 Hello, everyone. Welcome to our event data-driven voluntary national and local reviews for the SDGs. My name is Mary Emerby and I'm the head of SDGs today at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. And I have the pleasure of moderating this one hour webinar. We're very excited to have you join us today. So please feel free to introduce yourselves and let us know where you're joining us from in the chat. And throughout the webinar, if you have any questions, please use the Q&A function so that your questions aren't lost in the chat. We have the honor to be in the presence of wonderful speakers today, so I won't take up too much time with the introduction. But over the past year in collaboration with our partner Esri, we've been working on developing an ArcGIS story map template for voluntary national reviews and voluntary local reviews. That would encourage country and city focal points to present data in a more accessible format to improve data access, engage citizens and the broader SDG community and conducting analyses, looking at trends over time and location, and ultimately showcasing the impact of data on decision making. So in today's session, we will hear from leading national and local governments and UN agencies that are using innovative geospatial tools and methods to produce data and report their progress on the SDGs. Geospatial data, Earth observations, remote sensing and various innovative tools and applications play a significant role in providing timely insights into the state of the SDGs. And together today, we'll learn about three leading examples that will inspire other countries, states and cities to work towards data driven reporting on the SDGs. Towards the second half of the event, we'll hear from a very active youth advocate and our colleagues from Esri and the public foundation as well. Without further ado, I would like to hand it over to, let me change my slide, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, president of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at the Columbia Climate School for his opening remarks. Professor Sachs, thank you so much for joining us today. The floor is yours. It's really a pleasure for me to join and I'm especially a student of yours and the other promoters of new geospatial and data techniques for the SDGs. I have to admit that when I was going to graduate school these many, many years ago, countries were arranged in alphabetical order. We did not have GIS data. We certainly did not have satellite data giving us up to date accounts of the state of the planet, whether it's the climate system, the state of fisheries, the even greenhouse emissions that can be tracked in real time. And many of the applications that you have been using and you have been curating from research centers around the world. We're proud of our partnerships and the learning that we have from national governments that are leading this effort such as the Emirates, the UAE. We're extremely proud of our partnership with Esri, the company that first brought us the technologies of GIS and spatial data analytics, and I'm very proud of you, Mariam, for your leadership of SDGs today, which is a mission of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network to bring the best of our analytical capacities, technologies, and data in real time for the purposes of understanding where we are with the SDGs, but even more importantly, how we can get to success on the SDGs. Remember that when we use geospatial data, whether it's satellite data or geolocated big data from mobile phones, or when it is the point and click data that students around the world are using to geolocate their schools and put them on a schools map that can be used by public administrators, part of the purpose is to understand the state of affairs, the progress or lack of progress towards the SDGs. But part is real time management, real time governance of the major SDG challenges to monitor deforestation, to monitor climate dangers, to monitor the access to vital public services such as health clinics or school facilities. And there are so many rapidly evolving applications that it's thrilling what we are seeing, what we're learning, and as I say, I'm profoundly impressed by what you, Mariam, and your team at SDGs today are accomplishing. Without further ado, let's get into the program, which is wonderful case studies and wonderful partners, and this will be a huge opportunity to move forward on the use of new kinds of data, especially geospatial data and big data for the purposes of advancing the SDGs. So thank you for letting me join, letting me listen in, and back over to you. Thank you so much Professor Sachs for joining us and for your opening remarks. Without further ado, I would like to invite his Excellency Abdullah Nasr Luta, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Experience Exchange, and Vice Chair of the United Arab Emirates National Committee on the SDGs for his keynote speech. Your Excellency, thank you for taking the time to join us today. We know you have a very busy schedule and appreciate your contribution to today's discussion. Thank you, Mariam. It's an honor to be with you today. Thank you, Professor Sachs, for arranging for this distinguished discussion. Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure to be with you here today to discuss the potential and impact of digital data driven VNRs for the SDGs. What makes the SDGs distinct from other development related goals is that these goals are intended to be universal. Today, no country can achieve socioeconomic prosperity by working within its borders only. All countries need to work together to realize a sustainable future for the whole world. VNRs are a stock take of how far we have come and the immense potential of what lies ahead. Yesterday, the report of the UN Secretary General Special Edition 2023 was launched, and the numbers are a wake up call. Despite progress, 2.2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water services. 