Statistical Newsletter Published: 15 January 2009

Fourth Quarter, 2008

Overview of Statistics Development in Asia and the Pacific : Summary The Fourth Session of the SIAP Governing Council , Chiba, Japan, 11-12 November 2008 Report on SIAP’s Seventh Management Seminar for NSOs , Shanghai, China, 13-15

October 2008 Voice of the region Capacity building

o Statistics Division workshops/meetings:

United Nations Workshop on International Economic and Social Classifications, Bangkok, 24–27 November 2008

Expert Group Meeting on Gender Statistics and the Use of Violence Against Women Indicators in Support of CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action, Bangkok, 1-3 October 2008

o SIAP meetings/workshops:

Sub-regional Course/ Workshop Report on New Challenges in Economic Statistics, Tehran, 15–19 November 2008

Fourth Sub-regional Course in Statistics for Pacific Island Developing Countries, Nadi, Fiji, 27 October – 14 November 2008

Second Regional Course on Disability and Health Statistics , Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 22–26 September 2008

Country Training Workshop on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes, Hanoi, 22-26 September 2008

Eradication of Child Labour is an Important Challenge in Many ESCAP Developing Countries: Asia Regional Training Course on Child Labour Data Collection through Baseline Surveys and Rapid Assessments, Chiba, Japan, 22–26 September 2008

Country Training Workshop on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes, Ulaanbaatar, 15-19 September 2008

Area-focused Training Course in Collection and Analysis of Official Economic Statistics for Central Asian and Caucasus Countries, Chiba, Japan, 22 July - 22 September 2008

o Calendar of forthcoming meetings:

o Meetings and training courses of the ESCAP Statistics Division and SIAP o Other forthcoming statistical meetings in the ESCAP region

Missions by ESCAP Statistics Division New members of the Statistics Division team Farewell and Best Wishes to Pietro Gennari Visitors to the ESCAP Statistics Division  (4th Quarter 2008)

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Overview of Statistics Development in Asia and the Pacific: SummaryStatistics development in Asia and the Pacific is an important issue that the newly re-established Committee on Statistics is expected to discuss at its inaugural session (4-6 February 2009) in Bangkok. To facilitate the deliberations of the Committee on regional priorities for statistical capacity-building, the secretariat prepared a note on “Overview of Statistics Development in Asia and the Pacific”.

Drawing on existing studies and assessments, the document reviews key achievements in the region and identifies remaining challenges that require regional attention and action. The document also informs the report of the secretariat on “Regional Statistics Development in Asia and the Pacific” to be submitted to the United Nations Statistical Commission on its fortieth session (24-27 February 2009) in New York.

“Overview of Statistics Development in Asia and the Pacific” presents the current status of statistics development in two broad areas: (a) institutional development; (b) statistical capacity. Institutional development is assessed in terms of the NSDS process in Asia and the Pacific. The availability and quality of statistical outputs are used as indicators of statistical capacity in the region. The World Bank’s statistical capacity indicator (SCI) is used to provide an overall assessment of capacity; reference is made to the components of the indicator in order to gauge the status of economic and socio-demographic statistics.

The document highlights key statistics development results at the regional and subregional levels and provides country experiences in specific areas based on available international data. Hence, the results reflect the statistical capacity of countries only to the extent that the relevant data is made available through international agencies. The document focuses on less-developed statistical systems in the region and contrasts them, whenever possible, with more-developed systems.

Findings: Institutional Development

The powers and obligations of a statistical agency are usually indicated in a statistical law or act. In the Asian and Pacific region and according to UNSD and World Bank data, 76 per cent of ESCAP member States have legislation for statistics. Although these laws vary in content and in the degree of independence accorded to national statistical agencies, all contain some sort of delineation of the authority and duties of national statistical agencies. The real challenge seems to be in establishing effective coordination of national statistical systems, a difficult task which can be eased or exacerbated, depending on the legal framework of the respective country.

NSDS, which is one of the main elements of the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics, is designed to enhance statistical capacity and coordination across the entire statistical system. The preparation of a national strategy is ideally a comprehensive exercise and entails a detailed assessment of the current status of statistics development in the country, development of a vision and priorities, and a plan of implementation that addresses such aspects as funding, monitoring and evaluation. The process of preparing an NSDS and its implementation facilitate coordination within national statistical systems. Although the existence of a strategy does not directly lead to better and continued coordination, it constitutes a fundamental first step, as the process is designed, ideally, to include all the main actors of the national statistical system.

Based on the data from PARIS21 and the World Bank, nearly half of ESCAP countries are found to be lacking an NSDS. South-East and North and Central Asia are the better performing subregions, with most of their countries either having or in the process of preparing a national strategy. Low-income countries tend to have completed a national strategy or have none at all; very few are at the design stage. A higher proportion of low-income countries currently has an NSDS, in comparison to middle-income countries. This is not surprising, given that the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics and PARIS21 have mobilized efforts specifically for low-income countries. When factoring in countries that are in the process of preparing a national strategy, the proportion of middle-income countries engaged in a national strategy surpasses that of low-income countries.

Findings: Assessing Statistical Capacity in Asia and the Pacific

The document refers to the World Bank’s SCI framework for assessing the overall statistical capacity and the development of economic and socio-demographic statistics in Asia and the Pacific. SCI is a composite indicator that evaluates a national statistical system in three dimensions: statistical practice, data collection and indicator availability. While SCI encompasses diverse sectors of statistics, most of its criteria, especially with regard to data collection and indicator availability, are in the socio-demographic domain, and SCI coverage is limited to countries that borrow from the International Development Association or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Based on SCI, the ESCAP region ranks between Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of overall statistical capacity. North and Central Asian countries dominate the high statistical-capacity group (score 76-100 out of 100). There is a weak correlation between income and SCI score. Some low-income countries have high statistical-capacity scores whereas few higher income countries have low scores. The contribution of indicator availability is consistently higher than data collection and statistical practice components, highlighting a greater capacity in socio-demographic than in economic statistics.

