1. PARIS21 PROGRESS REPORT Reporting Period: October 2008 to April 2009
PARIS21 Steering Committee meeting
OECD Conference Centre
4 June 2009
This presentation will cover progress in PARIS21 activities over the period October 2008 to April 2009.

2. Introduction PARIS21 work in line with Steering Committee decisions:
International/Regional-level work
Advocacy
Partnership
Reporting
Studies
Country-level work
Support to NSDS design/implementation
Creation of national level partnerships of stakeholders
Development of locally adapted advocacy tools 2

3. Organisation of the Presentation
Framework for Tracking of Progress
Regional Programmes
Advocacy
Partnership
Reporting
Studies / Knowledge Development 3

4. Overall Tracking of Progress
Six-monthly reports on progress of Secretariat activities and outputs. (this presentation)
Annual reports on progress of the wider partnership towards its outputs and outcomes. (presented in November)
Three-to-five yearly evaluations of progress towards the partnership’s goal and purpose. (presented later)
As a quick reminder, at the June 2008 meeting, the Steering Committee agreed to a three-tier programme of reporting. These three levels are the following: (1) six-monthly reports on Secretariat activities and outputs (you know these as our regular progress reports); (2) annual reports on progress of the wider partnership (this is the tracking paper that Tony presented last November and will be presented again this coming November); and (3) the three-to-five yearly evaluations of progress (which we will discuss later this morning).
The current presentation will cover the first level of tracking progress. 4

5. Regional Programmes
Participation in various international and regional meetings
(UNSC, CCSA, UNESCWA Steering Committee, 33rd meeting of Arab League Statistical Committee, 4th African Symposium on the Development of Statistics, DAC-Arab Coordination Group, AHSOM9, ESCAP Committee on Statistics, Pacific Islands Forum Regional Statistics Workshop)
Support to NSDS processes or including statistical issues at donor consultative groups
(Burkina Faso, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Honduras, Tajikistan)
Organisation of Peer Reviews
(Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger)
Support to Regional Events
(Strategic Statistical Planning for Small Island Developing States, Maghreb workshop on NSDS, UNECA Regional workshop on NSDS implementation, CARICOM Advisory group and Steering Committee)
Regional activities supported by PARIS21 over the reporting period include participation in various international and regional meetings and support to NSDS processes in a number of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It should be noted that our support to countries’ NSDS processes (be they strategy design or implementation) are based on explicit country demand. It’s true that this demand is somewhat generated, but only because some countries are unaware of our activities so of course we have to advocate for our approach to solicit their interest. But I’d like to emphasise that we do not go into any country that doesn’t want us there. Other regional activities have included the organisation of peer reviews in Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, and Niger. PARIS21 has also supported the organisation of certain regional events. Just to cite one particularly successful example, PARIS21 co-organised with CARICOM and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, a meetings in the margins of this year’s UN Statistical Commission on strategic statistical planning for small island developing states. Country participants from the Caribbean and Pacific shared experiences and encouraged PARIS21 to organise follow-up meetings on a regular basis. 5

6. Advocacy Advocacy film on Women & Statistics (with UNECA)
Production of a new leaflet on PARIS21
Assistance to countries on producing advocacy booklets & NSDS synthesis documents:
Honduras
Mauritius 6

7. Partnership Partner Report on Support to Statistics (PRESS)
2008 Results disseminated
2009 Round launched
Facilitation of Developing Country Statisticians in Relevant Events
(UNSC, 4th African Symposium on the Development of Statistics, ESCAP Committee on Statistics)
New PARIS21 website prepared
Preparations for 2009 Consortium meeting – to be presented separately
At the end of 2008, PARIS21 distributed the three volumes of the 2008 Round of the PRESS, in addition to a summary booklet, to all national statistical offices around the world, all respondants to the questionnaire, and other relevant partners. The 2009 PRESS Round is currently underway. Extraction from the OECD’s Creditor Reporting System has already been undertaken and questionnaires have been sent out to those partners who do not submit data to the OECD. Many partners have already responded. The results of the 2009 Round will be available in time for the November Steering Committee meeting. PARIS21 has also supported the participation of developing country statisticians in relevant international events. The PARIS21 website has been revitalised and we intend to launch it shortly. The new look is intended to recall the colors of the upcoming Consortium meeting. We will project the new site on the screens in this room over the lunch break for those who would like to see it. Preparations have also of course advanced significantly for the Consortium meeting, but that will be presented in detail this afternoon. 7

8. Reporting Production of NSDS Status Report Updated in May 2009
Coverage extended to lower middle income countries
Of 117 countries, 88 are implementing or designing an NSDS (75%).
18 countries do not have a strategy but are planning one (15%).
Only 11 countries neither have a strategy nor are planning one (10%).
In reporting, PARIS21 regularly updates its information on country efforts to design and implement their NSDSs. The status report has just been updated and is available as a room document. We’ve extended our coverage from IDA countries to lower middle income countries, so we now cover 117 countries total. 8

9. Studies and Knowledge Development / Task Teams
Production of new guidance:
System reform: country case of Tunisia
Assessing quality and effectiveness of NSDSs guidelines
Costing of the National Statistical Systems
Development of new visual identity
Reflection Group on Fragile States:
Meeting held in Kigali from May
As for new studies, we are in the final stages of finalising the three studies you see listed on the screen, and have also developed a new visual identity to make it easier to identify PARIS21 documents. As for task teams, PARIS21 helped organise a meeting on statistical issues in fragile states from 22 to 24 May 2009 in Kigali, Rwanda. The results of this meeting will be presented by Pali at the seminar tomorrow. 9