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International Journal of Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Towards a data users’ framework to advance

Sustainable Development Goal 2

3
6
4,5
Sylvia Szabo 1,2* , Sinead Mowlds , Joan Manuel Claros , Anuja Kar , William
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8
7
Knechtel , Mariella Di Ciommo , Ima Kashim , and the members of the ONE
Campaign-facilitated data users accountability group
1 Nutrition and Hunger Team, Save the Children, London, United Kingdom
2 University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
3 Ending Rural Hunger project, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., USA
4 Thousand Days, Washington, D.C., USA
5 Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA
6 Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), Washington, D.C., USA
7 Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland
8 Development Initiatives, Bristol, United Kingdom
9 Public Health and Community Development Centre, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract: Ensuring effective accountability mechanisms will be a pre-requisite for achieving food and
nutrition security and thus, advancing the progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2).
Here we discuss and summarise the findings of the ONE Campaign-facilitated accountability working
group for data users, which deliberated between November 2015 and February 2016, and involved
expert consultations from civil society organisations, research institutions, and academia. We provide an
overview of the key challenges identified by data users in relation to nutrition and food security, propose
a novel conceptual framework within which these challenges should be analysed, and offer a set of con-
crete policy and programmatic recommendations to address the recurrent bottlenecks. The paper con-
cludes by providing a summary of key findings within the larger context of relevant global initiatives and
processes, such as Nutrition for Growth Summit, the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition
network, and the United Nations General Assembly.
Keywords: food security, nutrition, SDG2, accountability, data use

*Correspondence to: Sylvia Szabo, Save the Children, London, United Kingdom; Email: s.szabo@savethechildren.org.uk

Received: November 14, 2015; Accepted: December 26, 2015; Published Online: January 2, 2016
Copyright: © 2016 Sylvia Citation: Szabo S, Mowlds S, Claros J M, et al. (2016). Towards a data users’ framework to advance Sustainable
Szabo, et al. This is an Open Development Goal 2. International Journal of Population Studies, vol.2(1): 65–77.
Access article distributed http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/IJPS.2016.01.008.
under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non- 1. Introduction
Commercial 4.0 International
License (http://creativecomm- Addressing accountability will be a pre-requisite for the achievement of the Sustainable Develop-
ons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/),
permitting all non-commercial ment Goals (SDGs). Accountability constitutes a critical part of effective governance, and as such it
use, distribution, and repro- has been placed at the centre of the new development agenda (United Nations, 2014; United Nations,
duction in any medium, pro- 2015a, United Nations, 2015b). It can be defined as “the obligation of power-holders to take respon-
vided the original work is
properly cited. sibility for their actions” (UNDP, 2010: 8) and refers to the rights and responsibilities between

International Journal of Population Studies | 2016, Volume 2, Issue 1 65