In line with the statistical practice component, subscription to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) is

discussed, but in this case participation in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) is also considered. Another area related to economic statistics, namely, the status of national accounts statistics, is also analysed beyond the area covered by the SCI. Subsequently, in an assessment loosely based on the SCI data collection and indicator availability components, data sources and the capacity of countries to produce socio-demographic statistics for selected Millennium Development Goals are assessed.

(a) Economic Statistics

The discussion on economic statistics reveals that the majority of ESCAP countries subscribe either to GDDS or SDDS. In the developing world, ESCAP is the region with the highest number of countries subscribing to SDDS. Among the subregions, South-East Asia has the highest SDDS participation level. Many of these countries subscribed to the system in the first year after its launch, which means that few countries have made enough progress over the past decade on fulfilling the set of prerequisites (observance of certain statistical standards) to qualify for subscription to SDSS In contrast, GDDS is open to all IMF member countries, with a plan to improve statistical standards at the country level. Although GDDS and SDDS are not systematically linked, the challenges are for the current GDDS subscribers, especially low-income countries, to graduate to SDDS and for the 15 non-subscribers to become integrated into the process.

In national accounts, income level seems to be more strongly correlated with capacity. The availability of national accounts statistics is consistently higher for middle- and high-income countries. Furthermore, as the requirements for different milestones and minimum requirement datasets (MRDS) become more complicated, fewer low-income countries are able to fulfil them. For instance, less than one fifth of low-income countries in the region are able to produce all the MRDS tables, and only half of them comply with the milestone 2 requirements. East and North-East Asia and South and South-West Asia are the best performers in the national accounts assessment. According to the available IMF Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) country assessments, the main weaknesses in quality are due to deficiencies in statistical techniques, source data and resources.

(b) Socio-demographic Statistics

The Millennium Development Goals-based results for socio-demographic statistics, on the other hand, highlight low-income countries as champions. This reflects the importance of donor support in data collection and the production of these indicators. The percentage of low-income countries that implemented at least two international household surveys between 1999 and 2007 exceeds those which were able to carry out national ones during that period. Along those lines, the correlations between income and national household survey implementation and completeness of vital registration coverage are positive. In terms of subregions, North and Central Asia has the highest combined coverage of all three types of data sources.

The Pacific appears to have the lowest level of capacity in all the aspects of statistics development discussed above. The Pacific often falls far behind the other subregions in institutional development, overall statistical capacity, and in economic and socio-demographic statistics. North and Central Asia demonstrates high levels of statistical capacity in all fields considered, except for national accounts. East and North-East Asia and South and South-West Asia are the leading subregions in national accounts practices. South-East Asia is especially strong in

institutional development.

The results of this study point to challenges but also opportunities. Regional and subregional assessments are useful in identifying those who are in need and those who can help. In other words, an understanding of the statistical-capacity levels of different countries or subregions can foster South-South cooperation, in addition to facilitating the provision of assistance from donors. Finally, it is vital to reiterate that the value of such assessments will increase, as transparent and systematic evaluation of statistical activities and outputs at the country level is established.

The full text of the document may be accessed at http://www.unescap.org/stat/cst/1/CST1-2E.pdf

 

The Fourth Session of the SIAP Governing Council, Chiba, Japan, 11-12 November 2008The fourth session of the Governing Council of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) was held in Chiba, Japan, on 11 and 12 November 2008. The session was attended by the representatives of all nine members of the Governing Council: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Thailand. Representatives of the following countries attended the session as observers: Australia; Fiji; Hong Kong, China; Kazakhstan; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Mongolia; Myanmar; Philippines; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Turkey and Viet Nam. Representatives of the following United Nations bodies and specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations also participated as observers:  United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Department of Economic and Social Affairs; International Monetary Fund (IMF); and UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS). Representatives of the ESCAP secretariat also participated in the session.

The Governing Council elected Mr. Feng Nailin (China) as the Chairperson and Mr. Mutsumi Nakata/Mr. Akihiro Kimoto (Japan) as Vice-Chairperson.

Mr. Shigeru Mochida, Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP, delivered the opening statement, expressing deep appreciation to the Council for the invaluable advice and guidance given to SIAP in carrying out its mandate more effectively and particularly in responding to the demands of the current development agenda.

The Governing Council adopted the agenda as follows:

1. Election of officers;2. Adoption of the agenda;3. Matters arising from the third session of the Governing Council;4. Report of the Director of the Institute;5. Work plan of the Institute for the academic year (AY) 2009;6. Draft Strategic Plan of the Institute for the AY 2010-2014;7. Review of the draft annual report of the Institute to the Commission;8. The new conference structure of the Commission and its link to the Governing Council of the Institute;

9. Review of the draft terms of reference for an evaluation of the Institute;10. Other matters;11. Adoption of the report.

The Director of SIAP briefed the Governing Council on the work completed during the past year and presented the draft programme of work of the Institute for the academic year 2009. The Governing Council endorsed the Programme of Work for 2009 in general.