3.4 billion lacked safely managed sanitation services and 1.9 billion lacked basic hygiene services in 2022. As of 2022, nearly 1.1 billion people lived in slums or slum-like conditions in urban areas, with an additional 2 billion expected to live in slums or slum-like conditions over the next 30 years. Globally, nearly 1 in 4 young people were not in education, employment or training in 2022. The HRPF is not only an opportunity to identify the challenges and acknowledge the advances we have made globally, but also to own a responsibility that lies ahead for each one in creating a better future. The importance of data and digitalization in driving decision making for the SDGs and monitoring progress cannot be overstated. Today, I want to shed light on an important aspect of measuring progress towards the SDGs beyond global rankings. The SDGs index published by SDSN is a great tool that ranks countries based on their advancement towards these goals. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that this ranking primarily relies on international organizations, research papers and multiple sources, often overlooking the most recent and real-time efforts by individual countries. For example, indicators such as human-trophic level source data 2017, marine biodiversity threats embodied in imports dated 2018, and freshwater biodiversity threats embodied in imports are derived from research papers dated 2018. Given the varying stages of development across countries, there exists an opportunity for a platform that does not penalize the least developed countries for their inability to address certain indicators due to circumstances. The essence of the SDGs lies in the solid, reliable facts. COVID-19, for instance, set many countries behind and it was the race to survival. Indexes need to consider situations that may embed the progress of the countries, especially the least developed ones. On the other hand, the digital story maps developed by SDSN and Esri is a powerful tool that should be adopted by all countries. In the rankings, the digital story maps provide a comprehensive and inclusive assessment of countries' relentless pursuit of the SDGs. It allows nations to showcase progress, challenges and strategies directly, ensuring their efforts are accurately represented and acknowledged on the global stage. The digital story maps empower nations to present a holistic view of their endeavors, promoting transparency, accountability and collaboration among all stakeholders. By shifting our focus to this powerful tool, we can truly celebrate the progress made by nations in their dedication to the SDGs. Since the adoption of the SDGs, the UAE has successfully presented two VNRs, one in 2018 and the second one in 2022. These reviews have served a comprehensive catalyst for the UAE's SDGs ecosystem to drive positive impact nationally, regionally and globally. Developing capabilities to monitor and track progress in the implementation of the SDGs is our key focus. We have developed sophisticated tools such as the SDG data hub and the government's performance monitoring system, which we call EDA, both of which are highlighted in our story map. Bringing our story to life. We have crafted a captivating digital story map that showcases our remarkable journey. I invite each one of you to explore this immersive experience where you will discover the UAE's efforts towards the acceleration of SDGs nationally and globally. Our vision extends beyond our own accomplishments. We are eager to collaborate, share knowledge and inspire others on their own paths towards achieving these global goals. Thank you. And now I would like to hand over to my colleague Muskan Chandwani, who will take you through our digital story map. Your Excellency, thank you for the insightful remarks and for taking the time to join us today and to set the tone for today's event. I think we're all very eager to hear from Miss Muskan Chandwani, International Relations Coordinator, the Director General Office, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center, who will be presenting the UAE SDG data hub and story map. Miss Muskan, over to you. Greetings to one and all. It is a pleasure to be here with you virtually. The UAE's commitment towards the SDGs is at the heart of our country's vision for the future which is aligned with the SDGs. As emphasized earlier by His Excellency, the UAE successfully presented our second BNR at the UNHLPF 2022. We recognize the potential of digital story maps as a compelling tool to enhance the accessibility of the SDGs journey and share our story with other countries. Now I will just share my screen and show you our story map. By embracing the GIS technology and the digital template, which is developed by the SDGs today, we translated our extensive efforts into the UAE story map, which captured various aspects of our progress. Some of the sections included in the digital BNR include the UAE SDGs timeline, which highlights the UAE journey from the incorporation up until today, which is the UAE's delegation participation at the 2023 HLPF. Some of the sections are included are the methodology and process of implementation, which highlights the UAE stakeholder ecosystem and implementation. Another section which is included is the SDGs performance monitoring tool, which is basically, as His Excellency mentioned, it is a centralized reporting and monitoring tool, also known as the SDG ARA system, which serves as an enabler to government entities in the UAE to promote, manage and follow up on the SDGs implementation. Another section is the SDGs performance overview, which basically highlights various case studies and data points for the UAE across the 17 SDGs. Some of which case studies are the government experience exchange program and the digital schools, which is an initiative by the Muhammad bin Rashid Global Initiatives, which aims to provide a certified online education to students who do not have easy access to formal education. And you can see various such case studies across the 17 SDGs. To our story map, you could also access the UAE SDGs data hub, which was developed in collaboration with Israel. You will find initiatives, geomap data stories, success case stories, and more that encapsulate the UAE's journey towards the 2030 agenda. We encourage all countries to adopt technology and innovative tools such as the digital story map to tell your story and to inspire and be inspired by other countries in our journey towards a better tomorrow. