The Global Partnership at the United Nations World Data Forum 2024

The Global Partnership recently participated in the 5th UN World Data Forum (UNWDF) held in Medellín, Colombia. The event gathered leaders, data practitioners, and advocates from around the world to explore how data can drive transformative change. Our engagement before and during the event focused on the power of data through partnerships, highlighting the critical role collaboration plays in building robust and inclusive data systems.

A decade of impact

This year marked a decade since the publication of A World That Counts, a pivotal report that laid the foundation for both the World Data Forum and the Global Partnership. Over the past 10 years, we have achieved significant milestones, including improving data accessibility and driving global conversations around inclusive and transparent data systems. To learn more about the progress we have made, read our collaborative report here with Open Data Watch, Paris21, The United Nations Statistics Division, and the World Bank.

#Commit2Data campaign

At the forum, we committed to an ambitious future under the #Commit2Data campaign. The campaign is focused on closing data gaps, enhancing transparency, and ensuring data inclusion. Learn more about our commitments here.

Pre-forum activities

In the days leading to the start of the forum, we had some amazing moments with our partners:

• Learning exchange workshops on citizen data and south-south collaboration.
• Networking lunch and panel discussions in collaboration with APC Colombia.
• Data Values Advocates workshop on using data visualization for data advocacy.

You can read the highlights of these activities here.

One of the things I learned was to read the audience of my messages and data, and that there are so many creative ways of conveying data, stories and ideas! We just need to understand our audience and think outside the box. 

- María Paula Hernández Ruiz, Data Values Advocate

Key forum activities and engagements

The Global Partnership’s contributions at the forum spanned multiple initiatives and themes, demonstrating our multifaceted approach to advancing sustainable development through data.

Citizen data and inclusion

Citizen data is at the heart of building inclusive data ecosystems. Several sessions highlighted its role and potential:

• Taking data into our own hands: This session, co-hosted with the Collaborative on Citizen Data, focused on co-creating a roadmap to implement the Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data, emphasizing the value of grassroots-driven data practices.
• Stand activities at the Collaborative on Citizen Data platform included Make Inclusive Data the Norm, Citizen Data: At the Center of Addressing Infectious Diseases and the LGBTIQ+ data initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing data equity and representation.

South-south cooperation and knowledge sharing

Collaboration across countries in the Global South is key to driving data innovation:

• Fostering citizen and inclusive data into national statistical systems through South-South cooperation: This session explored how countries in the Global South can share knowledge and resources to integrate inclusive data practices into official systems.
• Learning across borders: How countries share knowledge to harness administrative data for official statistics: This panel showcased cross-border collaborations and best practices for using administrative data effectively.

Data for vulnerable populations

Empowering vulnerable communities through better data was a key theme across multiple sessions:

• Children on the move: This session, co-organized with the Inclusive Data Charter (IDC), examined data gaps, needs, and solutions to better understand the experiences of displaced children.
• Data on LGBTIQ+ persons: This session highlighted a human rights and multi-stakeholder approach to producing official statistics on LGBTIQ+ populations.

Innovation for climate resilience and youth engagement

Recognizing the urgent need for climate action and the importance of youth perspectives, the following sessions were particularly impactful:

• Alternative mapping data for resilience and development in the face of climate change: This session explored innovative approaches to mapping and their role in building climate resilience.
• Leveraging Global South youth’s vision for an equitable and sustainable data future: Youth leaders from the Global South shared their insights and ambitions for creating a sustainable and inclusive data landscape.

Building fair and accountable data practices

Sessions focused on the ethical dimensions of data use, emphasizing fairness, inclusivity, and accountability:

• Co-creating data action in the digital age: This session, co-organized by the Data Values Project, featured global activists sharing strategies for creating equitable and accountable data ecosystems.
• Data for Now: This session explored holistic approaches to maximizing the impact of data initiatives.

Effective partnerships for better data

The forum culminated in a plenary session which featured Claire Melamed, CEO of the Global Partnership, focused on Effective partnerships for better data and a more equitable data ecosystem, reinforcing the idea that partnerships are the foundation of impactful data systems.

These sessions reflected the Global Partnership’s unwavering commitment to collaboration, inclusion, and innovation, leveraging diverse perspectives to tackle pressing challenges.

Speaking at the plenary, Claire Melamed highlighted the role of the Power of Data Initiative in helping to address these challenges, by creating partnerships and data systems that can have an impact at scale.

The Power of Data Initiative was launched by the UN in September last year in recognition of the fact that, when we’re thinking about partnerships, we have to think not only about impact but also about scale. And if we really believe - as I assume everybody in this room does - that data is an absolutely critical resource as we try to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we really can’t do that by lots of little projects - that’s not going to create the systemic change at scale that we need. The UN’s Power of Data Initative, which the Global Partnership is very proud to work on alongside co-leads from the UN agencies and the World Bank, brings together the institutions that can achieve this change at scale. 

- Claire Melamed, CEO of the Global Partnership

Sustaining the momentum

The insights and energy from the UNWDF underscore the transformative power of partnerships in advancing data systems. The Global Partnership’s engagements reaffirmed its mission to build a sustainable and inclusive data future, catalyzing global action across key sectors.