Priorities for Missing Data and SDG4: Latin America and the Caribbean

• In Event: Conceptualizing and Addressing SDG 4 Data Gaps: Global and Regional Perspectives

Proposal

In recent years, Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced a degree of stagnation in their reporting of cross-national SDG 4 indicators. However, the regional and global gaps in data belie the fact that governments do have national data for the relevant SDG 4 targets. This presentation will discuss the challenges in bridging the gaps between available national and cross-national education data in the region. The SDG 4/Education 2030 agenda also brought new demands for information to countries and the need to focus attention on excluded groups. Two issues of particular importance for the region have to do with people on the move and those with disabilities. These two groups clearly exemplify common problems in collecting data on vulnerable individuals, and they have gained relevance in the region’s educational agenda—including OREALC/UNESCO’s current work developing regional monitoring frameworks for these two groups. In addition to these two groups affected by missing education data, the presentation will highlight priority education data gaps in terms of early childhood education, youth and adult skills development, and disaster risks. The presentation will end with reflections on the gap between data production and use.

Author

• Alejandro Vera, UNESCO Santiago