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to connecting with you at the HLPF. Thank you. Thank you so much, Miss Muscon for sharing the story map and it's always inspiring to see how you position new technologies and approaches us at the center of your work for the SDGs so thank you for sharing that. And after the event will be sharing all the links so that the participants can look through and learn from all of these story maps as well. So thanks again. Great. Wonderful. Okay, so next, we do have another presentation and wonderful story map from Miss Celeste Connors, a CEO of Hawaii Green Growth UN local 2030 hub and the co chair of the local 2030 islands network. Before I hand over to the mic to Miss Celeste, we're going to play a video first. And so if I can ask my colleagues to pull up the video. We'll watch that together and then we'll hear from Miss Celeste Connors. The Pacific Ocean lies a place where sustainability is not just a buzzword. It's a way of life. Hawaii is a community of passionate individuals dedicated to creating a sustainable future for generations to come. Through the Eloha Plus challenge, Hawaii Green Growth is spearheading a movement that has made Hawaii the first and only state in the nation to submit a local review demonstrating unwavering commitment to sustainable development goals. It's a testament to the tireless efforts of a community that refuses to accept the status quo. It embodies Eloha, nurturing our Aina and fostering harmony between people and planet. Hawaii Green Growth is a public-private partnership. It's a group of stakeholders over 150 individuals and institutions that have come together locally in Hawaii to help achieve Hawaii's statewide sustainability goals and commitments. The Eloha Plus challenge is Hawaii's statewide framework for driving local progress against the United Nations sustainable development goals. And launched in 2014, the Eloha Plus challenge identified six priority areas. As an island state, climate change threatens our economy, culture, environment, and the sustainability of our way of life. Hawaii has an opportunity to lead the world with our response to climate change in the coming years. As a county, we have recognized the urgency of addressing climate change and preserving our natural resources. Our commitment to the Eloha Plus challenge signifies our dedication to creating a better future for Kauai and the generations to come. From renewable energy initiatives to community-driven projects, the county of Hawaii is blazing a trail toward a prosperous and vibrant future. Let us continue to harness this momentum working together towards a resilient and equitable Hawaii island that thrives economically, socially, and environmentally. I recognize the profound significance of the Voluntary Local Review, which underscores our island's unwavering commitment to the Eloha Plus challenge. Let us reaffirm our commitment to this transformative journey working hand in hand to build a resilient and sustainable Maui, Molokai, and Lanai that future generations can proudly call home. I am thrilled to shine a light on the bright spots within the city and county of Honolulu through the Voluntary Local Review. Honolulu is a beacon of sustainability and resilience, so let's celebrate these accomplishments and continue to foster a vibrant, driving Honolulu that sets an example for other communities around the world. The reason young people give me hope is that I see that they are inclusive, that they are intersectional, that they have great courage, they have vibrant energy. They are always playful and courageous and that's what we need. These are times that require great bravery. Our values, culture, and indigenous knowledge have strengthened Hawaii and its people for a thousand years. Our Kupuna sustained our islands and natural resources by maintaining a balanced system focused on caring for the Aina. When we look at the Aukua structures of old, we see diving ecosystems, vibrant cultures, and reciprocal relationships. Our Ohe Hana Nui Kealuia. Familiarizing the people of the world with this way of thinking is a critical step to creating a brighter tomorrow. The future of Hawaii and island earth depends on it. This mindset based on Ike Kupuna, Kuliana, Malama, and Aloha, paired with today's modern technology and knowledge, has the potential to create a sustainable future for island earth. As allies, this is our mission and our vision. We believe that if we take care of the earth, it will take care of us. And if we take care of each other, the world will be a richer and fairer place for everyone. We, the youth of Hawaii, believe with you to act now. Let us look to the past for wisdom and to the future for survival. We only have one island earth. Let us do our best to take care of it and each other. We are one species with one planet, one chance. Through visionary leadership, Hawaii is rewriting the story of our planet's future. We strive to inspire a global movement. We invite island earth to join us. Together, we can create a world where nature thrives, where clean energy powers our lives, and where all communities can flourish. Let Hawaii's voluntary local review be a call to action to demand change and to ensure a better world for future generations. Join us on this extraordinary journey. Mahalo and Aloha. I'd like to thank the Hawaii Green Growth team for such an inspiring video. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. And Celeste, we can't wait to hear more from you. So the mic is yours. I think I'm, yep. Thank you so much. And Aloha, everybody. And so lovely to hear the greetings from all over the world. I'm so delighted to be here with you also as a member of the leadership council of SDSN and longtime partner of Esri. We're just so excited to be able to talk about the technology, the action, the implementation, the partnerships inspired by our colleagues from UAE and also Jeff Sachs. This is the first time you're all the first audience to the video that we produced actually rolling out Hawaii's 2023 voluntary local review. It is our second voluntary local review and it is the first statewide voluntary local review in the United States. We're certainly inspired by other colleagues across the world, both with the VNRs and the VLRs, including in the United States in New York and L.A. And perhaps given our size in Hawaii, you saw that this voluntary local review for Hawaii features all of our local leaders, our mayors, our four mayors, our governor. And as we say in Hawaii, our effort was truly co-co its collective action. What you heard about the Aloha Plus challenge is our statewide sustainability