Coordination mechanisms in the area of statistics Henri Laurencin UNCTAD, co-chairman of the Committee for Coordination of Statistical Activities World Statistics Day, Geneva, 20 October 2010

2 Areas for international coordination in statistics Standards and methods Classifications – Product, activity, occupation, education, etc. Methodology – Consumer price indices, unemployment measure, surveys, census, quality, etc. Statistical frameworks – National accounts, balance of payments, etc. Data exchange – Norms for data and metadata

3 Areas for international coordination in statistics Capacity building activities National legal framework for statistics National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) Data collection, processing and dissemination – Household and business surveys – Population censuses – Business registers – Administrative sources, etc

4 Benefits from international coordination in statistics More reliable statistics available for evidence based policy- making Quality of statistics: comparability, transparency etc Resources sharing Data exchange & reduced burden on the statistical producers Efficient use of resources

5 Coordination mechanism in statistics City groups Inter-secretariat working groups National Statistical Offices Regional & International Organizationss Governing bodies

6 Governing bodies - World wide United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) - Regional Conference of European Statisticians (UNECE) … - Specialized agencies International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ILO) …

7 Highest decision making body for international statistical activities Attended by the Chief Statisticians from the member states Development of concepts and methods and setting of statistical standards Implementation at the national and international levels United Nations Statistical Commission First meeting of the Statistical Commission

8 Adopted by the UN Statistical Commission (special session April 1994) 1.Professional standards and ethics 2.Accountability and transparency 3.Prevention of misuse 4.Sources of official statistics 5.Confidentiality 6.Legislation 7.National coordination 8.Use of international standards 9.International cooperation Fundamental Principles of Official statistics

9 Expert groups City groups Groups of experts primarily from national statistical system and form international organizations Since 1997, UNSC meets regularly to discuss the work of the city groups To the large extent, work of these groups results in proposed and implemented international standards

10 City groups - Delhi Group on Informal Sector Statistics Participation of ILO Eleventh Meeting Geneva January, 2010 – Manual on Surveys of Informal Employment and Informal Sector - Ottawa Group on Price Indexes Participation of ILO and UNECE Topics: – Weighting: quality, frequency of updating, reference period, and price-updating – New developments in calculation methods – Core inflation: from calculation to interpretation – Globalization and specialization

11 Expert groups Inter-secretariat working groups Groups of experts from international organizations and eventually from national statistical system Inter-agency Task Force on International Merchandise Trade Statistics – To improve data quality, timeliness, coverage and consistency amongst various international data providers (WTO, UNCTAD…) – Common Data Set Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development – To improve the availability and quality of ICT data and indicators (ITU, UNCTAD…)

12 Statistical data and metadata exchange International Organization International organization National Statistical Office Data reporting Data share

13 Data exchange International organizations define standards and guidelines in the SDMX project for the efficient sharing of statistical data and metadata. Current SDMX developments: oLabor Statistics oHealth Statistics oExternal Debt Statistics oCommodity Trade Statistics oNational Accounts oMillennium Development Goals indicators

14 PARIS21 Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century Assist low-income countries to design, implement, and monitor National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) Build capacity within National Statistical Systems in developing countries Global partnership of national, regional and international statisticians, analysts, policy-makers, and users of statistics Forum and network to promote statistical capacity development and the better use of statistics Reinforcement of statistical capacities

15 Partner Report on Support to Statistics (PRESS) A snapshot of ongoing statistical support in the developing world: Who What Where How much A valuable tool to limit overlaps Reinforcement of statistical capacities

16 Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) Coordination of statistical activities of international and supranational organizations Representation at the level of a Director of the statistical service

17 Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities Fosters good practices in accordance with the Principles Governing International Statistical Activities: Efficient functioning of the statistical system Common standards and platforms Development of methodologies Inter-institutional support Outreach Advocacy for statistics

18 Thank you for attention