Sectoral Review on Labour Force Statistics Experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina MGSC 2015 point 4.1

Sectoral Review of Labour Force Survey in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Eurostat Call for Interest for Conducting a Sectoral Assessment, January 2014 Three statistical institutions in BiH agreed that Labour Force Statistics is first priority Main reason for proposing Labour Statistics – BH intention to introduce continuous LFS Review process started at the end of June 2014 MGSC 2015

Objectives of Sector Review (SR) SR of labour market statistics was tailored to BiH and the emphasis was on the Labour Force Survey Main objectives to assess administrative and technical capacity to assess statistical production of the LFS to assess the level of compliance with the acquis in the area of the LFS to review medium and long-term planning within the LFS to propose a list of recommendations MGSC 2015

Review steps First activity was 4-day review mission, 14-17 July Self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) sent to BH staff before the mission SAQ preparation (two months) Preparation of Sector Review Report (two months) Final report delivered to BiH in December 2014 Prior to the mission, BH staff were sent SAQ and asked to provide a list of required documents MGSC 2015

Four-day Mission Working environment active, supportive, friendly SR experts acquainted with complex institutional setup and BH statistical system Discussion and clarification of SAQ questions Other users of labour statistics took part Meeting with BHAS management MGSC 2015

The self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) The SAQ drawn to assess the compliance of the LFS with European Statistics CoP and the relevant EC Regulations Part 1 - institutional environment Part 2 – statistical processes Part 3 – statistical outputs Part 4 – optional MGSC 2015

SR Report - main findings “ The LFS shows a high compliance with the ILO recommendations and with the European requirements in definitions of concepts, in the contents and list of variables as well as in the classifications used..... ..... Major challenges for statistics of BiH are: i) improving the sample frame; ii) introducing a continuous survey; and iii) using computer assisted mode for data collection.“ BH staff agreed with all findings and recommendations MGSC 2015

Recommendations A need to increase human and financial resources in order to introduce continuous LFS Change of sample frame as a condition for transition to continuous LFS (required results of the Population Census 2013) Some improvements and steps forward to be made at present Proposed recalculation of one indicator For LFS 2015, ISCED-2011 will be used Delivery of data to Eurostat - to start ASAP (meanwhile, LCS data has been sent to Eurostat) MGSC 2015

Lessons learned Selection of experts for SR - very important Good understanding of SAQ - essential Expert mission in BiH - key activity (also useful for better understanding of SAQ) Mission duration – at least 4 - 5 days SR - a learning process, especially for younger statisticians SR – time-demanding for involved staff SR report – valuable document for specific area MGSC 2015

All thanks to Eurostat for given opportunity! Benefits for BiH SR confirmed that three statistical institutions in BiH are successful when working together BH statisticians thoroughly informed about the complexity of transition to the continuous LFS Additional information on the needs for introducing continuous LFS (including technical assistance) BiH would surely benefit from SRs in other statistical domains All thanks to Eurostat for given opportunity! MGSC 2015

Thank you for your attention! Jasna Samardzic International Cooperation and European Integration Department Agency for Statistics of BiH jasna.samardzic@bhas.ba www.bhas.ba   MGSC 2015