commitment that actually predates the SDGs, and it is derived and based on indigenous knowledge and wisdom over 1000 years of systems thinking and holistic ways of looking at sustainability and so you could see that through our youth, our keiki, it's Hawaii's values, it's island values and it's the concept of island earth, the recognition of the finite resources that we have. And so with our story map today, we're delighted to share that my colleague Jill, who's part of our data and innovation team is going to scroll you through this as I talked through it, but here's the opening statement from our youth, our keiki, the future we want for Hawaii and island earth, looking at those values. The thing about the story map in Hawaii in particular is we're really focused on storytelling, and this technology allows for a much more interactive way of both looking at data for data driven decision making that our leaders can look at, as well as our private sector partners will get to that so as Jill scrolls through this you'll see that in Hawaii we are tracking our six statewide goals but they intersect to all of the SDGs. We have 37 targets and over 280 indicators that are currently being tracked. Story map actually looks at not just the youth statement but also county spotlights. Because it's really important that as we look at progress that we need to make in order to close the gap by 2030 that we celebrate our successes and this is what we call our bright spots. So across the story map which will be able to see is the bright spots of implementation and interactive maps. We have you heard from our, our different mayors you can look at Maui you can explore Maui or Kaua or Hawaii island. We also are engaging our private sector partners because again this is really a cocoa effort in Hawaii. It's our government, our local government, our statewide government you heard from Governor Josh Green who's actually here with us in New York for the National Political Forum, and I should note that actually Hawaii is delighted to be a officially recognized SDG hub a local 2030 hub with other colleagues and hubs and so the governor will be formally rolling out the voluntary local review this week in New York, and they're doing different actions. Again, our private sector partners are critical partners in this they've actually committed to tracking progress not only on their ESG metrics and indicators and environment social governance, but also their progress on the SDGs, and they're doing things like actually disclosing voluntarily their energy efficiency data, and also ways that they're looking to increase food production or purchasing and procuring local food and contributing in their own way to that. Different things that you'll see in the spotlight as you go through this is the continuous accountability and measuring so for us in Hawaii we have actually pulled directly from the dashboard, and the data that we have there to support our voluntary local review in our reporting. Our team has developed various API so we can pull that data seamlessly. And so what we have is sort of a daily VLR continuous measuring and tracking through our dashboard which is actually reflected in in the story map so you can look at our natural resource management and acres of watersheds protected solid waste and different events that are happening to support that, and also looking at green workforce and education a lot of what we're working on in partnership with our advisory is training our next generation of leaders to be the ones that are managing this to be familiar with ArcGIS and geospatial mapping. It's a very exciting thing that youth in Hawaii can actually do from a workforce and development perspective. And so I'm a bit conscious of time I'm going to actually encourage everybody to scroll through our dashboard and look at it and interact with it. We heard inspiring stories from Hawaii, certainly in the island context we are experiencing the impacts of climate change already, given our limited land and our ambitious goals we are actually forced to innovate. And what we see is the innovation and the intersection will happen at the nexus of the various SDGs of the various Aloha plus challenge goals we're going to need to figure out how to reach our 70% decarbonization strategy while also looking at doubling our local food production. We're experiencing a housing crisis which is not dissimilar to other places around the world. And so where we put our infrastructure matters where we have those discussions matter, where we have innovative policy legislation matters, and actually seeing the collaboration that needs to take place across all of these various sectors. So we encourage you to explore story map again we're so grateful to SDSN and Esri for the partnership and look forward to the high level political forum activities in the week ahead. Mahalo. Thank you so much for sharing that very interactive story map. And again the very inspiring video. We look forward to sharing all of the links to the story maps or audiences and those who couldn't join us today can also learn from and interact with the stories that you share in the story map so thank you again to you and your wonderful team for the presentation today. So, speaking of voluntary local reviews and the importance of localizing the SDGs. We're going to hear from Dr Robert. And he is the head of the data and analytics analytics section at UN habitat in is working across various global agendas not only the SDGs but the global urban monitoring framework and I know personally that GIS tools and SDGs are at the core of the work that they do, and the great role that they also play in the EO for SDGs SDG 11 toolkit is also notable. So without further ado, I'd like to invite Dr Robert to present a story map on the case of Mombasa Kenya. Good morning, good evening to you all. I'll just shortly share my screen. Let me know if you can see my screen or not. I can't. I don't know if other colleagues can but I can't see your screen yet. That's a minute. I'll try it one more time. Let me know if you can see it now. Yes, I can see it. Yeah, I think thanks once again to STSN and obviously also Esri and the entire network of partners connecting on for this session today. As noted, I'm Robert's head of data and analytics at UN habitat and for our role particularly in the enhancing the reporting on SDGs has been through