Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to engage with the UN Regional Commissions to develop family planning and sexual and reproductive health indicators to accompany the goals and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.

We welcome the agreement of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes indicators on the extent to which needs for family planning; adolescent birth rate; sexual violence; early marriage; female genital mutilation/cutting; informed sexual and reproductive health decision making; and legal frameworks on access to sexual and reproductive health care and information have been met. As the UNSC has noted, the framework is a practical starting point, and further work will be needed on some of the indicators. The UNSC has asked the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG) to take forward further work on the indicator framework. The IAEG-SDG is composed of member states and includes as observers regional and international organisations and agencies including the UN Regional Commissions. The Office for National Statistics expects to contribute to the development of SDG indicators via the relevant expert groups.