The highlight of the fourth session of the Governing Council was the Draft Strategic Plan for the AY 2010-2014. The Council was informed that the Institute was shifting from a multi-year work programme to a more strategic, results oriented approach to planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The draft strategic plan was organized in seven sections: Executive Summary; Introduction; Situation Analysis; The proposed programme Description; Expected Results; Management and Resources; and Monitoring and Evaluation. This was supplemented through a Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) and participants’ profile details by country and programme. The Council recognized the importance of the Institute’s focus areas such as: (a) monitoring and evaluation of progress made towards achieving the MDGs, (b) developing integrated economic statistics, and (c) application of information management and related ICT for national statistical system. The Governing Council endorsed the Strategic Plan for 2010-2014 in general.

The Council members were informed that the evaluation of SIAP would be conducted in 2009 as part of the ESCAP Evaluation Plan for 2008-2009. Draft terms of reference for the evaluation were submitted to the Council for its consideration. The Director of SIAP informed the Council that the evaluation would be conducted by an external evaluator. The Governing Council endorsed the draft terms of reference for the proposed evaluation.

On 12 November 2008, the Governing Council adopted the report of its meeting. The next session of the Governing Council was tentatively scheduled to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday of the third week of November 2009. The exact dates and venue would be decided at a later date.

 

Report on SIAP’s Seventh Management Seminar for NSOs, Shanghai, China, 13-15 October 2008The Seventh Management Seminar for the Heads of the National Statistical Offices in Asia and the Pacific was jointly organized by the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China in collaboration with the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Statistics Division of ESCAP. The Seminar deliberated on the theme of “Managing Issues addressing the Challenges of Using Administrative Data for Statistical Purposes” during 13-15 October 2008 in Shanghai, China. Thirty-three participants from 28 countries participated in the Seminar.

The objectives of the Seminar were to:

a. Strengthen capability in the area of leadership and management in statistics, with a view to enhancing statistical capacities in support of economic and social development;

b. Identify key issues for the Directors-General of national statistical offices to address in order to make

effective use of administrative data for statistical purposes.

            The Seminar was organized in an integrated manner with the International Association of Official Statistics (IAOS) Conference on Reshaping Official Statistics, held in parallel during 14-16 October 2008 in Shanghai, to take advantage of high-level professional representation and with regard to the use of administrative data sources. Participants were given an opportunity to participate in selected sessions of IAOS which were relevant to the topic of the Management Seminar.

The Seminar served as a forum for the heads of the NSOs in the Asian and Pacific region to exchange views and experiences concerning dealing with challenges and opportunities for the use of administrative data in specific fields of official statistics for compiling important indicators, including the ones required to monitor progress towards and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Country papers on the theme were provided by all while nine participating countries, namely, China, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The participants presented country experiences/ examples in the relevant sessions. 

In conclusion, the Seminar noted the possible uses of administrative data for statistical purposes as follows, to:

a. Produce statistical outputs directly from administrative data;

b. Produce statistical outputs by combining administrative data with other data, possibly from sample surveys;

c. Assist in the establishment and maintenance of sample frameworks (e.g., business registers);d. Reduce the cost of complying with statistical office requests for statistical information;e. Serve as a benchmark, to improve the efficiency of sample surveys;f. Provide information which might be used to assist in the imputation for non-response or edit failures;g. Serve as an information source that might be used with quality assurance;h. Serve as a source of longitudinal information.

The Seminar identified nine vital management issues in using administrative data for statistical purposes:

1. Inaccurate and incomplete data;2. Lack of timeliness in the delivery of the data to the concerned NSO;3. Poor systems and processes;4. Inadequate coverage of the target population;5. Inconsistency with statistical concepts;6. Lack of cooperation on the part of administrative agencies;7. Legal and confidentiality constraints;8. Lags in administrative processes;9. Lack of staff skills in processing administrative data.

Finally, the Seminar identified the main success factors for increasing the use of administrative records for statistical purposes as follows:

a. Organizational commitment, from the top management of the NSO, to the use of the administrative data;b. Good relationships with the owners of the data sources, especially with the top management of the agency;c. Understanding the quality of the data and how it is best managed;d. Having the infrastructure and skills required to successfully manage administrative data;e. Management of privacy concerns.

The participants indicated that the Seminar provided a most useful opportunity to gain knowledge and interact at a high-level of professional representation and acquaint themselves with good practices on the use of administrative data.

 

Voice of the regionDue to unforeseen circumstances, this edition of the Statistical Newsletter does not include our regular article in this series featuring interviews with senior managers from national statistical offices in the region.

“Voices of the region” has received a great deal of support, for which we are grateful. It will continue in the next edition of the Newsletter, with the opportunity presented by the participation of heads of national statistical offices

in the inaugural session of the Committee on Statistics, to be held in Bangkok in early February 2009.

 

Capacity building 

Statistics Division workshops/meetings:

The ESCAP Statistics Division facilitates the development of international statistical standards and promotes their implementation in countries of the Asian and Pacific region.

 

United Nations Workshop on International Economic and Social Classifications, Bangkok, 24–27 November 2008

 

International Economic and Social Classifications are periodically revised so that they reflect current economic and social conditions. As part of this regular revision programme, the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Revision 4 was officially released on 11 August 2008. In addition, the technical editing of the Central Product Classification (CPC) Version 2 is complete, and the next step is to submit it to the UN editors. Consequently, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) jointly organized the United Nations Workshop on International Economic and Social Classifications in Bangkok from 24 to 27 November 2008. The Workshop focused on:

1. The underlying concepts of the ISIC and CPC;

2. Major changes in the ISIC, Revision 4;3. New concepts in applying both

classifications, for example treatment of outsourcing;

4. Newly-introduced product concepts and changes in selected areas of the CPC;

5. Implementation of the ISIC.

Thirty-four participants from 21 countries in the ESCAP region and a representative of the ASEAN Secretariat attended the Workshop. The Workshop discussions contributed to clarifying issues that participants might encounter when adapting the ISIC Revision 4 for national purposes.

