Registration link:
forms.cloud.microsoft/e/jFueQHsZew

Looking forward to this discussion at #CPD59 👇

Aligning Policy & Data Production
Building Sustainable Demographic & Health Statistics

With colleagues from UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, UN DESA, and country leaders (PHL, NGA, MEX)

📅 Apr 14 | 8:15–9:45 AM ET
📍 Hybrid | UNHQ + Zoom

#OfficialStatistics

unicefdata (Python) Python package for downloading UNICEF child welfare indicators via SDMX API.

unicefdata (Python) #opendata #Reproducibility #Pstats #UNICEF #SDMX jpazvd.github.io/software/uni...

Statistics reach a 'crisis point': nations struggle with a critical lack of data Some researchers are sounding the alarm over the official data sets that track crucial aspects of life in the United States, Argentina, the United Kingdom and India.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

unicefData: Download Indicators from UNICEF Data Warehouse An R client to fetch SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) CSV series from the UNICEF Data Warehouse &lt;<a href="https://data.unicef.org/" target="_top">https://data.unicef.org/</a>&gt;. Part...

cran.r-project.org/package=unic...

unicefData: Download Indicators from UNICEF Data Warehouse An R client to fetch SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) CSV series from the UNICEF Data Warehouse &lt;<a href="https://data.unicef.org/" target="_top">https://data.unicef.org/</a>&gt;. Part...

cran.r-project.org/package=unic...

unicefData: Download Indicators from UNICEF Data Warehouse An R client to fetch SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) CSV series from the UNICEF Data Warehouse &lt;<a href="https://data.unicef.org/" target="_top">https://data.unicef.org/</a>&gt;. Part...

📊 Too much global development data still lives in spreadsheets.

But modern analysis requires data acquisition as code.

cran.r-project.org/web/packages...

Making official statistics more accessible, reproducible, and interoperable is an important step toward strengthening evidence for policies that improve outcomes for children.

• Use of SDMX international statistical standards
• Consistent interfaces across R, Python, and Stata

The unicefData package helps bridge the gap between official statistics and modern data science workflows by enabling:

• Access to 700+ indicators across countries and years
• Integration with reproducible research pipelines

Why this matters

Reliable evidence depends not only on good data, but also on how easily that data can be accessed, reproduced, and reused.

Install

install.packages("unicefData")

Example

library(unicefData)

df <- unicefData(
indicator = "CME_MRY0T4",
countries = c("BRA","USA","IND"),
year = "2015:2023"
)

Researchers, policymakers, and analysts can now retrieve 700+ internationally comparable indicators on children and women directly from R — enabling reproducible analytics, transparent workflows, and faster evidence generation.

Today I’m pleased to share that the unicefData R package is now available on CRAN, providing direct programmatic access to the UNICEF Data Warehouse.

📦 CRAN
cran.r-project.org/package=unicef…

#OpenData #OfficialStatistics #RStats #DataForChildren #ReproducibleResearch

📊 Too much global development data still lives in spreadsheets.

But modern analysis requires data acquisition as code.

📦 CRAN
cran.r-project.org/package=unicef…

#OpenData #OfficialStatistics #RStats #DataForChildren #ReproducibleResearch

But the operating environment is changing, with fiscal pressures, survey fatigue, technological transformation, higher expectations for timeliness and disaggregation, and the expanding role of administrative and AI-enabled systems.

For over 30 years and across 400+ national surveys, the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) programme has supported countries in generating internationally comparable data on children and their families — contributing to nearly half of all household survey–based SDG indicators.

At the 57th UN Statistical Commission in New York, we are convening a side event focused squarely on how nationally led household survey systems must evolve in the final stretch of the SDGs — and beyond 2030.

📢 The future of household surveys is being shaped now!

Country Leadership and Global Partnership for Data on Children
📅 Wednesday, 4 March
🕕 18:15–19:45
📍 UNICEF House, 3 UN Plaza, New York
👉 Register here: lnkd.in/eRZ7PJ_T

#MICS #OfficialStatistics #UNSC57 #DataForChildren #SDG

unicefData v2 is now available on #SSC.

Install with:
ssc install unicefData

Direct access to UNICEF’s official #SDMX Data Warehouse from Stata — reproducible, metadata-driven, and versioned.

In the age of AI, traceable data pipelines and provenance matter more than ever.

Happy coding!

@statatexblog.com @statacorp.bsky.social

wbopendata turns 15 this year.

For 15 years, it has provided reproducible access to World Bank Open Data from Stata — lowering barriers to official statistics and embedding metadata in workflows.

v18 now on #SSC:
ssc install wbopendata

Reliable AI starts with reliable statistical infrastructure.

Evidence doesn’t engage by existing—it engages through the interfaces we design.
Using an NBER paper on school phone bans, I tested the last mile with AI video.

Clunky. Imperfect. Fast.

The science stays the same. The frontier is how trusted evidence reaches people.
What should we do differently?!

🚀 unicefData v2.0.0 is out
Major upgrade to metadata integrity, QA, and reproducibility across R, Python, and Stata — with all tests passing.

🔗 github.com/unicef-drp/u...

Early enriched interactions (e.g., reading) may offset risks.

Neurobehavioural links from infant screen time to anxiety Higher infant screen time is linked to accelerated topological maturation of the visual and cognitive control networks, leading to prolonged decision latency and increased adolescent anxiety. Sensory ...

New eBioMedicine evidence links infant screen time with slower cognitive processing & higher adolescent anxiety — based on longitudinal brain imaging and behaviour data.

🔗 www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

#ChildHealth #BrainDevelopment #EarlyYears #EvidenceBased

As the figure shows, the only statistically significant estimate appears in studies at high risk of bias; results from lower-risk studies for both outcomes are indistinguishable from zero.

#EvidenceBasedPolicy #MentalHealth #WellBeing #Inequality #SocialPolicy #SDGs

The implication is not that inequality never matters, but that its psychological effects on well-being and mental health are context-dependent and often overstated when evidence quality is uneven.

No meta-analytical effect of economic inequality on well-being or mental health - Nature A meta-analysis of 168 studies reveals that economic inequality is not significantly associated with subjective well-being or mental health.

No robust average effect of economic inequality on either subjective well-being or mental health.

Sommet, N., Fillon, A.A., Rudmann, O. et al. No meta-analytical effect of economic inequality on well-being or mental health. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...

School Cell Phone Bans and Student Achievement

School Cell Phone Bans and Student Achievement

Bottom line: cellphone bans can strengthen learning environments—but implementation and equity during enforcement matter.

www.nber.org/digest/20251...

Thank you.