Survey on the Implementation of the “PRINCIPLES GOVERNING ... · NSOs (UNSC, 2013), the CCSA also decided to undertake an in-depth assessment on the degree of implementation of

Survey on the Implementation of the

“PRINCIPLES GOVERNING INTERNATIONAL

STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES”

24th Session of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities

Rome, 11-12 September 2014

Presenter Pietro Gennari

Background • The CCSA endorsed the Principles Governing International

Statistical Activities at its 6th session in September 2005. • The Principles are inspired by the Fundamental Principles of Official

Statistics, and provide a list of good practices to help IOs in their implementation

• Following the global review of the Fundamental Principles among NSOs (UNSC, 2013), the CCSA also decided to undertake an in-depth assessment on the degree of implementation of the Principles within their own organizations (22nd CCSA, Ankara 09/2013)

• FAO took the lead in developing the questionnaire and in preparing a plan for the collection and analysis of the survey results.

• A first version of the questionnaire was discussed at the 23rd CCSA in New York.

• A revised questionnaire was then prepared on the basis of the useful comments provided by many members. Rome, 11 SEP 2014 Survey on the Implementation of the “Principles Governing International Statistical Activities” 2

Principles Governing International Statistical Activities

Rome, 11 SEP 2014 Survey on the Implementation of the “Principles Governing International Statistical Activities” 3 3

Survey Objectives • To assess the degree of implementation of the good

practices

• To identify the barriers encountered by each organization in their implementation

• To suggest additional good practices to be included in the Principles

• To verify the adoption of tools and procedures to support the implementation of the Principles

• To verify the level of support for the endorsement of the Principles at the highest level of the Organizations

Rome, 11 SEP 2014 Survey on the Implementation of the “Principles Governing International Statistical Activities” 4

Participation in the Survey • High response rate

– 86% completed the survey (37 out of 43)

– 23% provided contributions in the identification of barriers to the implementation of the Principles

– 17% provided additional good practices to complement the existing ones

• Importance attached to the exercise

• Commitment to further improving the degree of implementation of the Principles in the future.


Degree of implementation – PRINCIPLES Figure 1: Proportion of IOs with “Full” and “High” implementation by PRINCIPLES


Degree of implementation – PRINCIPLES • High degree of implementation

– Almost 80% of the 37 IOs that completed the survey assessed their level of implementation of the Principles as either ‘high’ or ‘full’.

• Highest Implementation (>80%): Principles which should shape relationships with partners

– Principle 8 (Utility and feasibility of standards)

– Principle 9 (International coordination), and

– Principle 10 (Bi-lateral and multi-lateral cooperation)

• Principle 6 (Confidentiality) not significant: about 70% of the IOs who responded to the survey do not collect/maintain micro-data


Degree of implementation – PRINCIPLES • Very high Implementation (≈80%): Principles which are

meant to shape relationships with users

– Principle 1 (Accessibility)

– Principle 2 (Impartiality and use of professional standards)

– Principle 3 (Transparency)

• High Implementation (≈70%): Principles which should regulate the internal processes for the production of statistics

– Principle 4 (Documentation and accountability)

– Principle 5 (Sources and methods for data collection)

– Principle 7 (Prevention of misuse)


Degree of implementation of PRINCIPLES and good practices

Figure 2: Proportion of IOs with “Full” and “High” implementation by PRINCIPLES and good practices








Degree of implementation – INSTRUMENTS

However, with regard to the practical framework in place to support the implementation of the Principles, about 55% of the organizations considered adoption of instruments to be ‘low’ or ‘not implemented’.


Degree of implementation–INSTRUMENTS • Low degree of implementation on average (less than 30%)

• Tools and procedures easier to implement (≈30%) – publication of the Principles on the Organization’s website

– action to inform and sensitize staff on their importance

• Tools and procedures more difficult to implement (≈20%) – Implementation strategy

– Work plan for the Implementation

– Allocation of adequate resources

– Establishment of procedures for Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)

• Apparent contrast between positive perception of the respondents, and the de-facto operational situation. Causes? – Biased self-assessment?

– Abstract nature of many the good practices? Rome, 11 SEP 2014 Survey on the Implementation of the “Principles Governing International Statistical Activities” 13

Barriers to implementation % with barriers over total responses


Barriers to implementation Principles with the highest % of responses (≈ 40%)

– Principle 1: Accessibility

– Principle 2: Impartiality and use of professional standards

– Principle 4: Documentation and accountability

– Principle 5: Sources and methods for data collection

Most important barriers

– Lack of financial and human resources

– Lack of internal coordination/governance for organizations with decentralized statistical systems

– Statistics Department not responsible for data dissemination (Political pressure?)

– Overlapping mandates & insufficient coordination between IOs &ROs

– Lack of open data policy & fully developed Communication strategy Rome, 11 SEP 2014 Survey on the Implementation of the “Principles Governing International Statistical Activities” 15

Additional good practices % with add. good practices over total responses


Additional good practices • Highest proportion of responses (28%) received for Principle 1

(Accessibility), Principle 3 (Transparency) and Principle 5 (Sources and methods for data collection).