 

Expert Group Meeting on Gender Statistics and the Use of Violence Against Women Indicators in Support of CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action, Bangkok, 1-3 October 2008

 

The Expert Group Meeting on Gender Statistics and the Use of Violence against Women Indicators in Support of CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action was coorganized by the Gender Equality and Empowerment Section of the Social Development Division and the Statistics Division of ESCAP. The Meeting brought together senior officials from National Women’s Machineries (NWMs) and National Statistical Offices (NSOs) representing the Governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, the Philippines, Samoa and Thailand. Experts from the Korean Women's Development Institute, UNDP, UNIFEM, OHCHR and SPC also participated in the Meeting.  

The overall objectives of the Meeting were to support and build the capacity of NWMs in advocating for the collection of statistics on gender, and violence against women in particular, and encourage increased use of statistics and analysis for national monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of key gender equality mandates, such as the CEDAW, BPfA and the MDGs. The meeting also aimed to build and enhance strategic partnerships between NWMs and NSOs on the use of gender statistics and indicators on violence against women towards promoting gender equality through national policy and programme interventions.

During the meeting, participants were introduced to the work being of the Friends of the Chair Group (FoC) which was established by the United Nations Statistical Commission on its 39th session in February 2008, to evaluate and consolidate a set of indicators on violence against women which contribute to the development of a framework to eradicate violence against women.

The Expert Group Meeting provided a platform for NWMs and NSOs to brainstorm and identify ways to develop gender statistics, to increase their use for policy formulation, analysis, monitoring and evaluation, and also to identify country-specific needs and future areas of work in gender statistics. In addition to the discussion on gender statistics, information on ongoing work by UN entities on indicators to measure violence against women was disseminated to participants. Country experts provided feedback on the relevance and viability of these indicators in measuring violence

against women and suggested stronger advocacy efforts to encourage the use these indicators as part of country efforts to meet obligations outlined in CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action.

During the Meeting, participants underlined the importance of better coordination between the NWMs, NSOs and other line ministries with regard to data collection, its analysis and use, agreeing that this would be a step towards bridging the gap between data users and data producers. Participants mentioned that, in some countries, data do

exist, but are not tabulated on a regular basis in a form that would allow for their effective use by women’s machineries. NSOs, thus, play a critical role in facilitating the use of available data. The Meeting also highlighted the benefits of effective collaboration and coordination with other stakeholders, such as with non-government organizations, academia and research institutions with regard to data generation, analysis and use.

With regard to data on violence against women, participants noted that most of the information available is generated as a by-product of police or judiciary records. Since prevalence cannot be measured through these types of administrative sources, experts recommended that the collection of data on violence against women should be carried out through population or household surveys. Participants agreed that, without statistics, it is difficult, if not impossible, to monitor and evaluate the progress and impact of projects and programmes dedicated to eradicating violence against women, as well as measuring associated change.

Participants emphasized the need for more South-South cooperation, and regular sharing of good practices which would greatly assist countries to improve their efforts towards data collection, its use and dissemination. Participants appreciated the opportunity to discuss gender statistics through such a forum and regarded this as a critical opportunity for NWMs and NSOs, to reinforce an ongoing dialogue and to work together in a long-term partnership devoted to promoting gender equality, empowering women and eliminating violence against women.

 

SIAP meetings/workshops:

The Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) is a training arm of ESCAP that focuses on increasing the capability of developing country official statisticians in applying international statistical standards.

 

Sub-regional Course/ Workshop Report on New Challenges in Economic Statistics, Tehran, 15–19 November 2008

 

The Sub-regional Course/Workshop on “New challenges in Economic Statistics’ was conducted from 15- 19 November  2008 in Tehran under the outreach training programme of SIAP for countries in Central Asia, as well as Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The training was conducted in collaboration with the Statistics Division of UNECE as a bilingual course using English and Russian languages. Resource persons from UNECE, UNSIAP and UNESCAP participated in providing training, while Iran undertook the local organizational and administrative arrangements for the duration of the training course.

The main objective of the course was to strengthen the capacity of the participating countries for producing economic data, with special reference to short-term economic indicators and price statistics, while addressing issues relating to the compilation of national accounts and the implementation of SNA 2008.

There were altogether 13 participants: two participants each from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, while one each from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan joined the training, and five officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran. All were senior officers responsible for the compilation of national accounts/price statistics in their respective NSOs.

The course focused on the following areas:

a. Understand the framework of SNA93, its revision in 2008 and issues and challenges in the implementation of SNA 2008;

b. Production, international economic classifications and recommendations on short-term economic statistics;c. Fixed based indices and price statistics;d. Seasonal adjustments on time series data using Demetra software;e. SDSS and dissemination of statistical information.

All training materials were provided to participants in CD-ROM format at the end of the course. The Russian version of the SNA materials available with UNSIAP was distributed for the benefit of participants who preferred Russian language materials. Other materials would be translated and provided to the participants by the UNECE in due course.

Training was conducted via delivery of lectures, hands-on practical exercises using data and Demetra software, discussions, and group exercises. Visits to SCI and other important institutions were included in the programme.

Participants evaluated the content of the course to be very useful (62%) and useful (38%).

The Statistical Centre of Iran expressed its satisfaction with the outcome and keen interest to collaborate with SIAP in conducting further country courses for their officials as well as was willing to provide their facilities for future courses.

