Unleashing the power of GEOSS for every child

Data for Children: Our approach Investing in data demand, supply, use & leadership Data Demand Data supply Getting the right data into the right hands at the right time in order to impact decisions for children requires a balance of data demand, supply and use. When all three pieces are functioning well, data can be used to inform strategic planning, to monitor and adjust performance of government systems, and to engage communities in dialogue. Data Use Data leadership

1 2 3 Data for Children: Our priorities Make data for children a team sport @UNICEF Strategic investments in data for children Push the boundaries of data for children Common platforms and coordination Simplified data communication Capacity to use data Integrating data Exploiting cross-sectoral data

The fit with GEOSS We are on the verge of a perfect storm of data for children, where possibilities and needs are expanding simultaneously. This is the time to seize that potential and turn it into results for children. GEOSS “ticks all the boxes”: An exciting opportunity to build partnerships and use existing data in new ways, especially in areas hard to access.

UNICEF as a… User:  ​​​Significant appetite within UNICEF to use remotely sensed data, particularly in the areas of WASH, humanitarian preparedness and response, to support better informed operational decision making for children. Contributor: Internal discussion on how best for UNICEF data to be brokered by the GCI – either direct or via another platform – e.g. HDX. Member of the community: Delighted to have been endorsed as a participating organization of GEO in March.

Research prospects (Innocenti, Florence) New data: New modules in the next round of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys: child discipline, child labour, learning outcomes, social protection, migration + georeferenced data. New partnership opportunities: Children, climate and resilience project New research areas: How do weather shocks impact potentially harmful household coping strategies such as child labour, school drop out and early marriage? Do social protection interventions mitigate the impact of weather shocks? Using geospatial data on contextual factors besides weather, can we better understand which mechanisms are at play? The next round of MICS has a number of new modules, providing new insights into previously under studied areas In addition, geo-spatial data will be collected by all surveys at the cluster level. Linking MICS household survey data with geospatial data creates new research opportunities that have not so far been fully explored. UNICEF is developing a research proposal on the topic of "Children, climate and resilience“. This is a joint effort centered on WCAR, joining a range of UNICEF offices and academic partners. This research will focus on the WCAR region, which is a “hot spot” when it comes to concerns over climate change. The region is indeed increasingly vulnerable to weather shocks, while being highly dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Conflict and population growth also contribute to increase food insecurity in this region, making it a high-priority region for UNICEF. A growing literature explores the impact of weather shocks on children using household survey data on children combined with geo-spatial data. UNICEF is familiar with this literature, which includes studies written by current staff of UNICEF Office of Research Innocenti. For example, Groppo and Krähnert 2015, 2016. These studies assess the impact of extreme weather events on children’s health and education in the context of Mongolia. In this country, extreme whether events take the form of extremely harsh winters which cause mass livestock mortality. The authors focus on two of these shocks that recently hit the country in the periods 1999-2002 and 2009/10. They find that extreme winters have a strong negative impact on children’s health and education. The study by Elsa Valli finds that emergency aid was able to protect children’s health from the negative impact of the drought that hit the country in 2011. UNICEF will build on this literature, identifying new research questions that need to be addressed. For example:

Building momentum For more information, please contact: Toby Wicks Global partnerships & coordination Country & regional office support Office of Research, Florence Toby Wicks Emily Garin Goran Holmqvist gholmqvist@unicef.org twicks@unicef.org egarin@unicef.org