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In conjunction with the fifth expert meeting of the Working Group on Geospatial Information of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), the United Nations Statistics Division as the Secretariat for Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ-GGIM, with the support of the Global Urban Observatory/Data and Statistics Unit of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ-Habitat organized the International Seminar on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management with the theme "Geospatial information for sustainable development". The International Seminar provided a platform for the geospatial information management and statistical community together with a diverse group of stakeholders to engage, interact, share and discuss with one another appropriate and applicable sciences and knowledge, methodologies and practices, national circumstances and experiences, and to prioritize issues and actions to collect, collate and integrate the data needed to keep the promise to leave no one behind.

The International Seminar allowed members of the Working Group together with national, regional and international experts to engage and exchange knowledge, initiatives and experiences in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and national development priorities. Key sub-thematic focus revolved around the data demands for the SDGs- statistical, geospatial and other data; disaggregation by geographic location; and "production-ready" satellite and other observations time series for the global indicator framework.

A total of 25 presentations were delivered over the two days by national geospatial information authorities, national statistical offices, United Nations system including SDGs custodian agencies, international organizations, national space agencies, academic institutions and civil societies. Knowledge and experiences, national circumstances and challenges, national and global approaches were shared and discussed. Some shared unique circumstances and valued the opportunity to engage and network with one another that may lead to further exchanges and cooperation. The International Seminar promoted dialogue and participation, provided the opportunity to engaged and to be engaged with one another and others, within a multi-actor multi-stakeholder setting. Participants came from 22 countries from all geographic regions.

The International Seminar will consider several sub-themes through its sessions that will allow participants to engage, interact and exchange with one another to:

• address the challenges faced in the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of reliable, timely and accessible geospatial data and earth observations for better evidence-based policymaking and the 2030 Agenda;
• leverage national geospatial information management, its systems and infrastructures and today's geospatial technologies to collate and integrate the data needed to keep the promise to leave no one behind;

to ensure that the contributions of the global geospatial information community to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remain rigorous and relevant.

The International Seminar allows national, regional and international experts to consider, vis-¨¤-vis, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

• Availability and accessibility of data, particularly earth observations time series;
• Means to share, integrate and use traditional and new sources of data and information for sustainable development;
• Disaggregation by geographic location and aggregation of geocoded unit level data;
• Approaches to leverage production-ready earth observation time series for the production of indicators; and
• Collaboration and partnerships with different stakeholder groups with the aim to improve data availability, data flows and global reporting on the SDGs.

The International Seminar on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management is held in conjunction with the Fifth expert meeting of the Working Group on Geospatial Information of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals Indicators on 5 and 8 December 2018 at the Tribe Hotel, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya.

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