Why Data and Trust Matter for 2030 and Beyond: South Africa’s Example

With five years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and just 35% of targets on track, many governments and international development systems are racing to mobilize the policies, resources, and political will needed to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. At the same time, declining public trust in institutions worldwide is making this task even more urgent. Without reliable data to measure progress and identify what is driving these trends, countries globally will continue to struggle to design and implement effective policies. 

Robust, inclusive, and disaggregated data is essential for understanding the realities that people, communities, and countries face, hence enabling smart policy design that meets people’s needs. But a decade into implementing the 2030 Agenda, many countries are still working to strengthen and refine their data collection systems, both to achieve development priorities and to strengthen the social contract. What remains unclear is how these efforts will align with the priorities, targets, and indicators of a future global development agenda. 

In a conversation with Solly Molayi of South Africa’s National Statistical Office, he underscored both the benefits of investing in people-centered data and persistent challenges. He highlighted: 

• How data can build trust with communities through transparent and inclusive collection and use.
• The importance of strengthened national and local-level data systems for effective policymaking. 
• A need for stronger regional cooperation.

These insights not only provide lessons learned and good practices but also highlight the importance of building on existing systems and indicators in any future development agenda.

Data as a Public Good: The South Africa Case

Trust in government comes when people experience tangible improvements in the areas of life that matter most to them, but this doesn’t necessarily begin in the halls of power. It often starts with data. At every stage of the process, data can be crucial to building trust with communities, provided it is handled in an inclusive, transparent, and accountable manner.

In South Africa, the way data is collected, shared, and used has become a powerful tool for building public confidence and shaping policies that reflect people’s realities. During the data collection process, census takers can be the primary government representatives that South Africans encounter, thereby strongly shaping citizens’ perceptions of government. Once collected, data is treated as a public good, openly accessible. Open access not only enhances transparency but also enables civil society, academia, and the public to critically analyze how policies impact their communities. This principle is reflected in South Africa’s publicly available website that provides data and analytics drawn from the 2022 census.

Data is also actively analyzed and translated into policymaking that responds to people’s daily lives. South Africa’s national dialogue, marking 30 years of democracy, is placing data at the center of the conversation about the country’s future. These policy decisions underscore the government’s commitment to strengthening the National Statistical Office, ensuring it is responsive and inclusive of all South Africans, including migrant populations, with the broader goal of leveraging data to foster trust and enhance service delivery.

While South Africa continues to make impressive strides in developing a robust and inclusive data ecosystem grounded in capacity, independence, and accountability, several opportunities for further strengthening remain. 

• Linguistic diversity, with 12 official languages, is a hallmark of South Africa’s rich cultural landscape, but also demands additional attention in data-collecting efforts. Ensuring effective communication across all language groups presents an opportunity to invest further in training and culturally responsive engagement strategies that promote inclusion and accuracy in data collection.
• Geographic and technological barriers highlight the need for innovative approaches. Expanding infrastructure and leveraging mobile and offline data collection tools can enhance accessibility in rural and hard-to-reach areas, ensuring that every community is represented.
• Building public trust in data initiatives remains an ongoing priority. Strengthening community engagement and empowering census workers with strong interpersonal and communication skills can foster greater transparency, participation, and confidence in government-led data efforts.

South Africa’s current advancements lay a solid foundation for collaboratively addressing these challenges, with the potential to transform them into innovative opportunities and foster greater public engagement in the data landscape. 

Localization of Data and Implementation 

Data is particularly critical at the local level as it should not only inform local policymaking but also contribute to the national understanding of inequalities between cities and communities. One mechanism advancing this work is the Voluntary Local Review (VLR). Similar to Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) presented at the annual High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), these reports showcase progress and challenges in implementing the SDGs at the subnational level, including city, municipal, county, and regional levels. 

In 2025, seven South African cities submitted VLRs, a figure matched only by Eswatini. These reviews not only allow municipalities to assess and communicate their progress on the SDGs but also generate valuable insights for the national government by highlighting disparities and socio-demographic trends. 

Globally, VLRs are gaining momentum, with 249 reviews submitted across 43 countries as of April 2025. Recognizing their value, regional commissions such as the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), along with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), are supporting local and regional authorities to strengthen data systems and develop VLRs. Yet despite their promise, local governments continue to face many of the same data capacity and coordination challenges as national statistics offices, underscoring the need for integrated platforms that enable data sharing and joint analysis across levels of government.

Regional Collaboration and Capacity Building

In the context of increasing fiscal constraints and dwindling official development assistance (ODA), regional cooperation is becoming increasingly important. Partnerships can pool resources, share knowledge, and improve cost-efficiency in data collection. Within the South African Development Community (SADC), efforts to strengthen cooperation include regional meetings, joint training, capacity-building programs, and the sharing of resources. However, challenges remain. Funding is limited, and differences in dialects and languages complicate training and knowledge transfer. 

Despite these obstacles, South Africa is taking a proactive role in enhancing regional coordination, including through its chairmanship of the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD), and the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics (IAEG-GS). To strengthen regional cooperation, joint funding should be prioritized to support regional cooperation and capacity building, including regional data hubs.

Data beyond 2030: Protecting Gains While Driving Improvements 

Since the adoption of the SDGs, substantial time and investment have been devoted to clarifying indicators and strengthening capacity for data collection and analysis. These efforts, as reflected in Solly Molayi’s insights, have the potential to build trust with communities and support more evidence-based policymaking.

Globally, improved data collection efforts often aim to build trust and accountability. A growing number of citizen data initiatives, built on partnerships between civil society, national statistical offices, and government institutions, are demonstrating how people’s experiences and perspectives can complement official statistics.

Advances in data collection have also strengthened reporting mechanisms for the SDGs, supported by continuous refinement of the indicators used to track progress, including through the work of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs). Improvements in SDG16 reporting highlight the progress countries have made, particularly in indicators closely associated with good governance and trust in institutions. A recent UNDP report notes a shift from a minority of countries covering SDG16 in 2016, due to political sensitivity and data scarcity, to near-universal coverage in VNRs in 2025. There is also a strong overlap between the 2030 Agenda and regional frameworks, including the African Union’s Agenda 2063, allowing shared data and indicators to serve multiple reporting needs. Widespread participation in the VNR process, with 191 countries having reported a VNR since 2015, many for the second, third, or even fourth time, reflects years of financial and institutional investment in data collection and reporting.

Building on stronger data and reporting, many countries have also taken steps to sustain the implementation of the SDGs. Even those unable to invest substantially in national capacity have aligned development priorities with the SDGs: 128 countries have adopted strategies to implement the Goals, mainly through national development plans. These plans often extend beyond 2030, providing a long-term framework for continued SDG implementation despite potential changes to the global development agenda.

As the global community debates what a post-2030 development framework should look like, it is crucial to recognize that major shifts in goals, targets, and indicators could jeopardize significant investments and hard-won gains. In the context of pushback on the 2030 Agenda, maintaining continuity in data systems is essential, especially for countries with limited resources, where dismantling or redesigning existing systems would be costly, counterproductive, and risk eroding the trust and capacity built over the past decade. The priority must be to protect and enhance the existing data capacities, while continuing to adapt and improve systems to meet national priorities and local needs. Strengthening what works while addressing remaining gaps will support long-term accountability and inclusion, especially for developing and middle-income countries. 

This continuity is not just about capacity-building; it is about trust. As Solly Molayi noted, this is why data matters: it allows citizens, especially young people who have grown up under the SDG framework, to see themselves and their futures reflected in national progress. “When citizens see themselves in data,” he said, “they start to believe that the government sees them too.”

Photo courtesy of Solly Molayi.