Following the first ever United Nations World Data Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, last week, an emerging group of donors led by the U.K.’s Department for International Development and the World Bank is calling for greater data disaggregation — a breakdown of development figures based on characteristics such as gender and geography.
The more profound level of detail is needed to ensure that pockets of neediness are not overlooked in examining average progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, advocates say.
Disaggregation is “what’s going to tell us what’s actually going on as opposed to how averages are performing,” Dominic Haslam, director of policy and strategy at Sightsavers told Devex.