 

Fourth Sub-regional Course in Statistics for Pacific Island Developing Countries, Nadi, Fiji, 27 October – 14 November 2008

 

The 4th Sub-regional Course in Statistics was conducted from 27 October - 14 November 2008 in Nadi, Fiji, under the outreach training programme of SIAP for Pacific Island Developing Countries. The training was conducted in collaboration with the Secretariat for the South Pacific Community (SPC) and the Government of Fiji. Resource persons from SPC conducted the training, while Fiji provided lodging and administrative facilities for the training. The main objective of the course was to develop basic skills on sample survey planning, social statistics and data utilization and aimed to strengthen the NSO capability of the five participating countries concerning the collection, compilation, analysis and interpretation of official statistics.

There were six participants: two participants each from Samoa and Tonga, and one each from the Cook Islands and Tuvalu. The participants were officials of junior and senior levels responsible for the compilation of statistics in their respective NSOs.

The course module on sample survey planning covered various topics, including those on sample selection, field logistics, budgeting and scheduling. The social statistics module covered topics such as censuses, surveys and registration systems and describing concepts and measures involved in the processes. The module on data utilization included topics on population policy and the interpretation of data and indicators. The three resource persons conducted the training over a period of three weeks. Participants evaluated the content of the course to be very useful (80%) and useful (20%). All participants considered each module to be very relevant. The participants’ views were generally very favourable concerning the materials provided, presentations delivered, exercises conducted and discussions held. The participants recommended the inclusion of more topics on economic statistics in future courses, since the basic structure was maintained during the four courses conducted thus far.

 

Second Regional Course on Disability and Health Statistics, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 22–26 September 2008

 

The United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Korea through the Korea National Statistical Office (KNSO), conducted the second Regional Course on Disability and Health Statistics, as a follow-up to the ESCAP/WHO Project on Improving Disability Statistics and Measurement in Support of the Biwako Millennium Framework.

The course was held from 22 to 26 September 2008 at the Statistical Training Institute (STI) of KNSO, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. It was the second course in the series. It addressed the need of national statistical offices in the region for the development of valid, reliable and internationally comparable disability data. The course was

primarily designed for participants to learn the application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), joint use of census and survey and implementation of the 2002 Biwako Millennium Framework. There were 22 participants from 21 countries in the region, including two participants from the host country, Republic of Korea. ESCAP provided fellowships for some participants from countries in the region.

SIAP conducted the course, taking into account the training needs of participating countries as well as the international requirement concerning official statistics in the field of disability and health. The training was conducted by two experts. One expert had extensive knowledge of disability and health matters and extensive experience in applying ICF to data collection. The other expert had extensive knowledge and practical experience in collecting and analyzing data related to disability and health.

The content of the course included: disability statistics and the ICF framework, statistical data sources on disability, disability data analysis and interpretation, as well as disability data dissemination. Workshop exercises were organized during the course in order for participants to acquire an understanding of the ICF framework. Participants worked in four groups. Each group conducted a group project on planning a disability survey, using the forthcoming 2010 round census and successfully made a presentation on the concluding day. Aside from the formal programme, KNSO arranged a cultural programme for the participants.

All 22 participants successfully fulfilled the training course requirements. All participants indicated that the course was relevant to their work in their respective countries. The conduct of this course brought to light the urgent need for a common understanding of the ICF framework and national capacity building on collecting data on disability, using the forthcoming 2010 round census and sample survey.

 

Country Training Workshop on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes, Hanoi, 22-26 September 2008

 

The Country Course on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes was conducted by SIAP through a collaborative partnership with ADB (financial support) and the General Statistics Office (GSO), Government of Viet Nam (administrative support). The participants were 26 officials from GSO and line ministries, including those for health, education, labour and social welfare and the vital registration office.

The course was designed by SIAP, in close consultation with Viet Nam and the ADB. Building national capability in official statistics through training government officials is an important component of the ADB Project RETA6356. This focused on improving administrative data Sources for monitoring MDG indicators through conducting a country training workshop in each Project country on MDGs and the use of administrative data systems for statistical purposes.

The training course was designed principally for statisticians involved in the compilation of indicators for monitoring MDGs, particularly those related to education, health and vital statistics. Course topics included: introduction to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), targets and indicators; administrative data systems and issues relating to their quality in collection, processing and data management (coverage, errors, biases, quality control, manual data scrutiny, computerized data editing and data processing); use of standard definitions and classifications relating to MDG indicators; MDG indicator compilation and hands-on exercises using country administrative data; MDG reporting by countries; use of administrative data systems on education, health and vital registration for policy making; construction of indicators including composite indicators; and group work on strategies for improving administrative data (education, health and vital registration). This course also covered Dev Info (user module) for disseminating MDG indicators. Two sessions on the use of Dev Info were taken by the local expert from GSO and two lectures on the use of administrative data were taken by the ADB-designated National Consultant in Mongolia.

In addition to the subject matter discussions and class exercises, participants also undertook group work on handling data quality issues relating to the subject areas of health, education and vital registration sectors. There were lively discussions, followed by presentations of findings, initiating much needed dialogue towards bridging a communication gap between the GSO and the concerned line ministries. Individual-level evaluation of the course revealed that the course had been very useful for the majority of the participants in obtaining a basic understanding of the concepts, methods relating to MDG indicators and related data issues and possible means of handling some of those to improve data quality.

For the benefit of participants who were not conversant in the English language, interpretation services were provided.

