The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stresses the importance of quality, accessible, timely and reliable disaggregated data to measure progress and to ensure that no one is left behind. Current data collection efforts across the Arab region fall short in terms of tracking progress towards the Agenda. Better data availability is crucial for designing public policy concerning poverty, hunger and malnutrition; access to education and other basic services; and social discrimination and exclusion, especially in countries experiencing conflict and in conflict-affected neighbouring countries.

Reliable figures to evaluate how conflict has affected prosperity goals should be a priority in the region. Major investment is required in data collection and processing to provide policymakers around the region with the information they need to inform their decisions. Mapping 12 of the 17 SDGs and presenting figures based on microdata that could serve as the most relevant to the sustainable development indicators, this report identifies data gaps and demonstrates the importance of using microdata for measuring and monitoring progress towards achieving the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda.