Countries around the world are working to harness the data revolution to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data supports country-led efforts to advance whole-of-government and multi-stakeholder data roadmaps for sustainable development.

The Data4SDGs Toolbox is a set of tools, methods, and resources developed by data champions around the world, adapted and compiled by the Global Partnership. The Data4SDGs Toolbox will help countries to create and implement their own holistic data roadmaps for sustainable development — roadmaps that are responsive to and drive positive change on the ground. The toolbox will address institutional, policy, technical, resource, and capacity issues, among other things. It will help countries to address challenges and seize new opportunities in the collection and use of real-time, dynamic, disaggregated data to achieve and monitor the SDGs and their own sustainable development priorities.

The toolbox is being developed using an iterative, multi-stakeholder approach that is informed by an ongoing series of consultations and national workshops — at national and sub-national levels — in countries around the world. It is intended to help:

  • Coordinate multi-stakeholder and institutional arrangements to ensure country ownership on roadmap implementation.

  • Align SDG data roadmaps with national priorities and building on existing plans.

  • Prioritize efforts to increase and improve the utilization of data for decision-making, citizen empowerment, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

  • Define the essential minimum package of SDG data.

  • Establish SDG monitoring baselines.

  • Identify key data gaps and action plans for filling data gaps.

  • Identify opportunities and risks for the use of new sources of data.

  • Develop interim milestones on SDG targets.

  • Support capacity building and innovation for the generation, sharing, and utilization of data at national and sub-national levels.

An initial set of modules are now available for use or are in development as depicted in the toolbox framework. This is an iterative process where the modules will further develop and refine based on user feedback and additional inputs through our network of partners.

We invite you to use those modules in the Data4SDGs Toolbox most appropriate to your situation in support of your data efforts on the SDGs.