National statistical systems in the SDAC countries: diagnosis and relations with the development strategies Regional Workshop for SADC countries. Maputo, October Jean Le Nay PARIS21

Plan of the Presentation : 1.Main features/constraints in the SADC countries; 2.NSDSs; 3.The Users; 4.The data production; 5.Relations between NSSs and Development Units 6.Conclusions. Maputo regional workshop - Oct. 2013

(1(1 Scope of the survey :12 countries – DRC and Madagascar participated in the Abidjan workshop Internal resources for NSOs: 5 million-12 million US $ NSOs’employees: Average per capita internal resources for NSOs: 0.50 $ External resources: needed in all but two countries. In 8 countries, resources are stable or decreasing in NSSs: THE MAIN FEATURES IN THE SADC COUNTRIES Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

(2(2 Human resources mentioned in 10 countries; Insufficient equipment: 8 countries; Demotivation of the employees: 5 countries; Lack of production factors to provide the data expected by the users; Human resources: a quantitative and qualitative dimension; Need for a HR approach. NSSs: THE MAIN CONSTRAINTS Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 NSDS is the reference framework for statistical programming in the SADC countries; Adopted by all the countries, with 3 countries at the design phase; 4 countries are implementing a first generation NSDS; NSDS improves the status of statistics in the country and increase the relations among the official data providers (NSS). Impact of NSDSs: the weakest point. (3(3 2-THE NSDSs Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 NSDS approach implies a participative dimension; Users are partners in the design phase in all the countries. No details on the other phases; Major partner among users: mass media; Private sector, researchers/Universities, and civil society: more difficult. (4(4 3-THE USERS (a) Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 Specific initiatives vis-à-vis the users: – Media relations unit; – monthly meeting with the media; consultation with users on statistics to be collected; – focus groups to identify gaps; – courses on statistical interpretation. NSO Websites: in 11 countries. (5(5 3-THE USERS (b) Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 4-DATA PRODUCTION : N.A. 8 countries have definitive accounts for In 1 country the last definitive N.A. available is for 2008; Base year of N.A.: 3 countries with base year older than 10 years; 11 countries use the 1993 SNA; 2008 SNA: 1 country; mix of : 1country. (6(6 Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 PRSPs and HIPC initiative on debt relief; PRSPs are very demanding: poverty profile, targets, indicators; Poverty remains an issue after the debt relief; In 2013 all the countries implement or prepare development strategies including a poverty reduction component with quantitative targets on specific poverty issues. (7(7 5- NSSs AND PRSP OR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT UNITS (a) Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 NSDSs were responses to the data needs of the PRSPs :  In most of the SADC countries there is no formal articulation between NSDS and development strategy;  3 countries only have inserted the NSDS into the developement strategy (2 with an action plan and resources). (8(8 5-NSDS AND PRSP OR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT UNITS(b) Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 NSOs are major partners in the design and monitoring/evaluation dimensions of the development strategy; NSOs provide data for the reference year, help to choose the targets, and to calculate the indicators; Strategic Development Units request: – more frequent data on poverty; – alignment of surveys with the planning cycle; – more timeliness, regularity; – reliability and credibility of the indicators. (9(9 5-NSDS AND PRSP OR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT UNITS (c) Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 The expectations of the strategic development offices are strictly linked to the preparation and monitoring/evaluation of the development strategy. 1 office only expresses wider expectations: the statistics office is expected to promote wide access to and use of data, in order to foster dissemination and evidence-based dialogue. There are annual reports on the strategy implementation in most countries (5 do not prepare reports); 2 have specific websites. ( 10 NSDS AND PRSP OR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT UNITS(d) Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 CONCLUSION (a) Since 2000, an important evolution of the NSSs took place, mostly based on the NSDS approach: – more autonomy; – recognition of the importance of statistics; – more resources; – more open to users; – more data production; – new instruments and techniques. ( 11 Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 CONCLUSION (b) Comparison with the 16 countries reviewed at Abidjan in September 2012; At the Abidjan Workshop, the countries have: Adopted the NSDS approach earlier; More frequently integrated the NSDS in the strategic development documents. At the Maputo workshop, the NSOs: have more resources and employees; Are less dependent on external resources; Have more relations with the media. ( 12 Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013

1 CONCLUSION (c) Challenges for the NSSs: Improvement of governance and independence; Systematization of the programming approach; Involvement of the users beyond the preparation phase; Unification and coordination of the official data providers; Coordination of the donors; Dissemination of data to all the users based on the most updated communication techniques; Face the demands linked to« cross-cutting themes »: inequalities; discrimination; environment and sustainability; population dynamics; governance; human rights… Prepare the new world challenges => Putting statistics at the heart of the post-2015 debat e. ( 1 3 Maputo regioanl workshop - Oct. 2013