quite a number of entry points. One, we are strong believer in international review, but we are also very strong believer in the local review, particularly here noting that UN habitat fronts and promotes a lot of work in cities and local governments. And we do believe strongly that having that seat of local government opportunity to report is very, very important. So of course, in the last seven years, we've seen a very huge jump in terms of local governments and local authorities that are ready and willing to put themselves right at the front to be examined in terms of what they are doing when it comes to achieving the SDGs. And so it's quite a phenomenal journey that perhaps five years ago we had just a handful of voluntary local reviews. And today I'll select noted for example from Hawaii that case in joining the York at that time is it's quite a big journey and a big job that we need to celebrate quite wonderfully. And so what we see today of course is that all these big numbers of voluntary reviews sort of also needed a systematic way of reporting noting here that it's also important to have a way of comparing like for like being able to compare the achievements of one city or local government with another city. So UN habitat working together with many partners, what we've done is to produce what we call a global urban monitoring framework. And this framework consists of 77 indicators like the drone from the SDG family of indicators, but also extending that to the new urban agenda, which is a complimentary global agenda to the 2030 agenda. And from those 77 indicators, we've been disseminating like the global urban monitoring framework, trying to showcase, you know, the various sets of indicators involved but also the classification of all that. So for the case study perhaps to share today it's important to know that we've tried as much as possible to contextualize our local government reporting processes through the structure of localizing the SDGs. But we do this through three pillars. So we have the inner pillar where we organize the local government need to pick up the methodologies they need to pick up their approaches, but also need to be guided. And that guidance of course should be contextualized very much into global processes. So for that we do provide technical cooperation support, knowledge development, but also advocacy and capacity development. In the middle sector, you will notice that we promote very much the work on pushing more voluntary local reviews, more national reviews, but at the same time also making sure that we have a system and the standard of how that can be reported on for comparability purposes. And of course at the largest cycle we really anchor our supporting principles, particularly here noting that leaving no one behind which local government are really at the forefront. But also noticing that for all this we need to make sure we have about stakeholder partnership and obviously about level governance, connecting the national as well as subnational reporting purposes. So for the case shared today, this is the application of the urban monitoring framework in Umbasa County, which is one of the counties in Nairobi. And for that case we've been able to apply the entire framework of a global urban monitoring framework which is structured around four city objectives and five domains that cover society, economy, environment, culture, governance and implementation. And for Mumbasa they've been able to apply this, among us almost another 30 local governments as well. So I just picked out this case study for Mumbasa for a few reasons which I'll also share at the very end. But in terms of applying the tool, they've been able for example to set their baseline using the 77 indicators, identify some gaps, but out of that process also they've been able to identify some action points or action areas where implementation can happen. Here's just a quick flag of how the implementation phase was carried out for Mumbasa. So it's basically introducing the tool, working very closely with departmental heads, each one identifying their dramatic contributions, then going out to collect the data, do a joint interpretation of the data and the finding, and then articulate what each of those elements mean in terms of action. And through that stakeholder involvement process, we've been able to score a few big wins. I think one being, for example, the county has now identified their key priorities which then directly inform the strategies for the next financial plan and budgeting process including, for example, working on security, improving workways for pedestrians, but at the same time also addressing, urgently, one of the concerns they identified around the provision of water. And I think earlier we noted very much that increasingly we need to make sure that we produce these sort of evidence, make sure that it informs our policy and decision making. So the case of Mumbasa, of course, connects very much directly to that angle. And here you're able to see, for example, how data has been interpreted and integrated into just not only the planning processes, but also the budgeting processes. One highlight, of course, is also to note that in the process of collecting the data itself, we've involved a lot of communities, particularly young people to map for us a lot of service points. But at the same time also helping us to validate a lot of the satellite imagery than what we're picking up. For example, access to open public spaces, a lot of validation happened through young people collecting that information on the ground, on each of those spaces that we're able to identify. So in the natural I think, as I wrap up, is just to note that for this case study, we've worked very closely with a local government that upfront was willing to be examined and upfront they opened up, you know, their doors to say, come use the data, tell us exactly what our challenges and problems are. And through that process, we accept to identify those priorities and we are willing also to implement some of the key findings that can then inform our own strategies. So from this process, we've been able to connect them with quite a number of bankable projects, for example, teams that are willing to invest in water and sanitation are now willing to come up and see what the challenges and what the business opportunities might be in that specific