About Social progress imperative
Social Progress Imperative: Accelerating Social Progress through Data-Driven Insights
Social progress is a critical aspect of any society, and it is essential to measure and track it to ensure that we are moving in the right direction. The Social Progress Imperative (SPI) is a non-profit organization that provides decision-makers and everyday citizens with the very best data on the social and environmental health of their societies. SPI helps them prioritize actions that accelerate social progress.
Founded in 2012, SPI has been at the forefront of measuring social progress globally. The organization's mission is to improve the lives of people around the world by advancing global understanding of social progress, empowering stakeholders to take action, and catalyzing change.
SPI's approach to measuring social progress goes beyond traditional economic indicators such as GDP or income per capita. Instead, they use a comprehensive framework that includes three dimensions: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. These dimensions are further broken down into twelve components such as Nutrition & Basic Medical Care, Access to Information & Communications or Personal Freedom & Choice.
The SPI Index measures each country's performance across these dimensions using over 50 indicators drawn from internationally recognized data sources such as World Bank or UNICEF. This approach provides a more holistic view of societal well-being than traditional economic measures alone.
The SPI Index has gained significant recognition since its inception in 2014 when it was first published globally. It has become an essential tool for policymakers worldwide who want to understand how their countries perform on various aspects related to social progress compared with other nations.
In addition to providing data-driven insights through its index reports, SPI also offers consulting services for governments and organizations seeking guidance on how best they can accelerate their countries' social progress agenda.
One example where SPI has made an impact is Paraguay - one of South America's poorest countries - which ranked last among all Latin American countries in terms of overall performance on the 2016 Social Progress Index report. After working closely with local stakeholders over several years using data-driven insights from the index report as guidance for policy-making decisions - Paraguay improved significantly in areas like access to information & communications technology (ICT), personal freedom & choice or tolerance & inclusion between different groups within society.
Another example where SPI has made an impact is India - one of Asia's largest economies but still facing significant challenges related to poverty reduction or gender equality issues despite rapid economic growth over recent decades. In collaboration with local partners like Tata Trusts Foundation (one India’s largest philanthropic organizations), they launched "India State-level Social Progress Index" project aiming at creating state-level indices based on similar methodology used for global index reports but tailored specifically towards Indian context needs while also taking into account regional differences within India itself due cultural diversity across states boundaries lines etcetera; this project aims at providing actionable insights policymakers can use when designing policies aimed at improving people’s lives across different regions within India itself!
Overall, Social Progress Imperative plays a crucial role in accelerating global efforts towards achieving sustainable development goals by providing decision-makers with reliable data-driven insights about what works best when trying address complex societal challenges faced by communities worldwide!