STATISTICAL LEGISLATION AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE Ben Kiregyera NSDS Workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 9 August 2005

2 COVERAGE I.Statistical Legislation II.Other Infrastructure  physical environment  statistical library  statistical  ICT  management systems

3 I.Statistical Legislation Statistical legislation essential. It:  is the lifeline of a NSS  provides institutional and regulatory framework for production and management of official statistics  ensures professional independence of NSO to enhance integrity, impartiality & credibility of official statistics  ensures uttermost effectiveness of official statistics  should provide for a distinct National Statistical Office

4 UN recommends that “a statistical agency should be distinct from those parts of government that carry out enforcement and policy making activities…..”

5 Integrity and credibility of data better assured if: o official statistics free from pernicious political influence influence o NSO enjoys a high profile (Mozambique, Malawi, S. Africa, etc) Malawi, S. Africa, etc) o best practices and highest professional standards applied standards applied o transparency of sources and methods o transparency of sources and methods (GDDS) well-defined dissemination policy well-defined dissemination policy advance publication of release calendar advance publication of release calendar simultaneous release of data simultaneous release of data (Fundamental principle of equal access to data) (Fundamental principle of equal access to data) o More congenial Statistics Act

6 CountryYear Nigeria1957 rev.1958 Kenya1961 rev Zambia1964 Swaziland1967 Namibia1976 Liberia1966 Botswana1967 Egypt1967 Ethiopia1972 Gambia1972 Malawi1967 rev.1985 Rwanda1945 STATISTICS ACTS o Almost all countries have a Statistics Act o Most Statistics Acts are outdated (see table)

7 Outdated Acts generally do not:  define the National Statistical System (NSS)  provide for independence and objectivity of official statistics  define qualifications & appointment of Head of National Statistical Office & staff  provide for stronger coordination of the NSS  provide for a professional code of conduct  provide for disseminating data collected at public expense  provide for equal and simultaneous data release  provide for the development and maintenance of national socio- economic-demographic database Important that Act reviewed as part of NSDS process

8 Checklist of items to include in a Statistics Act

9 Application of the law  spirit of the law  application of the law (examples from Zanzibar, Namibia, Swaziland, Uganda)

10 II.Other Infrastructure Physical infrastructure – buildings & facilities Statistical library - focal point for increasing knowledge base Does the NSO have a library? Is the library well stocked with books & other reference materials? Does the library receive journals? Does the library have sitting space? Is the library used regularly by staff? Statistical infrastructure Field organization ad hoc or permanent? Effectiveness Sustainability Major constraints

11 Business Registers Basis for collecting reliable economic statistics Proliferation of business registers? Are registers updated regularly? When were they last updated? A case for a Central Business Register? National Master Sample (NMS) Important tool for integrating different household-based surveys or survey rounds Does the country have a NMS? How up-to-date is the NMS? Apart from the NSO, who else uses the NMS?

12 Geographic frame (GF) GF is used as a sampling frame for household-based surveys do the Enumeration Areas (EAs) have adequate boundaries? are EAs digitized, etc. Population Census data source of benchmark information basis for calculating many rates used to compute key development indicators e.g. Infant mortality rates, maternal mortality rate

13 ICT infrastructure  IT policy and strategy  computer equipment – numbers, how old  Local Area Network – existence and effective use  Wide Area Network (WAN)  Intranet  Internet  GIS Infrastructure (mapping capability e.g. poverty mapping)  Databases

14 Dataset A set of data consisting of a list of subjects and data vector associated with each Database One or more large structured sets of data, usually associated with a software to update and query the data

15 Management systems Systems that will cater for management of both human resources and finances systems and procedures for staff recruitment and promotion Terms and Conditions of Service Financial Regulations Accounting Guidelines Procurement Guidelines END

16 Thank You