WHY IS THIS TOOLKIT NEEDED

Why data?

SGIGs need data to inform the best possible decisions in support of the well-being of their peoples, communities, and territories. These data have to reflect members’ teachings, worldview, and experience of the world today. They have to be relevant to members’ needs, interests, priorities. They have to be easily accessible and usable by the SGIG. This is only achieved when Indigenous governments take the lead in the collection, analysis, and reporting of data. Only then is it most relevant in shaping priorities and plans, informing funding choices, driving advocacy and negotiation agendas, and measuring progress.

Why this toolkit?

SGIGs are at various stages of developing data governance and management programs to generate and track reliable, accurate data. This Toolkit will help better gather, govern, and manage these data. 

This Toolkit is intended to serve the following purposes:

Support Data Sovereignty

Data sovereignty is about Indigenous governments’ rights to govern and manage data about their people and their distinct societies, and to be empowered to put data to work for the benefit of their people. Data sovereignty is an underlying and foundational right that enables the expression of the human rights standards affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the right to self-determination and the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for their development.

Exerting data sovereignty shifts the power imbalances that have seen others control and use Indigenous peoples’ data. This Toolkit includes a broad range of tools, resources, and content that taken together supports Indigenous governments to exert data sovereignty, and determine their own needs and paths to take towards greater well-being. 

Support Data Collection

Much of the data of interest to SGIGs is not currently collected, and much of the data that do exist are shaped by others’ worldviews and held in their systems. This Toolkit includes a broad range of tools that enables SGIGs’ to understand, collect, govern, use, and report data about community well-being.

Support Data Governance and Management

Data governance and management is a core function of SGIGs. This includes data collected by SGIGs, data repatriated from other organizations, and a large amount of administrative data collected in the course of program and service delivery. This Toolkit includes a data governance framework and extensive information and guidance in evolving and maturing data governance and management capacities.

Supporting Negotiations and Funding Partnerships

In addition to the need for data to guide decision making, reliable data helps provide evidence of need for investments in priority areas. Having reliable, accurate data about a population’s social and economic needs (and associated costs) will strengthen the SGIG’s position in funding negotiations with other governments and agencies.

Scope of this toolkit

This Toolkit focuses primarily on well-being and socioeconomic-related data (which may be held in written, electronic, or oral formats) about factors like physical and mental well-being, education, food security, livelihood, and living conditions, and many more. Some of the tools and indicators encompass or are relevant to other types of data, such as lands, fish and wildlife, and heritage resources. However, considerations that may be unique to these forms of data are not explicitly addressed in this Toolkit. Importantly, this Toolkit explores some general values, methods and principles common to Indigenous data, but does not attempt to definitively define Indigenous approaches to data.