The present ESCWA data strategy supports the mandate of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) to better utilize local, national and regional data sources. It aims to adapt the 2020-2022 Data Strategy of the Secretary-General for Action by Everyone, Everywhere to the ESCWA context, by designing and deploying an organizational data framework, fostering statistics and data analytics, and building synergy among organization-wide data activities, portals and projects.

The ESCWA data strategy articulates a vision and mission based on the analysis of the organization’s data gaps (gap analysis via the fishbone approach), and accordingly scopes the following four critical work areas: statistical data; data analytics; data management; and data platforms. It details these four work areas according to the respective strategic drivers to derive a high-level operational action plan for the way forward in implementing the strategy.

Moreover, the strategy underlines five enablers, or implementation requirements, to support the effective implementation of the work areas, while simultaneously encouraging and enabling ESCWA staff members to bring innovative data application ideas to their work. Feedback on the strategy was solicited from the various ESCWA clusters and staff members.

The strategy calls for the formation of a data strategy action group at ESCWA to oversee the implementation of ESCWA data initiatives, and coordinate with the wider statistics and data community of the United Nations system. This group will operate under the framework of the United Nations Data Governance Group to execute the strategy via various activities that resonate with the Data Strategy of the Secretary-General.

The document is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive, and recognizes the demarcated nature of ESCWA clusters, offices, units and teams. It leverages data use and information sharing for a more agile organization to better serve member States.