 

Eradication of Child Labour is an Important Challenge in Many ESCAP Developing Countries: Asia Regional Training Course on Child Labour Data Collection through Baseline Surveys and Rapid Assessments, Chiba, Japan, 22–26 September 2008

 

SIAP organized jointly with the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), through its statistical unit, Statistical Monitoring and Information System on Child Labour (SIMPOC), the Asia Regional Training Course on Child Labour Data Collection through Baseline Surveys and Rapid Assessments during 22 – 26 September 2008 at SIAP premises in Chiba, Japan. Participants

included 15 government officials of national statistical offices (NSOs) from 15 Asian countries where ILO/IPEC has field operations, namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.

In many developing Asian countries, the eradication of child labour is an important challenge, and the need to collect child labour data has gained urgency. In that context, baseline surveys and rapid assessments have been observed to be practicable and effective data collection vehicles for child labour in a specific sector or geographical area, as child labour is a subject in which

both quantitative and qualitative data may contribute to analysis of the situation. The objective of the training course was to introduce baseline surveys and rapid assessments, as well as their application in the collection of statistics on child labour. These methods have also been applied for gathering poverty-related statistics. Governments need reliable statistics for evidence-based policy making to combat child labour. There are strong needs to build capacity at country levels and ensure its sustainability in responding to government needs. Therefore, the second objective of the training course was to provide technical guidance on the design and implementation of these data collection methods by giving more emphasis to the sharing of practical experiences among the participants and undertaking group work. In the group work, participants were assigned the task of designing baseline surveys for a diverse range of child labour situations; that was followed by presentations by participants and intensive discussions. Data processing and data management issues were also addressed.

The course was directed by Mr Frank Hagemann, Chief, Child Labour Research and Policy, ILO/IPEC Geneva, and supported by Mr Hakki Ozel and Mr Bijoy Raychaudhuri, both Senior Statisticians with ILO/IPEC-SIMPOC Geneva, and Mr M. Q. Hasan, faculty member of SIAP.

 

Country Training Workshop on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes, Ulaanbaatar, 15-19 September 2008

 The Country Course on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes was conducted by SIAP through a collaborative partnership with ADB (financial support) and the NSO, Government of Mongolia (administrative support). A total of 23 officials participated and completed the course; they were from the NSO and line ministries, including those for health, education and environment, and the vital registration office.

The course was designed in consultation

with ADB and directed by SIAP. The course was conducted by its faculty member Gamini de Silva who also prepared the training materials and delivered the lectures. One of the important activities of ADB Project RETA6356, ’Improving Administrative Data Sources for Monitoring of the MDG Indicators’, is to conduct country training workshop in each of the project countries on MDGs and the use of administrative data systems for statistical purposes – which matched SIAP’s objectives.

The training course was designed principally for statisticians involved in the compilation of indicators for monitoring MDGs, particularly those related to education, health and vital statistics. Course topics included the following: introduction to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), targets and indicators; administrative data systems and issues relating to their quality in collection, processing and data management (coverage, errors, biases, quality control, manual data scrutiny, computerized data editing and data processing); use of standard definitions and classifications relating to MDG indicators; MDG indicator compilation and hands-on exercises using country administrative data; MDG reporting by countries; use of administrative data systems on education, health and vital registration for policy making; construction of indicators, including composite indicators; and group work on strategies for improving administrative data (education, health and vital registration). This course also covered Dev Info (user module) for disseminating MDG indicators. Two sessions on the use of Dev Info were taken by the local expert from the NSO and two lectures on use of administrative data were taken by the ADB-designated national consultant in Mongolia. The NSO provided a coordinator, Mr. Dagwadorch, General Manager, NSO, for the course and made available all the necessary infrastructure facilities and services of NSO staff for the smooth conduct of the course at the NSO premises in Ulaanbaatar.

In addition to the subject matter, discussions and class exercises, participants also undertook group work on handling data quality issues relating to the subject areas of health, education and vital registration sectors. Healthy discussions followed by presentations of findings were made initiating important dialogue to bridge much needed communication gap between the NSO and the line ministries concerned. Individual level evaluation of the course revealed that the course had been very useful for the majority of the participants in obtaining the basic understanding of the concepts, methods relating to MDG indicators and data issue involved therein and possible means of handling some of those to improve the data quality.

For the benefit of the participants who were not conversant in English language, the services of an interpreter were provided for the course.

The course was inaugurated by Mr.Byambatseren, Chairman, NSO, Government of Mongolia, Mr.Dagwadorch General Manager of NSO. Mr. Kaushal Joshi, Statistician, ADB, attended as a resource person throughout the course and assisted in the workshops and group work.

 

Area-focused Training Course in Collection and Analysis of Official Economic Statistics for Central Asian and Caucasus Countries, Chiba, Japan, 22 July - 22 September 2008

 The area-focused training course on the collection and analysis of official economic statistics for Central Asian and Caucasus countries was held from 22 July to 22 September 2008 in Chiba, Japan. This was part of the Tokyo-based regular programme jointly organized by SIAP and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Five participants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participated in the two-month course.

The course was designed principally to train statisticians in government statistical offices who deal with data collection and data analysis in economic statistics and compilation of the system of national accounts in their respected offices. The course was conducted in Russian through interpretation from English. In countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, the experience and skills of official statisticians are not always sufficient to handle statistical data collection and analysis in a market-oriented economy. This training course aimed to strengthen human resources in statistical data collection and data analysis in the field of economic statistics, including the system of national accounts and survey methodology as part of the development of official statistics in these countries.

