What is monitored and what is not monitored, in particular the design and choice of indicators, have substantial political implications for how we achieve the goals.

The way data is presented often suggests political direction for where action is needed to make progress. The richness of civil society's knowledge should enhance statistical numbers, and civil society stakeholders have called for continued development of such indicators with civil society involvement throughout their evolution. The annual revision of the Eurostat study must be an opportunity for broader dialogue with civil society on which indicators to replace, adjust or add to better measure progress towards the 2030 Agenda.

In light of civil society calls for indicators that are grounded in bottom-up knowledge, and in view of the efforts from the first annual Eurostat report on the SDGs that was published last year, this public debate will give civil society the opportunity to recommend an appropriate framework to involve stakeholders in the review of the EU SDG indicators. The Sustainable Development Observatory (SDO) of the EESC will provide a space for discussion and reflection on how organised civil society would like to be better involved in the types of indicators selected for monitoring the SDGs. Panelists will debate options and hear the public's solutions for a broader and deeper set of qualitative and indicator suggestions, seeking further ways for multi-stakeholder collaboration to meet the SDGs more effectively.