process. There are also a few elements, for example, around governance that requires a bit of changing systems, enhancing systems using technology, for example, revenue collection systems which the county government of Mombasa is now willing to look into, because they noted that there's an opportunity that they could almost double their local revenue collections by changing a few things. So I think speaking of data driven voluntary local reviews, the case of Mombasa is a classical one, which of course we recommend that the team here can take a look at all this evidence now available. And I think for today, the value art really is taking this sort of evidence and information away from the routine PDF documents to something more systematic as a digital story map, which in a very simple way visually can be shared and can be easily understood, unlike perhaps the very, very deep reports that have been producing traditionally. So thanks again very much to the SDSN team and Esri of course our long term partners for providing these sort of tools and opportunities for local government to showcase their evidence in different ways, but more so more impactful way. Thanks a lot, Mariam, and I hand back the floor to you. Thank you so much Dr. Robert for that presentation. And I know there's a lot of great data and important information in the story map so we look forward to sharing that with our audience as well. And thank you for also highlighting the role of youth in the data collection process as well. So, I'd like to transition over to remarks from Ms. Prim Rajasurang, who is a youth advocate who will talk a little bit about the role of youth in in the SDGs. So, prim over to you. Thank you very much. And distinguished delegates, speakers, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the SDG today and sustainable development solution network for organizing this timely event on data driving, military national and local SDG and inviting youth to speak. It was a great initiative to hear from Kauai and to hear from you both in Kenya and many countries you in UAE and to special platform with countries implementing local solutions for the SDG. So my name is Prim Rajasurang, I'm the APFSD youth representative, the Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development 2023 representing APFSD youth forum and our call for action. It is an Asia Pacific original preparatory meeting to the High-Level Political Forum, HRPF, and I'm the youth representative to the UN World Data Forum. So these implementation on these websites will make data more accessible to everyone, especially for young people to learn about other countries BNR and ability of resources to bring more actors, data and innovation information, have been the key to rising awareness about SDG and these open data, open source information will accelerate the implementation of SDG at all levels. Meaningful and inclusive youth engagement and producing and using data through innovative means for implementation of the SDG. We collect data and research and connecting with local community with marginalized groups and we need an inclusive data, desegregated data that embraces diversity with people at the centre with women, youth, marginalized community, people with disability, LGBTQI plus and elderly. So implementation of these transformative policies that leave no one behind. Young people are the digital natives. We were born with digital technology, data and innovation. We are both creating and using these data in our daily life, creating solutions, innovations to solve global problems like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. So leveraging these technologies, facilitating data collection, analysis and dissemination in a manner that resonate with youth. With technology social media we join forces together and collaborate and build a strong network to create actions everywhere in the world. Youth are working and transforming education, enabling healthcare services, equity and taking climate action and financing for data and financing for meaningful and inclusive participation of everyone, every stakeholder everywhere to ensure a partnership at all levels. At this production of big data of contributing in social media, creating actions, youth have, we have telling stories from the data, bridging gaps and bringing equality. So we are the forefront of innovative technologies, process this unique opportunity on issues that affect our community. Youth in data generation, we can tap it with creativity, with fresh ideas and leading more accurate and relevant information. So strongly a partnership between government and geo-social society, academia and private sectors can provide young people with resources, with platforms, with enabling environment that contribute effectively to data protection and utilization resources. And people center design that influence development, so accrual creation and designing of all platforms that ensure that youth voices are heard at all levels and perspective and to be incorporated with decision-making process. So in the voluntary national review, we need to have an inclusion with consultations, with taking action along life with youth, providing these spaces and platform for youth to grow and establish strengthening youth network businesses and start-up for everyone. Only 12% of the targets are on track in our recent reports, and young people need to actively participate in data collection. It analyzes and decision-making that process and we can become the real agent of change. We the young people are using the data, are creating data. Youth are the agent of change, youth in decision-making and ensuring the participation in local, national and regional and global systems is a creation from execution to everywhere. We are including more people. We have artificial intelligence that can make us work faster, more efficient, that they think they can save lives and accelerate COVID-19 recovery. We have worked a long, long line on the project of AI masks to help the community. We can have a project of using artificial intelligence, using technology to include people with disability, can create education for all, lifelong learning, and we take climate action everywhere. Moreover than that, we have an establishment of a strong youth network with youth and power youth in data science, in establishment, and young people everywhere in the world, even in Asia and the Pacific, we are taking actions, taking action with a smarter way, in a more better way, efficient way that requires resources and more accessible to more people. So it was a great time. This world is our home. We live together. They have to live together safely and soundly. They are a precedented challenge that we have to respond with timely, equity, resilient and sustainable future. Together, we will use a data-driven, the technology and artificial intelligence to accelerate implementation, to make more accessible to everyone, to reduce these courses and create increased productivity. There's no one side fit or solution, and there's not only one solution to one problem. We need a special, a specific, and a unique way to solve problems. Everyone of us is special, and you are unique. So you can decide your own destiny, your life, and decide your education for your future. We need better data to analyze, to predict, and to mitigate negative effects. Data is the representation of everyone, and we want to hear from you all. So please invest in more data to share more and gain more, sharing your investment to make it more efficient, more profitable. And let's work together with youth and share innovation, and we will accelerate COVID-19 recovery and food implementation of SDG at all levels. Thank you. Thank you so much, Prim, for that call to action, and I hope that you and other youth representatives continue to hold us accountable so that we do more and also create more opportunities and spaces to engage and collaborate with the youth. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. Next, we have Dr. Carmel Turbork, Lead Accountant Manager at Esri Nonprofit. Carmel, thank you so much for joining us today. You are the leaders in this domain, so I will just hand the mic over to you for your remarks. Thank you so much. I'm going to share a screen and see if I can share just one slide. I feel honestly that after Prim's comments, I have very little else to say because I'm so, you know, the comments that I prepared and the remarks are so in alignment with what she has put already for you all, but hopefully I'll have a few graphics to help and further inspire you. Thank you, Prim, for your leadership in this area and really excited to continue to look forward to many years ahead of following your work. So thank you very much to SDSN and the distinguished presenters here today. It was wonderful to work with our partners on putting this together. And I really firmly believe that to have a more sustainable planet, it'll only occur if we have two things and these were mentioned by Prim, information and inclusion. And with increased information and inclusion, we can understand more about the needs and behaviors of our society, including all geographies, socioeconomic situations and environments, and sustainability will not incur until we affect behavior and take care of the critical needs of those who have been left behind in this years. Geospatial technology such as GIS, geographic information systems for those who are not familiar with it yet. GIS help enable information integration and gap analysis. And I think those are two really important capabilities of a GIS. It allows you to ask things like, you can intentionally aim to find out things such as who is not counted in a census, who is not a beneficiary, where are the resources most needed. You can really start at answering the questions that we all need answers to in order to create a more sustainable planet. And GIS can help you model scenarios as well. Decision makers can use geospatial technology to ask questions such as how will climate impact these specific communities. I'm sitting in Vermont today in a state of emergency due to intense flooding, and even in places that you think have all the resources and capabilities in the world. People have been caught off guard and we're facing a huge challenge as our own capital is underwater. How will a new health clinic for instance change access to health care and change the dial on SDG three. How will help this help a specific vulnerable population so that perhaps the health care location needs to be more geographically targeted to help those people who are most in need of access to health care. So you see that geospatial information is needed to derive about 60% of the SDG data indicators, and therefore we really need to work with geospatial technologies and empower low and middle income countries to use these tools. And we've been working on that with these partners here presenting today. I've been in the geospatial field for more than 30 years, and I never ceased to be amazed at how we can use GIS to really create the world that we want to see. And that is the theme, if you will, of our annual meeting that is happening this week. This annual event has tens of thousands of people who care about our world, and are really helping manage it. We've been talking about new advancements like tools such as you've seen today the ArcGIS story maps template developed with SDSN for reporting and storytelling, and other new technologies that hold a lot of promise for us, like ArcGIS knowledge. ArcGIS knowledge, which uses graph and spatial analytics to support data discovery, collaborative investigations, link analysis and information sharing across organizations are examples. There are many others here on the slide that you can take a look at. These are all different types of technologies that are being integrated with geospatial analytics and reporting and so forth and you're able to really do so much more these days than we could in years past it is so much easier. I've seen the use of story maps to create powerful communications about the VNRs and VLRs, as presented by my distinguished colleagues from UAE, Hawaii, and UN habitats work with Mombasa are really wonderful examples of this. Information products are so important to help citizens understand where progress has been made, and where they're lagging behind with specific goals, and each community needs to consider their own priorities for the SDGs in the context of their environment and their culture. With geospatial technology the integration analysis and reporting of this information enables us to be more inclusive in our development interventions as well. Since the UNGA meeting in September of last year, as we also launched the ArcGIS solution for SDGs, which can be used to create SDG data hubs. This is a contribution from Esri to provide a simple solution for national as well as subnational local governments, academia and others to present the status of their progress on the SDGs, while enabling member states to report their SDG data indicators to the United Nations. Our next presenter, Ines Mato, of the Public Foundation will share the work of the SDG data alliance with UN member states to create these SDG data hubs. And I want to note that these tools are all interoperable. So the VNRs and VLR story maps can be driven from data provided through an SDG data hub, once those are established. And we look forward to seeing more of the SDG data hubs and VNR and VNLR story maps in 2024 for sure. So I thank you for your time and attention. And let's continue to work together with a lens on inclusion and do spatial information access as we work on creating the world that we want to see. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Carmel, for that wonderful presentation. And I do realize that you're you're juggling both HLPF and the UC. So thank you for taking the time to join us and happy to share updates from the UC as well on all the great developments and updates shared by the geospatial community. So last but not least, we have Miss Inez Mato, data project manager at the Public Foundation. As Dr. Carmel mentioned, she'll be talking a little bit about how some of the countries that are part of the SDG data alliance are using geospatial technologies and platforms for their SDG reporting and monitoring. Miss Inez over to you. Thank you, Miriam. Can everyone hear me? Yes. Yes, thanks everyone Miriam and all the organizers of the event. It's a pleasure to be here and it's also very exciting to see all the developments that many of you show as a release to data and SDGs. Very, very exciting. Thanks everyone. I just wanted to follow up a little bit on what Carmel was talking about and really dive a little deeper into how we are accelerating the achievement of the SDGs and also how we are really using GIS for tracking and achievement of SDGs and how we work with developing countries. First, just a quick intro. I'm a project manager for a public foundation and really the data alliance and the data alliance is a partnership comprised of different partners from the private and public sector. And we really work with developing countries to accelerate the development of SDGs so I act as a project manager. And really I wanted to talk a little bit more about the SDG template that Carmel was mentioning and explaining. This was developed a few months ago and it's been very useful for countries from the data alliance to start putting their data hubs together and by doing so they are better able to track the SDGs and accelerate progress. So I know we have Volkina Faso here in the call. We saw Andre earlier, he's been working with the data alliance and implementing the SDG template, the SDG solution to create a data hub that will be tracking the SDGs. So that's an example right there. And the technology really makes it easier for countries to start focusing on what's important that is the data tracking and how they're progressing towards those SDGs rather than just being stuck in making the technology work. It's been really the benefit and we're working with countries in Africa and South America also in the Pacific to really implement this technology and for the countries to advance the SDGs. Now, I also wanted to explain a little bit how and why these countries are using the SDG solution. So I already talked about the tracking of SDGs, but also countries can really align the SDGs to their priorities. So for example, if health is a priority for a country, they can definitely focus on that aspect. And in track that priority in the hub and at the same time they are aligning that to SDGs. So that's something that we have seen and the countries really love. And another thing I wanted to mention is of course a decision making aspect. The data hubs are really intended for countries to be able to make decisions by using the data. So that's an important aspect I wanted to mention and we have already been seeing the impact in countries and how they are using the data for different purposes. And lastly also the data hubs can be very useful for countries to request funding for different things because the data hubs can point gaps that countries have so they can always use the data to push for funding for different areas that might be needed in their country. So that's a couple of uses and sort of the impact that we've been seeing with the use of data hubs and the SDG solution. So I know I have like one minute but I wanted to show you really quick. Let's see if we have time here I wanted to show you really quick my screen to be able to show you a little bit SDG.org. Oh sorry, let me open it here at the screen close but can you see, can you see the website now SDG.org. Yes. Okay perfect so I know we have like one minute left but I wanted to invite you to check how SDG.org. This is the website where the data alliance post content about anything that the data alliance is doing but also how countries that we work with are progressing with their SDGs. So definitely wanted to invite you to check it out to click here on the data hubs and see the current hubs we have posted how they're progressing with their SDGs, how they're using the SDG solution. And really, if you have feedback we also have a place down here at the bottom of the page where you can leave feedback and get involved with with initiatives so with that I'll leave you thank you so much Miriam, and it was great participating today. Thank you so much and as for sharing the website and the important work that you're doing with the SDG data alliance countries, we are at time. And I just wanted to thank all of our participants and presenters. I also wanted to thank my amazing team who has been running the zoom and engaging with all the participants in the chat so the thank you casteline and Ella to PWA Charles, Jill, Samantha and everyone who has been supporting on on the and thank you to all the participants for joining us for this very inspiring session, and we'll be in touch with all the various links and presentations and updates from from all the teams, and enjoy the rest of hlpf. Thanks again. Bye everyone. Thank you so much. Goodbye.