IAEG-SDGs

2025 Comprehensive Review Process

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In accordance with GA Resolution 71/313, the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) will be conducting a Comprehensive Review of the global indicator framework throughout 2024 and will submit its proposed refinements, revisions, replacements, additions and deletions to the 56^th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in March 2025 for its consideration.

This webpage provides information on the 2025 Comprehensive Review process, its timeline, the criteria used for determining what can be included in the Review, and will include links to open consultations and other updates on the 2025 Comprehensive Review.

Guiding Principles of 2025 Comprehensive Review

The 2025 comprehensive review provides a good opportunity to improve the indicator framework to help the global monitoring of the 2030 agenda and to provide the necessary guidance to countries, many of which are already well advanced in implementing their national framework and reporting platforms. The Expert Group agreed on several guiding principles for the review in order to set the parameters within which the review would take place. The principles include the following:

• The review needs to take into account investments already made at the national and international levels and should not undermine ongoing efforts;
• The revised framework should not significantly impose an additional burden on national statistical work;
• There should be space for improvements, while at the same time ensuring that the changes are limited in scope and the size of the framework remains the same;
• The focus of the Group's common work should remain on the implementation of the framework in countries for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Specific Criteria for Implementation of 2025 Comprehensive Review

1. The aim of the review is to maintain the same number of indicators currently in the framework to not alter significantly the original framework, which is already being implemented in most countries and to not increase the reporting burden on national statistical systems;
2. The proposed indicator must have an agreed methodology (tier III indicator proposals will not be considered) and data available for at least 40% of countries and of the population across the different regions where the indicator is relevant and be suitable for global monitoring;
3. Taking into account the first two criteria,
• An additional indicator may be considered only in exceptional cases when a crucial aspect of a target is not being monitored by the current indicator(s) or to address a critical or emerging new issue that is not monitored by the existing indicators;
• A deletion may be considered when a tier II indicator has not been able to submit any data to the global SDG monitoring or is proven to be challenging for countries to implement, and a replacement will be proposed if the deleted indicator is the only indicator monitoring the corresponding target;
• Adjustments or replacements will be considered when the indicator does not map well to the target or does not track the target well.

Other considerations

• The addition of a sub-indicator within an existing indicator is discouraged as it adds to the reporting burden.
• Additionally, any proposal for replacement or additional indicator should minimize the use of sub-indicators to ensure the indicator framework does not expand.
• The IAEG-SDGs will examine closely all proposals to ensure the reporting burden does not increase as a result of additional sub-indicators.

Detailed submission requirements in the 2025 Review:

The call for proposals is now closed. The IAEG-SDGs opened the call from 1-30 April 2024 for replacement, revision/adjustment, deletion and additional indicator proposals for consideration as part of the 2025 Comprehensive Review.

Each submission must include the forms listed, where applicable, and submitted online using the link below. If each item listed below is not included in the submission, the IAEG-SDGs will not consider the proposal.

Completed 2025 Comprehensive Review Submission Form (using the template provided in the “2025 Comprehensive Review proposal package” found under “Resources” below) which includes information such as:

• Background and rationale for the proposal.
• Information on how and when the methodology has become an international standard and who is the governing body that approves it, where applicable.
• If applicable, link(s) to available data and/or link to where data can be located and available for at least 40% of countries and of the population across the different regions where the indicator is relevant; and a plan for how data coverage will be expanded if current data coverage is below 50%.

Complete the detailed metadata (if applicable) using the metadata template provided in the “2025 Comprehensive Review proposal package” under "Resources" below.

Timeline for 2025 Comprehensive Review

The timeline for the 2025 Comprehensive Review is as follows:

November 2022 : the IAEG-SDGs will share the recommended timeline and the guiding principles for 2025 Comprehensive;

November 2023 : the Group will share the specific criteria for the 2025 Comprehensive Review;

January - June 2024 : the Group will prepare a review framework containing possible deletions, replacements, adjustments and additions, based on previous analysis and assessments, with assistance from the Secretariat;

1-30 April 2024 : Open call for proposals. All proposals for indicator changes for the 2025 Review (replacements, deletions, refinements, adjustments and additional indicators) must be submitted to the Secretariat by 30 April;

July-August 2024 : open consultation will be held on a preliminary list of a proposal of indicator changes;

September 2024 : the Group will review the results of the consultations;

October 2024 : at the 15th IAEG-SDG meeting on 22-23 Oct. in Oslo, the Group will review the draft proposal of indicator changes to be included in the 2025 Comprehensive Review;

December 2024 : the Group will prepare the final proposal for the 2025 review and submit it to the Commission for its consideration at the fifty-sixth session in March 2025.

Throughout this entire process, the IAEG-SDGs will continue to operate in an open and transparent manner and will consult with custodian agencies, member States, stakeholders and other experts as needed to clarify indicator proposals and respond to any questions the group has.

Resources:

2025 Comprehensive Review proposal package (ZIP)

UNSC 54 Side Event - Insights from SDG Monitoring: Lessons Learned, Linkages with Well-being Discussion, and 2025 Comprehensive Review

2025 Comprehensive Review Presentation from 14th IAEG-SDG meeting (PDF)

2025 Comprehensive Review Presentation from 13^th IAEG-SDG meeting (PDF)

IAEG-SDG Report to 54^th session of United Nations Statistical Commission (PDF)

UNSC 54 Side Event - The 2025 Comprehensive Review of the Global Indicator Framework for SDGs: Principles, Criteria, Timeline, Lessons from 2020, and Strategies for 2025

2020 Comprehensive Review Webpage

Global Metadata Repository