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Promoting Statistics Development in Asia-Pacific:

ESCAP’s strategy and activities

Consultation Session“Statistical Capacity Building in South-Asia”

Hotel Hilton, Colombo (Sri Lanka), 21 July 2008, 13:30-17:30

Pietro GennariStatistics Division, ESCAP

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1. Challenges in developing & implementing programs of Statistical capacity building (SCB)

2. ESCAP’s strategy of SCB

3. ESCAP’s ongoing activities of SCB

4. Interagency coordination: a proposal

Outline of the presentation

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Country’s perspective: Statistical system Resources for statistics Management capacity Qualified staff with proper incentives Knowledge/Use of methods & tools that are

appropriate to the institutional/economic context

Challenges in implementing programs of SCB

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Country’s perspective: Institutions/strategies Culture of evidence-based policy-making Priority given to statistics by the national

governments Appropriate Institutional context Coordination of the NSS Realistic national strategy of statistics

development NSDS linked to PRSP or country policy framework

Challenges in implementing programs of SCB

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Donor’s perspective International priorities vs national priorities Ad hoc projects / a la carte approach Focus on statistical outputs rather than on building

capacity Focus on the production of statistics rather than on their

use/analysis for evidence-based policies Focus on providing funds and technical support rather

than on establishing an appropriate institutional setting Short-term/volatile/not timely financial support Lack of coordination among donors at the global, regional

& national levels

Challenges in implementing programs of SCB

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ESCAP’s perspective Not a funding agency: need to approach donors Low priority to Statistics within ESCAP (lack of

resources, abolition of the Committee on statistics)

Increasing internal support to ESCAP work programme and analytical work (competing tasks)

Priorities set by the UN agenda (MDGs) Focus on the countries with special needs Regional approach vs national strategies Division of labour/coordination with SIAP

Challenges in implementing programs of SCB

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Focus on Policy relevant areas Developing new recommendations/standards (link

with global initiatives) New way of delivering technical assistance Long-term projects Strong partnership with key international

agencies – Use of the UN Development Account Strengthening cooperation with SIAP Link TC with data collection & analytical work

ESCAP’s strategy of SCB

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Regional census programme: ICT component UNDA project on informal sector measurement UNDA project on disability statistics ADP Microdata management project PARIS21/ESCAP project on NSDS MDGs: National Coordination and international

reporting system Indicators of Violence against Women

Committee on Statistics (15-17 Dec. 2008): decision on the strategic direction of ESCAP statistical work

ESCAP’s on-going projects of SCB

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1. Promote global principles & recommendations

2. Support data collection on emerging issues: Disability Migration

3. Facilitate effective use of ICT tools for Census operations

EGM (2006): “timely” ; “responds to country needs”; “right mix of priorities and activities”.

ESCAP Regional Census Program: 3 Components

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ESCAP Regional Census Program

Supporting global initiatives: Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics ECOSOC Resolution 2005/13 36th UN Statistical Commission, 2010 World Population and

Housing Census Program

Responding to country needs: EGM (2004): identification of 4 priorities (Planning & financing;

Measuring emerging issues; Effective use of GIS & ICT; Data analysis, dissemination & utilization)

Information Survey (2005) on past experiences and future plans 2nd APEX Forum (Sept. 2006): focus on census; lasting impact

But, so far no funding….

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3rd component: Facilitate effective use of ICT

Objective: increase country capacity to apply GIS/IT effectively for census taking

Partners: UNSD, sub-regional org; NSOs Activities in 2007-2008:

– Information survey & desktop assessment (Aug 2007; 40 countries responded);

– EGM on Effective Use of IT in Population Censuses (10-12 Dec 2007; 32 experts);

– Sub-regional workshop on Census Cartography and Management (15-19 Oct. 2007; 16 countries) – UNSD funding

– Regional workshop on use of ICT for data capturing, editing & processing (Sept 2008) – UNSD funding

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Results of the survey on effective use of ICT 32 countries (including in South-Asia) indicated need

for technical assistance in one or more of the following areas:cartography/mapping, data capture, editing, codingdatabase design, tabulation and dissemination.

Planned future activities: Training (in collaboration with SIAP); Establishing a regional pool of experts Facilitating country-to-country cooperation (e.g. study tours)

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Initial project: 2004-2006 (Rep. of Korea funding) UN Development Account project: 2007-2009

In partnership with:

ESID & SIAP (ESCAP) UNSD & ECE WHOWashington Group on Disability StatisticsNSOs (Australia, Philippines and others)

Improving disability statistics

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Policy and public demand:

Biwako Millennium Framework (2002)

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (2006)

Need for international standards & better disability statistics:

No regular data collections

Underestimation of prevalence/needs

Lack of comparability

Responding to policy and country needs

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Further promote the ICF approach Promote data collection in 2010 Round Census

(Regional workshop, April 08: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka)

Develop new standards for surveys - selecting one pilot country from South Asia

Improving national statistical capacity

Knowledge-sharing

Regional network of experts

Key objectives of the project

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Strategic mix of activities

Testing of questionnaire Studies (research & analyses) Training Manual Workshops & training Dedicated website & online working group Regional network of experts Advisory services Country-to-country cooperation

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Results so far …

Statisticians & disability experts trained on ICF approach (regional resource pool)

Formulation of global recommendations on census

ESCAP recognized as a major player at the international level (UNSC mandate)

Project modality as a model approach

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Project on Informal sector measurement UN Development Account Project: Interregional Cooperation on

Measuring the Informal Sector and Informal Employment, Sept. 2006 - Dec 2009

Leading agency: ESCAP Implementing agencies: ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA Steering Committee: UNSD, Regional Commissions, ILO,

Delhi Group, WIEGO and recently ADB Country Partners:

– ECLAC: Saint Lucia– ESCAP: Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka– ESCWA: Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip)

All these countries have existing quarterly labour force survey programs!

