[EVENT] Who Cares What You Think? Do People's Voices Matter for Sustainable Development?

As the world embarks on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) era, efforts abound to improve development planning and measure impacts. The talk is of a "data revolution".

But does the sector that once talked endlessly of participation and ownership care any more about the voices of citizens and beneficiaries? Or has a focus on value-for-money and efficiency obscured this previously central mantra. Of the 230 SDG progress indicators, only four relate to people's perceptions.

In this context, we ask if, by accident or design, the international development community has de-prioritised listening. We also discuss the value of perceptions vs "objective" data. Is giving people a voice an expensive and methodologically complicated luxury or does it need to regain its place at the heart of the debate?

Speakers include: 

• Claire Melamed - Director of Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
• Virginia Nkwanzi - Director of Ipsos Public Affairs, Sub-Saharan Africa
• Ola Rosling - Director and co-founder, Gapminder
• Ben Page - Chief Executive, Ipsos
• Jonathan Glennie - Director, Ipsos Sustainable Development Research Centre

Agenda:

• Registration & refreshments - 6pm
• Presentations - 6.30pm
• Drinks and canapés - 8pm