1. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 1 PARIS 21/ESCAP HIGH- LEVEL FORUM ON STRATEGIC PLANNING IN STATISTICS FOR SOUTH-EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES 6-8 JUNE 2006 Bangkok, Thailand By Romulo A. Virola NSCB Secretary General SESSION 5:ADVOCACY FOR STATISTICS: PHILIPPINE PERSPECTIVE

2. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 2 I.IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE IN STATISTICAL PLANNING PROCESSES II.SOME PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED III.SOME SOLUTIONS IV.MECHANISMS IN PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM (PSS) SESSION 5: ADVOCACY FOR STATISTICS

3. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 3 I.AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL II.AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL SESSION 5: ADVOCACY FOR STATISTICS

4. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 4 THINGS TO NOTE IN PLANNING PROCESS EXAMINE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OFFERED BY ROLES OF PARIS 21 ESCAP Stat Division/ASEAN Secretariat AHSOM UNSD/Other Bodies Advocacy for Statistics at the International Level

5. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 5 SOME PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED Raises Users’ Expectations not matched by resources given by government to national statistical agencies Donor-driven initiatives not consistent with national priorities that in fact incapacitate/drain resources of national statistical agencies I. Advocacy for Statistics at the International Level

6. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 6 SOME SOLUTIONS Advocacy at the international level should put higher emphasis on strengthening political will of governments to give higher budgetary priorities to statistics Greater and sincere efforts of international bodies and donor countries to coordinate themselves better I. Advocacy for Statistics at the International Level

7. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 7 SOME SOLUTIONS Strengthen roles of regional bodies like ESCAP and the ASEAN Secretariat Statistics Divisions  Consider creation of an ASEANStat similar to EuroStat I. Advocacy for Statistics at the International Level

8. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 8 SOME SOLUTIONS Genuine realization and acceptance by donors that countries have statistical priorities that should not be diverted/suppressed to suit ad hoc needs of the international community I. Advocacy for Statistics at the International Level

9. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 9 THINGS TO NOTE IN PLANNING PROCESS Identify key stakeholders  Finance and Budget Ministries  Congress  Key users of statistics  Key supporters & Key nonsupporters  Media Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

10. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 10 THINGS TO NOTE IN PLANNING PROCESS Need to give top priority to relevance of statistical products and services to the key stakeholders Advocacy includes  expanding statistical manpower base  expanding use of statistics Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

11. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 11 SOME PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED Resource constraints that limit advocacy work Persisting perception about objectivity of government statistics Low salaries of statisticians in government Internal problems faced by statistical units within their own ministries Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level SO

12. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 12 SOME SOLUTIONS Put in place mechanisms to be able to give quality service to key stakeholders  Ensure provision of copies of publications to key stakeholders  Presentations to congress  Conduct users’ fora to manage users’ expectations better by talking about resource constraints Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level SO

13. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 13 SOME SOLUTIONS Statistical agencies must develop capacity to create demand for its products  Dissemination of Public Use Files  Setting up Micro Data Centers Training of statisticians to be better advocates of statistics, managers and fund sourcers Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

14. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 14 SOME SOLUTIONS Reach out to and use the media to raise public appreciation for statistics Identify potential champions of statistics Raise salary levels of official statisticians Promote statistics as a profession in the elementary and secondary schools Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

15. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 15 SOME SOLUTIONS Adopt best practices  Advance Release Calendars  Updated, information-rich and easy-to- access websites  Provision of metadata  Transparency of methodologies and revision policies Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

16. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 16 MECHANISMS PUT IN PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM Formulation of the Philippine Statistical Development Program ( 7 th ) supportive of the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan Multi-agency composition of NSCB Board Creation of inter-agency committees to address improvements in sectoral statistics Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

17. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 17 MECHANISMS PUT IN PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM Conduct of Various Statistical Fora  User-Producer Workshops  Results Dissemination Fora  Workshops to address specific statistical concerns like MDG and Poverty Monitoring Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

18. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 18 MECHANISMS PUT IN PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM Conduct of Various Statistical Fora  Celebration of National Statistics Month  Conduct of National and Regional Conventions on Statistics  Conduct of the Philippine Statistics Quiz and Oratorical Contests among university and high school students Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

19. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 19 MECHANISMS PUT IN PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM Conduct of Various Statistical Fora  Conduct of press conferences and issuance of press releases  Conduct of statistical seminars for data users and members of the media Advocacy for Statistics at the National Level

20. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 20 Thank You! www.nscb.gov.ph info @ nscb.gov.ph