15 September 2026 | Online
At an international discussion on measuring progress beyond GDP, PEP Executive Director Prof. Jane Mariara called for action to ensure broader measures of well-being, equity and sustainability reach the decisions that shape public spending.
Participants at the Beyond GDP event in Ottawa on 15 September 2026. PEP Executive Director Prof. Jane Mariara joined the roundtable online.
Prof. Mariara participated online in a roundtable at Counting What Counts: Implementing beyond GDP Metrics, a hybrid event held in Ottawa, Canada. She joined panellists from Statistics Canada, UN Trade and Development, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. The discussion focused on how countries can put broader measures of progress into practice.
Prof. Mariara highlighted barriers that go beyond data collection. Where much economic activity is informal, even GDP can be difficult to measure accurately. Yet the larger challenge is that measures of well-being, equity and sustainability often have no clear route into national plans and budget decisions. Finance ministries are still largely assessed through measures centred on economic growth, while global reporting frameworks may demand data that some countries cannot readily produce.
She called for researchers, national statistical offices and policymakers to develop and use evidence together, rather than work in parallel. Statistical offices can identify information already held across government and connect it to planning processes. Researchers can turn that evidence into policy options that show how decisions affect different groups of people.
Policy institutions can then create a place for those findings in budget decisions. Prof. Mariara proposed starting with one or two equity and sustainability measures in the guidance ministries use to prepare their budgets. This would be a practical step towards considering broader evidence when deciding how public money is spent.
This approach reflects PEP’s work with local researchers and policymakers to develop evidence around country priorities and bring it into policy discussions. Prof. Mariara stressed that measures beyond GDP must fit countries’ data and capacity, with clear responsibilities for putting the evidence to use.
The event was co-hosted by Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
