NSDS Roll-out: How Can PARIS21 Help? Presentation by PARIS21 Secretariat During this presentation, I will outline the roll out of NSDS in countries and how PARIS21 can help the process.

NSDS Roll-out Advocacy interventions and development of statistical advocacy tools Promotion of partnership NSDS methodology development Regional programmes PARIS21 supports country efforts to design, implement, and monitor their NSDS primarily through the following types of activities: Advocacy interventions and development of statistical advocacy tools (Tony and I have already discussed this in the previous session); Promotion of partnership; NSDS Methodology development; and Regional Programmes

NSDS Roll-out: Partnership Donor collaboration International and regional institution meetings (e.g., ESCAP, Asian Development Bank, SIAP). …we recognise that this must be extended to the national level as well. PARIS21 supports partnership through several mechanisms. One such example is the donor collaboration efforts of the Forum on African Statistical Development (FASDEV), first held in 2004 and which brought together all donors supporting statistical development in Africa. The Forum led to a Reference Regional Strategic Framework and a light reporting mechanism. Both of these tools are being finalised and will be presented at the second FASDEV in February 2006. A similar exercise could be replicated for the South Asia region. Is there a mechanism already in place in South Asia in which donors discuss issues and collaborate? International and regional institution meetings (such as those organised by ESCAP, ADB, and SIAP) also provide opportunities to discuss issues relating to statistical development. We recognise that this process needs to be extended to the national level as well, to build partnership within a country.

NSDS Roll-out: Methodology Development Guide to designing an NSDS Guide to designing an NSDS roadmap Guide to implementing an NSDS Guide to integrating sectoral statistics development into the NSDS Guide to integrating NSDS into national development strategies What else??? In collaboration with bilateral, multilateral, and developing country partners, PARIS21 has developed methodological tools to assist countries with the design and implementation of their strategies. Tools that have already been produced and which are available on the PARIS21 website and knowledge base CD-ROM include: the NSDS design guide and the guide to designing an NSDS roadmap. We request that South Asian countries provide us with their feedback on these tools in order to feed into upcoming, revised versions. Several other papers are also in production, including a guide to implementing an NSDS, a guide to integrating sectoral statistics development into the NSDS, and a guide to integrating the NSDS into national development strategies such as the PRS. We would like to ask South Asia countries for their opinion on what other methodological tools they would like to see produced. Perhaps some guidance on the collection, analysis and dissemination of subnational statistics or data for emergencies? Are these issues important to South Asian countries?

NSDS Roll-out: Regional Programmes Advocacy at country level Baseline assessments Subregional Workshops Resource mobilisation Building expertise Reporting PARIS21 also rolls out the NSDS approach to countries through regional programmes, which generally have the following components… Advocacy at country level (which we have already discussed) Baseline assessments (which have been presented on the first day of this workshop) Subregional Workshops Resource mobilisation Building expertise Reporting

C. Subregional Workshops Organise regional workshops to promote, initiate, share experiences, and report on NSDS development and implementation. The objective of PARIS21 regional workshops such as this one is to support countries at critical stages of NSDS design. Regional workshops are an efficient way to reach countries, to promote cross fertilization and south-south collaboration, to improve donors’ collaboration, and to build a community of knowledge. Regional workshops are intended to promote, initiate, train, follow up, share experiences, and report on NSDS design. Between meetings PARIS21 could provide follow up of the NSDS design process with a strong involvement of partners.

D. Resource Mobilisation Gather information on support to South Asian countries in the field of statistical capacity building. Design a mechanism to strengthen co-ordination and collaboration. Several donors are providing support to South Asia countries in the field of statistical capacity building. The first step will be to compile information about this support and to organise a mechanism to strengthen coordination and collaboration. In collaboration with regional partners and countries of the region, PARIS21 could put together a summary of statistical assistance programmes carried out by bilateral, regional, and multilateral development agencies in South Asia. A coordination process could then be set up among donors to avoid duplications, and to harmonise and increase effectiveness of their support to statistical activities at the country level. A donors meeting could be organised to review current assistance programmes and improve programme responsiveness towards national statistical development needs. This would be an exercise similar to FASDEV.

E. Building Expertise Develop a roster of experienced consultants. Organise peer review with emphasis on south–south collaboration, and advisory body. Mobilise technical assistance from donor institutions In order to respond to country needs for technical assistance in the design and implementation of strategies, it will be necessary to: Develop a roster of experienced consultants; Organise peer reviews with emphasis on south–south collaboration, and advisory body; and Mobilise technical assistance from donor institutions. In Africa, PARIS21 has already facilitated three seminars for training consultants in the NSDS approach. These consultants are available to African countries who wish to benefit from their expertise. Peer reviews have also been organised by PARIS21 to provide a south-south perspective for countries. PARIS21 is also in the process of organising with the OECD and Statistics Canada a high-level meeting among OECD country statisticians and development agencies to mobilise technical support to developing countries in strategic statistical planning. We plan to organise this meeting in 2006.

F. Reporting Countries are invited to : produce reports on the progress and issues of their NSDS design and implementation. to share good practices, examples and documents produced during the design (and later on of the implementation) of NSDSs. Reporting on progress and issues of NSDS design and implementation is part of the national strategy, and countries are invited to produce such reports. They will be used to report on the progress and issues at regional level, on a yearly basis. Starting with baseline information, they give an overall assessment of the achievements towards NSDS objectives. In addition countries will be asked to share good practices, examples and documents produced during the design (and later on of the implementation) of NSDSs. They will feed into the NSDS knowledge base.

NSDS Roll-out: Review Advocacy Partnership NSDS methodology development Regional Programmes Your thoughts? To review, PARIS21 helps roll out the NSDS approach through advocacy, partnership, methodology development, and its regional programmes. We invite you to comment on this roll-out and to provide us with your feedback on how the intl community can assist your country in carrying out the NSDS approach. Thank you.