The training course covered the areas of the system of national account (SNA) 1993, including supply and use tables, input-output tables, current and accumulation accounts, methods of GDP estimation and quarterly GDP estimation, as well as survey methodology. Sampling frame and basics of sampling, planning of statistical surveys, questionnaire design, data collection and field operation, survey data processing its management and dissemination of survey data were subjects taught within the framework of survey methodology. The statistical analytical techniques ranged from descriptive statistics to regression, statistical inference and time series analysis. Moreover, economic and enterprise statistics and their surveys in Japan, statistical classification systems, Japanese statistical system, and MDG indicators were taught as introductory subjects. STATA software was taught as a tool to use for statistical data analysis. Participants also gained experience in training techniques, so that they would be able to train other staff members in their organizations upon completion of the training.

In addition to the subject matter, each participant carried out small-scale project work on topics related to economic statistics under the guidance of a supervisor. The participants selected a variety of topics, such as description of methodology on conduction of informal sector survey, time series analysis of domestic trade output and benchmarking, analysis of GDP dynamics, empirical analysis of CPI and analysis of dynamics of output in real economy which would encourage each participant to continue working on the selected topic to make it useful for her/his respective organization. Each participant presented to SIAP faculty members project work completed at the end of the course.

At the closing ceremony, course participants had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Hiroshi Kurakata, Deputy Director General for Administration, JICA Tokyo International Centre, Mr Akihiro Kimoto, Director for International Statistical Affairs, Office of Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Standards), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, and many other distinguished officials representing the Government of Japan and JICA.

 

Calendar of forthcoming meetings 

Meetings and training courses of ESCAP Statistics Division and SIAP

 

The list of future events is provided to facilitate coordination. The list may be updated and events, dates and venues may change. If you wish to use any item on the list, please confirm the latest update with the ESCAP Statistics Division (SD) or SIAP, as appropriate. Please note that in most cases, meetings and training courses are designed to address the needs of groups of countries with particular needs.

Date Organizer Meeting Venue

2009

12 - 16 January

SIAPCountry Course on Introduction to STATA Software,http://www.unsiap.or.jp    

Ulaanbaatar

13 January SD/UNSD/DFIDMeeting for the 4 project countries of the UNSD-DFID project on discrepancies of national and international MDG data,http://www.unescap.org/stat/,   http://unstats.un.org

Bangkok

14 - 16 January

SD, UNSD Regional Workshop on Millennium Development Goals Monitoring Bangkok

19 - 23 January

SIAPSIAP/ADB Country Training Workshop on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes,http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Koror, Palau

2 - 7 February

SIAP Country Course on Sampling Methods,http://www.unsiap.or.jp Islamabad

3 February SD/UNSDSteering Committee Meeting of Development Account Project for South Asia countries, http://www.unescap.org/stat/,http://unstats.un.org

Bangkok

4 - 6 February

SD Committee on Statistics Bangkok

6 February SDSteering Committee Meeting of Development Account Project for South East Asia countries, http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

16 - 20 February

SDTraining on Cognitive and Pilot Testing in the context of Disability Statistics

Bangkok

10 - 11 March

WTO/SDInter-Agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services, http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

12 March WTO/SD Joint Meeting of the Inter-agency Task Force on International Merchandise Trade Statistics and Task Force on Statistics of

Bangkok

International Trade in Services,http://www.unescap.org/stat/

February / March

SD, SIAPWorkshop for Project Countries on National Accounts Estimation of Informal Sector Activities,http://www.unescap.org/stat/, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Bangkok

11 May - 10 July

SIAP5th Group Training Course in Application of Information and Communications Technology to Production and Dissemination of Official Statistics, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Chiba, Japan

13 July - 11 September

SIAP5th Group Training Course in Analysis, Interpretation and Dissemination of Official Statistics (Economic Statistics),http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Chiba, Japan

21 July - 18 September

SIAPArea Focused Training Course in Collection and Analysis of Official Economic Statistics for Central Asian Countries,http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Chiba, Japan

September SDSub-regional workshop on measuring the informal sector and informal employment (CIS), http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

3rd Quarter / September

SDExpert Group Meeting on Internet Data Exchange Technologies, http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

28 September - 12 March 2009

SIAP5th Group Training Course in Modules on Fundamental Official Statistics, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Chiba, Japan

October SDSub-regional workshop on measuring the informal sector and informal employment ( Asia (excluding CIS)),http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

October SDSub-regional workshop on measuring the informal sector and informal employment (Pacific), http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

December SD, SIAPConference on Measuring the Informal Sector and Informal Employment: Methods and Experiences from Asia and the Pacific, http://www.unescap.org/stat/, http://www.unsiap.or.jp/

Bangkok

 

Other forthcoming statistical meetings in the ESCAP region

 

The following list of future events has been compiled to facilitate coordination only, on the basis of information available to the Statistics Division as of 15 January 2009. Events, dates and venues may change. Readers are strongly advised to verify details with the organizers indicated. Please do not disseminate the list. The calendar of statistical meetings in Asia and the Pacific is maintained on the ESCAP web sitehttp://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/events_Asia_Pacific.asp

PARIS21 is maintaining event calendars for Africa and Asia at http://www.paris21.org/pages/events/all-events/list/

Date Organizer Meeting Venue

2009

16 January

Statistics Singapore The ninth ASEAN Heads of Statistical Offices Meeting,http://www.singstat.gov.sg/

Singapore

23 - 24 March

OECD Conference on "Measuring the Progress of Societies: Key Issues for the Asia and the Pacific region, http://www.oecd.org

Kyoto, Japan

25 - 27 March

Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, and the East-West Center, in cooperation with the Association of National Census and Statistics Directors of America, Asia and the Pacific (ANCSDAAP)

24th Population Census Conference,http://www.eastwestcenter.org/

Primary Contact Info: Robert RetherfordEmail:retherfr@EastWestCenter.org

Hong Kong, China

30 March - 2 April

UNWTO The 5th UNWTO International Conference on Tourism Statistics - Tourisms: An Engine for employment creation,http://www.unwto.org/index.php

Bali, Indonesia

 

Missions by ESCAP Statistics DivisionStatistics Division team members undertook three missions in the period October - December 2008.

