unece baer presentation at eco meeting teheran

United Nations Economic Commission for EuropeStatistical DivisionUnited Nations Economic Commission for EuropeStatistical Division

Official Statistical Information- A key source for

monitoring development and allocation of resources

Presentation at the

1st Meeting of ECO Heads of NSOs

Teheran, Iran, 28 January 2008

Petteri Baer, Regional Adviser, UNECE

28.1.2008 Petteri Baer - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 2

The importance of good statistical information (1)

Attracting investments, doing good business, developing economic activities needs evidence based decision making – reliable official statistics is a basic source for this

Economic and social development should continuously be monitored. Without reliable statistical information about the past and present, no real analysis of the situation, and no inference for future developments, can be made


The importance of good statistical information (2)

How can resources be allocated if basic information on economic development, prices or population is based on guesses or (too) old information?

If the denominators of Gross Domestic Product, the population or other basic indicators are wrong, indicators may be misleading, especially when compared across countries


Statistical capacity is a combination of…

A specific institutional framework for the national system of official statistics and the main producer, the National Statistical Office, based on a law that is based on the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

Know-how of staff in the field of producing, processing and dissemination of statistical information in the various subject areas of official statistics (a variety of complex scientific, professional and managerial tasks)

Adequate ICT resources


Trust and reliability

Official Statistics are reliable and trusted only if:• Disseminated publicly in time and available to all

users • Based on internationally accepted norms and

recommendations• Methodology is transparent• Respondents in surveys trust the pledge of

confidentiality and exclusive use for statistics• Accessibility for all users is ensured through a range

of electronic and other products• Users trust the producer to be free from interference


UNECE activities are targeted on key development issues (1)

Support for developing the “Know-How” of the preparations of the 2010 Round Population and Housing Censuses, in Central Asia (CA)• Training Workshops in

2006-2007• Advisory Services in

2008


UNECE activities are targeted on key development issues (2) Assisting in having a

better understanding of Non-Observed Economy• Training Workshops

in 2007-2008• Advisory Services in

2007-2008• UNECE and OECD

manuals available

Getting hold of international Migration Flows by developing statistical methodologies• Census preparations• Meetings and

Workshops• Working out best

practices for statistics


New statistical development issues coming up in CA 2012

Dissemination of statistical information to different user groups in the society• Making efficient use

of the results of Censuses

• Enlarging the sphere of users of statistical information

Developing statistical information on Short-Term Statistics

Developing statistical information on international Migration

Strengthening the overall capacity of National Statistical Offices


Coordination of the support to statistical capacity building are needed

Donors

Countries

-Plan for funding of donor activities

-Criteria for choosing special countries

- Long strategic plan for development of the National Statistical System

-Favourable relationship with particular IOs

Coordination Activities


UNECE performed in 2006-2007 a Donor Survey on 6 countries

Donor activities in the field of statistics in the following Central Asian countries were surveyed• Azerbaijan• Kazakhstan• Kyrgyzstan• Tajikistan• Turkmenistan and• Uzbekistan


Main outcome of the UNECE survey (1):

Three donors provided almost ¾ of the funding in 6 CA countries (2005)

*Others = ILO (EUR 0.04 million) and Statistics Austria (EUR 0.02 million)

3.1

1.6

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

SIAP(0.2)

EC

World Bank

SIDA

FMCD

DFID

Others* (0.06)

UNDP

Total amount of funding: EUR 7.5 million


Main outcome of the UNECE Survey (2):

More than 10 organisations involved in implementation (2005)

UNDP11

10

5

5

3

2

21

16

FSO Germany

ICON Institute

GTZ

UNICEF

Statistics Sweden

TFSCB

ILOSIAP

Others1)

1) Others= British Council, DFID, IDA, Oxford Policy Management, Southampton University, Statistics Austria


Main outcome of the UNECE Survey (3):

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were main targets in the year 2005

Number of projects in each country in 2005

20

11

9

9

4

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

450,000

489,000

1,137,200

2,469,090

2,868,300

Uzbekistan

Turkmenistan

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Magnitude of the activities1) in the countries in 2005 (in EUR)

1) Not included are: Tracking Human Development (UNDP), Rural Education (World Bank), Training Course in Collection and Analysis (SIAP), TACIS Seminar for higher manager (Statistics Austria)


New activities providing a good basis for coordination of support

UNECE will perform a new Survey in 2008

UNECE also participates actively in a CCSA Task Team on building a Global Reporting system on Support for Statistical Capacity Building with PARIS21 and others


Support also needed from national policy makers

Keep in mind that official statistics is a way to describe a complex reality in a condensed and quantitative form

Do not shoot (or punish) the messenger, if you do not like the reality!


Statistics is an issue for us all With good

statistical information into evidence-based decision structures!

Thank you for your attention!

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