WUNRN
http://www.globalstat.eu/en/GlobalStat/About+the+Project
WUNRN considers GlobalStat an important resource, but would hope over time for more gender specificity in themes and gender disaggregated statistics.
Statistical
data...
...increases insight and knowledge,
...supports policy-making and evaluation,
...informs monitoring and measurement of progress,
...provides citizens with an independent source of information.
Statistics play an increasingly vital role in
many domains of our political and societal life. As a consequence, the
astonishing proliferation of statistics and the widespread use of indicators as
instruments to evaluate our societies increase the demand for reliable and
publicly available statistical resources. However, the enhanced relevance of
statistical data only slowly translates into a transparent visibility of
statistics within the public domain. In order to close this gap, new tools are
needed to improve the clarity and speed with which statistical data can be
accessed in order to promote the use of these important independent sources of
information within the wider public.
This need for visibility and accessibility is even more vital in
the era of Globalisation, in which sources of information multiply at a
speed that is hardly traceable by the individual. Within this process, not only
the number of sources amplifies every day. Also the areas, issues and processes
affected and affecting the individual do so. Moreover, as a fundamental process
impacting on most different aspects of our daily lives, globalisation
constitutes a phenomenon that goes far beyond global economic interrelations
and integration. Through dense inter-linkages it impacts on the personal,
societal, social, cultural, political, economic and environmental spheres of
human lives. This broad impact extends the need for information beyond
political and economic data and puts knowledge on environmental, societal and
cultural developments to the core of the need to learn more about the
sustainability of global interrelations.
GlobalStat takes up this need for publicly available
information on developments in a globalised world. Accounting for the
multi-dimensional and multi-level nature of globalisation, it presents data on
a wide range of topics and from a broad range of international statistical
resources. As a data gateway it offers statistical information on
globalisation, sustainability and human development. Thus, by focusing on the
economic, environmental, political, social, societal and cultural performance
of nations, GlobalStat supports a ‘beyond GDP perspective’ on
globalisation and ultimately aims at informing about the way human beings live,
the freedoms they enjoy and the limitations they face.
Presenting data as diverse as income distribution, energy
consumption, water resources, dwellings, migration, land use, food production,
nutrition, or life expectancy materialises this broad view on globalisation.
With this approach, GlobalStat contributes to a better understanding of
the interrelations between human living conditions and globalisation trends:
If, for instance, agricultural data is presented, GlobalStat not only
provides data on economics of agriculture (agricultural exports and imports or
production); it also displays information on land use (such as areas under
organic farming) or relevant demographic aspects (for instance on the poverty
gap at rural poverty line).
With this multi-faceted perspective, GlobalStat enables
the user to develop interlinked views on different phenomena, to assess the
performance of nation states over time, to gain insight into multi-dimensional
policy challenges linked to globalisation, to interrelate processes of
globalisation and human development, and to be informed about human well-being
and the quality of life around the world.
GlobalStat indicators are grouped in 12 thematic and
three horizontal areas. Each thematic area is divided into several sub-themes
that include a number of statistical data series. Horizontal areas offer insight
into data on sustainable livelihood, national wealth, human well-being and
quality of life.
GlobalStat’s website provides users with a
comprehensive collection of data in which indicators are disaggregated as far
as possible. Whenever possible, country level data is presented for 193 UN
countries and for the longest period available, starting in 1960. Apart from
statistical data, data on global trends is collected to highlight potential
future paths.
With its ‘3-click to data’ approach, GlobalStat
facilitates the search for, access to and use of data collected from various
bodies. Additionally, the website allows for multiple visualisations of
data. Tables, rankings, bar and line charts offer different graphical
representations of the indicators chosen. Filters by period (selection of
years) and by groups (selecting countries, continents and/or other entities)
are available for targeted in-depth analysis.
Metadata, that means information explaining the statistical
data, is an integral part of GlobalStat. It is compiled and presented
for every single indicator to better explain what the figures exactly represent.
Definitions of concepts, the methodology adopted by the original sources, the
statistical operation to produce data, notes on data relevance, on specific
years and countries are provided alongside the data table together with the
original data and web source. In this way, GlobalStat makes every effort
to accurately describe the ‘story’ behind every indicator, in order to help
users understand the context and to access the original source for further
information if desired.
GlobalStat also includes export functionalities that allow for data
download in excel format or bar and line charts applying the filters outlined
above. Moreover, also metadata is downloadable. Hence, users can access the
complete information collected and standardised by GlobalStat – data and
metadata – in the format of their choice. Alternatively, the full data table is
available for download.
Transparency and accountability of GlobalStat’s data collection
and aggregation methods are essential in order to make data easy to use, understand
and compare. Therefore, a comprehensive Methodological Guide provides a full
explanation of the statistical methods applied by GlobalStat.
GlobalStat’s data collection process benefitted from
the collaboration with many international experts who, on behalf of their
institutions, cooperate with GlobalStat. More than 80 international
institutions and entities contribute to GlobalStat, underlining their
commitment to disseminate their information to the wider public. GlobalStat’s
collaboration partners include among many others Eurostat, the Food and
Agriculture Organisation, the Fund for Peace, the Legatum Institute, the
International Labour Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Sustainable Society
Foundation, Transparency International, the United Nations and the World Bank.
With its particular features and characteristics, GlobalStat
brings together the expertise of the European University Institute's
Global Governance Programme and the Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. It
strongly benefits from the broad range of the EUI-GGP’s global governance
research and the FFMS’s widely recognised experience with online statistical
databases, namely PORDATA, POP and Conhecer a crise.
GlobalStat is a public information tool for users around the world. It will expand and evolve over time. All data and metadata are accessible free of charge for personal information purposes and research.