Mr Andres Montes, Statistician, Statistics Development SectionMr Christian Stoff, Associate Statistician, Statistical Information Services Section

Yangon, Myanmar, 17-28 November 2008: To support the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) established by ASEAN, the Government of Myanmar and the United Nations, in the preparation of the Post-Cyclone Nargis Periodic Review. The team of the Statistics Division (SD) supported an assessment of the post-disaster situation in the Ayeyarwady

Delta and Yangon Division after the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the region. In particular, SD staff oversaw the data entry and data cleaning processes, provided technical advice in the preparation of the report, and estimated basic indicators to monitor and evaluate the remaining vulnerabilities of the affected population. The final report is expected to be published by January 2009. For more information, please visit http://www.asean.org/22120.htm.

 

Artur Andrysiak, Statistician, Statistics Development and Analysis Section

Tehran, 15-19 November 2008: Purpose: To serve as a resource person at the "Sub-regional Course on New Challenges in Economic Statistics" organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific. The overall objective of the course was to improve relevance, quality, availability, and use of economic statistics in Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan and the host country of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The course aimed at helping participants to better understand: the SNA1993 and important issues considered in Rev.1 2008; international comparable short-term economic statistics, their compilation, seasonal adjustments, and dissemination to a broader range of users. The course also covered issues related to the use of international economic classifications, short-term indicators, fixed based indices, SDDS and dissemination of statistical information. Over the period of one and a half days, Artur had the opportunity to present to and discuss with participants short-term economic statistics and seasonal adjustment methods and practices.

 

Ms Haishan Fu, Officer-in-Charge, Statistics DivisionMr Andres Montes, Statistician, Statistics Analysis and Development SectionMs Sharita Serrao, Statistics Assistant, Statistics Analysis and Development Section

Manila, Philippines, 29-31 October 2008: To participate in the Eighth Meeting of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) coorganized with the National Statistical Coordination Board and the National Statistics Office of the Philippines . The primary focus of the meeting was to discuss and provide feedback on the WG extended question set to measure disability through surveys. The extended question set for surveys will be pilot tested during 2009 in six countries in Asia and the Pacific through ESCAP's project on 'Improvement of Disability Measurement and Statistics in Support of the Biwako Millennium Framework and Regional Census Programme'. This event also served as the first meeting of the project's task team, which met to discuss the way forward with regard to conducting the cognitive and field tests of the extended question set under this project.

 

New members of the Statistics Division team

Artur Andrysiak joined the Statistics Division at the beginning of November 2008 as a statistician. Prior to that, Artur worked as a statistician for the Statistical Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (November 2005 - October 2008) in the areas of short-term economic statistics and seasonal adjustment. Before his engagement with the United Nations, Artur worked as a statistician for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (January 2000 - November 2005) in the areas of balance of payments, international trade in services and input-output and supply-use tables. Artur has a Masters of Commerce from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Business from the Edith Cowan University in Western Australia.

   

Joanne Baker joined the Statistics Division in January 2009 as a statistician. Previously, she worked as a senior analyst at the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Joanne has a background in the analysis of Australian labour force statistics and socio-economic indicators. Joanne graduated with a Master of Arts in Demography and a Bachelor of Economics, both from the Australian National University.

 

Farewell and Best Wishes to Pietro GennariPietro Gennari, former Director of the ESCAP Statistics Division joined FAO as Director of the FAO Statistics Division in Rome in late December 2008. After 15 years experience in Italy with the national statistical office (ISTAT), Pietro served as ESCAP Regional Advisor on Economic Statistics from August 2003 through November 2005. As Regional Advisor, Pietro worked with many statistical offices in the Asian and Pacific region, including those of Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Fiji, India, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

In December 2005, Pietro took over the position of Director of the ESCAP Statistics Division. Although his tenure as Director was relatively short, Pietro brought to his position dynamism, passion and intellectual leadership. Pietro was instrumental in significantly strengthening the analytical component of the Division's work through contributions to the secretariat's key analytical products, notably those on progress towards the MDGs in Asia and the Pacific and on ASEAN integration. Under the leadership of the Executive Secretary, Pietro also guided the transformation of the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, an ESCAP flagship publication, into a more user-friendly publication by introducing a succinct analytical component to the data series in the Yearbook. In the months preceding his departure from ESCAP, Pietro worked hard in leading preparations for the convening of the inaugural session of the Committee on Statistics, the regional intergovernmental forum for heads and senior managers of national statistical offices of the ESCAP membership of 62 members and associate

members. The Committee was re-established through the adoption by the Commission of resolution 64/1 on "Restructuring the conference structure of the Commission".

The Statistics Division team wishes Pietro the best in his new position at FAO.

Who is now managing the Statistics Division?

Pending the long-term filling of the post of Director, Statistics Division, Haishan Fu, Chief of the Statistical Development Section, has been designated Officer-in-Charge of the Division.

 

Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division (4th Quarter 2008) Mr. Bradley O. Babson, Consultant

Mr. Ko-Chih Tung, Regional Advisor/Head, AIMS Unit, UNESCO Institute for Statistics Asia Pacific

Ms. Malisa Santigul, Information Assistant, UNESCO Institute for Statistics Asia Pacific

Mr. Nikolas Win Myint, Political Affairs Officer, Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Iraq Compact and other issues, UNHQ

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