This policy calls for a new South–South cooperation framework among national statistical institutes (NSIs) to co-develop post-growth and wellbeing indicators grounded in diverse social realities, rather than importing models shaped by Global North economies. The proposal envisions a cooperative platform where countries from the Global South jointly design, test, and refine indicators that capture social protection, care work, ecological regeneration, and informal economies.
This policy would involve establishing regional or global observatories to coordinate data innovation and exchange on wellbeing and ecological justice; creating mutual learning partnerships between NSIs and civil society networks engaged in participatory data collection, such as citizen-led audits and community monitoring; supporting technical independence and resource-sharing through UN bodies and development banks to prevent reliance on corporate data infrastructures and proprietary platforms; promoting open-source data governance standards and multilingual knowledge-sharing to make indicators publicly accessible and adaptable to local contexts.
The goal is to decolonise measurement and restore democratic agency in how progress is defined globally. By embedding solidarity, participation, and ecological awareness into international statistical cooperation, this policy ensures that data governance contributes to redistribution, transparency, and global justice.
This policy is desirable because it empowers the Global South to shape global norms on measurement, diversifies epistemic power, and anchors statistical systems in plural visions of wellbeing and sustainability.
