Strengthening Child and Adolescent Statistics in Africa

UN56SC

On March 6, 2025, at UNICEF House, New York, we hosted the Africa Expert Group on Child and Adolescent Statistics, a crucial step toward ensuring every child in Africa is counted and their needs are reflected in national policies.

This side event of the #UN56SD, co-hosted by UNICEF and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and co-chaired by William Muhwava and me, brought together over 80 participants, including representatives from National Statistical Offices, development partners, and global organizations like UNICEF, UNECA, and the World Bank.

🔹 Why This Matters

Africa already has more school-age children than China and India ever had at their peak—and this number continues to grow. Yet, major data gaps persist, particularly in birth registration, stunting, and learning assessments, making it difficult to design effective policies.

SSA today has more school-age (14 age cohorts) children than India and China at their respective peaks; moreover, SSA is only expected to peak after 2075

This expert group aims to:

✅ Position child statistics in Africa at the center of national, regional, and global data agendas.

✅ Expand and institutionalize child-centric surveys and strengthen legal frameworks for data governance.

✅ Enhance data availability, quality, and disaggregation, ensuring countries own and utilize their data.

✅ Foster dialogue on child and adolescent-related data, including the use of AI to maximize insights.

🌍 Key Outcomes from the Meeting

📌 Formal launch of the Africa Expert Group on Child and Adolescent Statistics, following the recommendation from the 9th Statistical Commission for Africa.

📌 Presentation by Alaka Holla and João Pedro Azevedo of the Minimum Data Package for Children, Adolescents, and Youth, ensuring a core set of indicators to track well-being and inform policy.

📌 Uganda to chair the expert group for the first two years, with Allen Kabagenyi, PhD, Board Member of UBOS, representing the group, supported by Dr. Chris Mukiza, Director at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS).

📌 Regional representation secured, with leadership roles from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Eswatini, Uganda, and Tunisia.

📌 Commitment to hosting follow-up events, including a dedicated conference on children’s statistics and an in-person expert group meeting in Uganda.

🌟 Countries, Institutions, and Partners Joining the Conversation

The meeting saw broad engagement from African countries, global partners, and academic institutions, reinforcing the commitment to strengthening child statistics worldwide.

🌍 African Countries Represented

🇬🇲 Gambia | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 🇨🇲 Cameroon | 🇹🇩 Chad | 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire | 🇺🇬 Uganda | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 🇲🇦 Morocco | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | 🇧🇼 Botswana | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | 🇸🇴 Somalia | 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea | 🇬🇭 Ghana

🌎 Partner Countries Outside Africa

🇬🇪 Georgia | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇪🇸 Spain | 🇭🇳 Honduras | 🇳🇵 Nepal | 🇮🇳 India | 🇫🇷 France | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 🇬🇧 England

🏛️ Academic Institutions

🎓 University of Cape Town (South Africa) | 🎓 Howard University (United States)

🌐 Development and Multilateral Organizations

🌍 World Bank | 🌍 Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) | 🌍 HISP Centre (Spain) | 🌍 ONS (England) | 🌍 United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) | 🌍 World Food Programme (WFP) | 🌍 OECD

💡 Next Steps

📍 Identify a host country for the 2025 follow-up event.

📍 Finalize and circulate the draft Minimum Data Package for Children, Adolescents and Youth for consultation.

📍 Strengthen collaboration with Regional Economic Commissions to further institutionalize child statistics.

This is a historic milestone for Africa’s data agenda, demonstrating the continent’s leadership in owning and shaping solutions for its children. The work ahead is ambitious, but together, we can ensure every child is counted, and every decision is informed by data.

📢 Join the Movement!

Are you working on child and adolescent data in Africa? We invite governments, research institutions, and development partners to contribute to this initiative.

Let’s build a stronger, data-driven future for Africa’s children together.

#UN56SC #ChildData #AfricaData #LeaveNoOneBehind #UNICEF #UNECA #DataForChildren