The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is committed to monitor the indicators in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the official repository of the Philippine SDG indicators, the PSA announces the release of the updated SDG Watch, which reports the baseline data, target data, and latest data, providing information on the available data for tracking the progress of the Philippines in achieving the SDGs based on the initial list of Philippine SDG indicators.

Tracking the progress in achieving the SDGs in the Philippines is a necessary measure to be able to provide useful inputs for evidence-based planning, decision-making, and program development geared towards the achievement of the 2030 agenda.  For this purpose, the PSA adopted the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) SDG measures namely, UNESCAP’s Anticipated Progress Approach and UNESCAP’s Current Status Index, and the Time Distance Measure developed by Prof. Pavle Sicherl (University of Ljubljana, Sweden), as approved through PSA Board Resolution No. 5, Series of 2020.¹ These measures provide information on how we should move forward to ensure the achievement of the SDGs and make use of the baseline, previous and latest data for each of the indicators, as well as the numerical targets² determined through the consultative workshops organized by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) together with accountable agencies and relevant stakeholders.

The SDG Watch and Measures on the Pace of Progress can be accessed and downloaded from the PSA’s website through https://psa.gov.ph/sdg. These will also be reflected in the PSA SDG Database at http://openstat.psa.gov.ph/Database/Sustainable-Development-Goals.

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General