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IPS298 Renee Sorchik et al.
The findings are expected to inform debates at various levels on policy
priority-setting in national SDG implementation. The findings should also
shape discussions on where and how to optimize support to national statistical
capacity development in order to fill the gaps in data quality and availability
to meet the needs for monitoring.

2. Methodology
All 130 UNICEF Country Offices (COs) were requested to complete an Excel
data collection tool enquiring about the country-specific situation of 23 SDG
targets considered to directly improve the status of children and women, and
33 indicators from the SDG global monitoring framework measuring the
progress towards the targets. As UNICEF COs are not present in high income
countries, responses represent middle and low income countries.
For the 23 SDG targets examined, COs were asked if the targets were
adopted into national and sectoral strategies, and if adopted, if national target
values had been set. COs were also asked if targets were adapted or altered
to fit the country-specific context. If the target was incorporated into a national
development strategy, COs were asked to indicate if: the global SDG indicator
was used to measure progress against the target; if a country-specific indicator
had been developed; or if an indicator framework had not yet been developed
to monitor progress against the targets.

3. Results
The SDG Agenda developed targets, most of which have a pre-defined
target value aiming to achieve a certain objective by 2030. We first sought to
understand how many of the child-related targets were being adopted by
countries, and how advanced countries were in their national target-setting
process. A target was considered adopted when it was incorporated into a
national or sectoral strategy, or when COs indicated it had been chosen as a
priority target by the government. Target values did not need to be predefined
in order for a target to be considered adopted by a country. However, in line
with their commitment to the 2030 Agenda, countries are meant to set
national target values for each target they adopt. As part of the nationalization
process, countries have the option to set their own country-specific target
values in line with the SDG global value, or choose a more or less ambitious
target value in accordance with their country-specific circumstances. National
target values were considered set when they were documented in either a
national or sectoral strategy or other public government document.
Responses were received from UNICEF COs in 93 countries. Among the 93
countries examined, 72 percent had adopted and set national target values for
at least one of the 23 child-related targets. This implies that almost three-
quarters of countries have initiated political discussions and have identified at

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