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Informal sector/employment mostly not covered in official statistics

Inadequate information available on contribution of informal sector to economic growth

Data collections typically ad-hoc studies (i.e. not part of regular national statistical systems) and with limited scope

Data collected not internationally comparable No time series data available Poor analysis and dissemination

Problem: Lack of sound data on informal sector and informal employment

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Why don’t we have this data?

Limited resources of national statistical systems

Insufficient solid international guidelines to assist countries in selecting among various informal sector data collection methodologies

Lack of consensus on harmonized definition of informal sector

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Improve availability of internationally comparable and sound informal sector & informal employment data by:

– Developing a cost-effective and sustainable data collection methodology and tools (1-2 survey approach)

– Testing the data collection methodology providing (limited) funds for its implementation

– Contributing to the development of a harmonized statistical definition of the informal sector and informal employment based on the results obtained

Key objectives of the project (1)

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Strengthen analysis for evidence-based socio-economic policies at national & international levels:– Social policies (poverty reduction, promotion of gender

equality, elimination of child labor, etc.)– Employment generation policies– Industrial policies in favour of SMEs (marketing support,

technology transfer support, reduction of capital and/or labour costs, etc.)

Key objectives of the project (2)

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Strategic mix of activities Raising awareness (advocacy) Statistical capacity building (training courses

and advisory missions) Collection of data (“1-2” survey) Data analysis (country and regional reports) Data dissemination (guidelines, tabulation plan) Knowledge management (project website,

production of training materials, collection of best practices, final workshop)

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Results so far …

Developed a Unifying Data collection Strategy Mongolia, Philippines:

– Data collection completed – In process of data checking and editing

Sri Lanka:– Data collection scheduled for October 2008-September

2009– Finalizing questionnaires, sampling and survey design

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Microdata management project

The Project is part of the global Accelerated Data Program (ADP) which aims at improving the quality and making available household survey/census data

Management & funding: PARIS21 & World Bank Implementation with international partners (incl. ESCAP) Currently being implemented in 8 countries in Asia-

Pacific (of which 7 through the ESCAP Project)– Bangladesh, Fiji, Indonesia, Mongolia, Lao PDR,

Philippines, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam ESCAP & PARIS21 are working with the Secretariat of the

Pacific Community (SPC) to cover the rest of the Pacific Contacts with ECE to involve Central Asia

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Key objectives

Support NSOs in the region with the: Documentation of censuses and surveys and the

establishment of metadata catalogues Development of access policies & procedures Development and implementation of tools for the

protection of confidentiality Data quality improvement

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Benefits of access to microdata Generation of additional value

– Broader use of data generated at given costs, overcoming limitations in analytical capacity of NSOs

– New analytical insights generated – Valuable information into the quality of the data which may provide

guidance on how censuses and surveys can be improved

Limitation of costs to society avoiding new data collections undertaken by researchers:– Additional costs for the researchers – Additional response burden for the sampling units– Often, low quality of the additional data produced (because researchers

are mostly not experts in questionnaire and sampling design, do not have access to appropriate sample frames, have only limited financial resources to conduct field work, etc.)

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(Expected) Achievements Documentation, in accordance with international

standards, of censuses and household surveys conducted after 1990

Ongoing documentation activity as a key component of the survey process

Procedures for access to and conditions to use microdata are publicly available (via NSOs & ESCAP websites)

A regional group of experts available to assist countries in census and household survey microdata management

Availability of census and survey metadata (Via websites of NSOs, ESCAP and IHSN)

Availability of quality, safe micro datasets to bona fide users through a letter of agreement

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Promoting NSDS PARIS21/UNESCAP project (2005-07): advocate the

importance of national strategic planning for statistical development

Four sub-regional high-level forums South-Asia: Colombo, 13-15 Dec. 2005:

– Baseline Assessment of Strategic Statistical Planning in South Asian Countries.

– PARIS21 Guidelines– Exchange best practices– Dialogue with donors

Target group: National statisticians, policy makers, international and bilateral donors

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Follow-up project (2008-9): key activities

Support to countries for designing and implementing NSDSs

Mobilization of technical and financial resources

Promotion of a better dialogue between producers of statistics and policy makers

Survey of SCB activities supported by donors

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Lack of donors harmonisation and alignment to national statistical strategies => overlaps, gaps, a la carte approach

Demand of SCB largely exceed supply Establishment of a Forum on Statistics Development for

the Asia-Pacific region, in order to:have an overview of SCB activities, including training,

in the region; set up a permanent system for the monitoring of

statistical development in the region; strengthen modalities for cooperation with a view to

leveraging on each partner’s comparative advantage. Discussion scheduled at the 1st Committee on Statistics Invited all (sub)-regional and international agencies

implementing programs of SCB in Asia-Pacific

Inter-agency coordination: a proposal

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Thank you

for your attention!