Sierra Leone has taken a significant step toward transforming its agricultural sector and advancing food security by improving data quality. On November 25, 2025, the Government officially launched the national initiative on Strengthening Agricultural Data and Data Use for Policy (AgriData-SL), marking the start of a coordinated effort to modernize the country’s agricultural data ecosystem.

Global Partnership Program and Policy Lead Karen Bett features on the NorthStar GAZE podcast to explore how citizen data and mapping help make people visible and shape fairer decisions. In a wide-ranging conversation, Karen reflects on efforts that pushed governments to publish open budgets and initiatives that helped place communities like Kibera on the map. She argues that data is not just numbers. It is a force for dignity, justice, and truth.

Jenna Slotin is stepping into the role of interim CEO bringing a long-standing focus on data governance, policy, and global cooperation with her. Her first engagements in the new role will be in New York, where world leaders and changemakers are gathering for the 2025 UN General Assembly High-Level Week. 

DANE hosts Lessons from the Power of Data

On September 9, 2025, Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) hosted Lessons from the Power of Data in Bogotá, bringing DANE leadership together with the Global Partnership for a forward-looking discussion on inclusive data and the final stretch of the SDGs.

Teams from Ghana, Colombia, and Kenya met in Accra from August 27 to 29, 2025, for the Make Inclusive Data the Norm peer learning exchange at the Alisa Hotel. The gathering brought together national statistical offices, line ministries, and civil society to compare approaches, stress test what works, and plan the next phase of collaboration on inclusive and citizen-generated data.

On August 26, 2025, the UN General Assembly came together to establish two new mechanisms within the UN to strengthen international cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) governance: the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance.