Children and the Sustainable Development Goal Targets in East Asia and the Pacific

A vigorous follow-up and appraisal system for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires a streamlined process of reporting the agreed framework of indicators and statistical data to monitor progress, inform policy and ensure accountability of all stakeholders. The Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) is a testimony to each country’s continued commitment to support and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is paramount to have data available to report and monitor the progress in the SDGs of each country. UNICEF set out a regional research initiative to understand the uptake and reporting of 44 child-focused SDG indicators in the VNRs presented by the countries of East Asia and the Pacific Region. This report also analyzed the availability of data for these indicators since 2010. The report outlined the notable variation in the uptake of child-focused indicators in VNRs and data availability across various SDG areas and across countries in the EAP region by different country groupings. The report also highlighted the responsibilities and key actions required to increase the uptake as well as the data availability that the national authorities should consider in the future.