The Doha Data Forum, which was organised by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, came to a close Monday with the Doha Declaration for inclusive data ecosystems and effective decisions, including many important items and recommendations in four main axes: comprehensive data systems, data governance, data for sustainable development, and the Doha Data Forum.
In their declaration issued Monday, the forum participants, including representatives of ministries, government agencies, UN agencies, international organisations, national statistical bodies, civil society, academia and the private sector, recommended that the transformative power of data recognize the need for inclusive data ecosystems to enhance effective decision-making processes, and keep pace with the rapid progress of the information revolution and its increasing role in advancing sustainable development, economic growth, social progress, and the desired well-being for all.
They stressed that sustainable development requires enhancing economic progress, protecting the environment, reducing the effects of climate change, and promoting social inclusion through responsible use of data and making evidence-based decisions, while emphasising the importance of intensifying efforts and co-operation between economic sectors and stakeholders to confront challenges and benefit from available opportunities.
The participants renewed their full commitment to the basic principles of official statistics and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially with regard to the goal 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically goals 17 and 18 relating to enhancing the availability of reliable data through developing capabilities in an effort to achieve a qualitative increase in the availability of reliable, high-quality data classified according to qualitative data.
Representatives of ministries, government agencies, UN agencies, international organisations, national statistical agencies, and civil society stressed the importance of data and statistics as strategic assets for making decisions and formulating comprehensive, evidence-based, people-centred policies that promote sustainable development.
They welcomed the declaration issued by the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which was held under the auspices of the General Assembly and approved by Member States last September, announcing in this context the most important provisions of the Doha Declaration, which includes, at the level of inclusive data ecosystems, the recognition of the need to strengthen these data and actively engage all stakeholders, encourage the development of partnerships and co-operation between stakeholders, emphasise the importance of capacity-building initiatives to enhance data knowledge and familiarity with them in school curricula, call for the establishment of data infrastructure such as open data platforms and secure central statistics repositories, and promote a participatory data approach.
