1. REACHING THE GOALS Is there a role for the RSS?
Jenny Church
Chair, RSS International Development Working Group

2. Not an international society but …
international reach
international reputation
a (re)new(ed) interest in international development

3. A learned Society
Developing the knowledge base and sharing good practice
Bringing together statisticians from all areas [of the development community] in a neutral forum
Resolving complex issues of definition and measurement

4. Providing professional development opportunities
‘… enhance capacity-building support to developing countries … to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data …’ (Target 17.18)
‘… support statistical capacity building in developing countries’ (Target 17.19)

5. Providing professional development opportunities
Standard-setting qualifications
CPD
Mentoring
Encouraging members to engage in pro bono work

6. Policy and advocacy
Raising the profile of statistics for better evidence and decision-making
Linking producers and users of statistics
Giving statisticians a voice

7. More and better data
To ensure that everyone is counted (‘leave no-one behind’)
To monitor progress and ensure accountability
To be available in an accessible and useable form as widely as possible

8. A data revolution
Mobilise new technology to provide faster, more detailed, more complete data
Put greater emphasis on open data and the use of innovative data sources
Ensure that no-one is excluded from this ‘brave new world’ through lack of resources, knowledge, capacity or opportunity
Ensure equality of access to data and information and in the ability to use it

9. What needs to be in place ?
Properly resourced national statistical systems
Able to operate without political interference
With access to new tools and technology
Not just collecting data but transforming it into useful information
And putting data into the hands of everyone who needs it

10. Civil registration
In 2012, four out of ten babies delivered worldwide were not registered with civil authorities
Leads to exclusion
Administrative systems much more cost-effective than surveys
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Scaling Up Investment Plan

11. Mobile technology
Using Android mobile technology and free data processing software could save 60% of the cost of household survey data processing
Using mobile phones for household panel surveys
SMS provided by village health workers in Uganda can provide alerts to outbreaks of malaria and how much medicine is on hand at health facilities
PARIS21 Innovations Inventory

12. RSS President, Professor Peter Diggle commenting on the statement said:
“The poorest people in the world face an overwhelming need for progress. Each country needs to make its own progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, but there are crucial gaps in the data and capacity to measure this. The RSS is glad to see yet more evidence of broad support for a genuinely world-wide ‘data revolution’ on World Statistics Day.”