• Not all suggestions could be taken into account (duplicative of already existing good practices, highlighting important achievements of the respondent Organization)

Main proposals for Principle 1

• Use of alternative modalities for data dissemination

• Adoption of an open data policy

• Adoption of new technologies to facilitate user access (including corporate data warehouse)

• Establishment of data peer review mechanisms by statistical committees or dedicated technical working groups


Additional good practices Main proposals for Principle 2-10

• Use of new technologies and social media also suggested for ensuring more effective implementation of Principle 3 (Transparency) and Principle 7 (Prevention of misuse).

• Statistical governance mechanisms are also used to discuss/endorse the statistical work plan and budget of the IOs (Principle 3), to discuss/endorse new statistical standards (Principle 3), to facilitate international coordination with other Agencies (Principle 9) and bilateral cooperation with countries (Principle 10).

• Adoption of internal audit mechanisms/corporate quality assurance frameworks for monitoring the implementation of agreed standards (Principle 4)


Improved formulation of some good practices • Some Principles partially overlap in terms of content (e.g.

Principles 2, 4, 5 and 8): good practices often duplicative and can be associated to more than one Principle

• Some good practices rather generic, involving multiple dimensions with different degrees of implementation by an IO

Changes introduced in the questionnaire

• Reallocating some good practices across Principles

• Separating the different dimensions by introducing additional good practices

• Complementing questions on the adoption of good practices with a list of concrete instruments ensuring implementation


High-level endorsement of the PRINCIPLES Figure 4: Proportion of IOs which support a high-level endorsement of the PRINCIPLES


High-level endorsement of the PRINCIPLES • Fundamental Principles recently endorsed by the Economic

and Social Council and by the UN General Assembly

• A high-level endorsement by CCSA members, especially those whose core business is not statistics, would help the Statistics Department to strengthen its independence and avoid possible political interference in data dissemination

• Majority of respondents (61%) in favour of this approach, while 22% were contrary and 17% did not reply, probably judging the question as not applicable to their organizational context.

• Substantial difference between UN and non UN Organizations

– Endorsement of the Principles at the highest level may be more difficult for non UN agencies. Rome, 11 SEP 2014 Survey on the Implementation of the “Principles Governing International Statistical Activities” 21

Points for discussion

• How the barriers to the implementation of the Principles can be addressed: is there a role for the CCSA?

• Should the formulation of some good practices be revised and additional good practices be included in the Principles?

• Should the Principles be endorsed at the highest level of the CCSA organizations?

• Should the survey results be communicated to various international forums, including the UN Statistical Commission?


CCSA Members that have participated

• African Development Bank (AfDB) • Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS) • Asian Development Bank (ADB) • Bank for International Settlements (BIS) • Caribbean Community (CARICOM) • European Central Bank (ECB) • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) • International Labour Organization (ILO) • International Monetary Fund (IMF) • International Telecommunication Union (ITU) • Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of

Independent States (CISSTAT) • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) • Paris 21 (P21) • Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) - • Statistical Center for the GCC member states (GCCSTAT) • Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT) • Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for

Islamic Countries (SESRIC) • The Economic and Statistical Observatory of Sub-Saharan Africa

(Afristat)

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)

• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA)

• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) • United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) • United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the

Caribbean (UNECLAC) • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) Institute for Statistics • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) • United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) • United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) • United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

(UNOCHA) • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) • United Nations Population Division (UNPD) • United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) • United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) • United Nations Women (UNW) - • Universal Postal Union (UPU) • World Bank • World Health Organization (WHO) • World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) • World Trade Organization (WTO)

THANK YOU!

Principle 1: Accessibility


1.1 Having regular consultations with key users both inside and outside the relevant organisation to ascertain that their needs are met

1.2 Periodic review of statistical programmes to ensure their relevance

1.3 Compiling and disseminating international statistics based on impartiality

1.4 Providing equal access to statistics for all users

1.5. Ensuring free public accessibility of key statistic

High quality international statistics, accessible for all, are a fundamental element of global information systems

Principle 2: Impartiality and use of professional standards


2.1 Using strictly professional considerations for decisions on methodology, terminology and data presentation

2.2 Developing and using professional codes of conduct

2.3 Making a clear distinction, in statistical publications, between statistical and analytical comments on the one hand and policy-prescriptive and advocacy comments on the other

To maintain the trust in international statistics, their production is to be impartial and strictly based on the highest professional standards

Principle 3: Transparency


3.1 Making decisions about statistical work programmes publicly available

3.2 Making documents for and reports of statistical meetings publicly available

The public has a right to be informed about the mandates for the statistical work of the organisations

Principle 4: Documentation and accountability


4.1 Aiming continuously to introduce methodological improvements and systems to manage and improve the quality and transparency of statistics

4.2 Enhancing the professional level of staff by encouraging them to attend training courses, to do analytical work, to publish scientific papers and to participate in seminars and conferences.

4.3 Documenting the concepts, definitions and classifications, as well as data collection and processing procedures used and the quality assessments carried out and making this information publicly accessible

4.4 Documenting how data are collected, processed and disseminated, including information about editing mechanisms applied to country data

4.5 Giving credit, in the dissemination of international statistics, to the original source and using agreed quotation standards when re-using statistics originally collected by others

4.5 Making officially agreed standards publicly available

Concepts, definitions, classifications, sources, methods and procedures employed in the production of international statistics are chosen to meet professional scientific standards and are made transparent for the users

Principle 5: Sources and methods for data collection


5.1 Facilitating the provision of data by countries

5.2 Working systematically on the improvement of the timeliness of international statistics

5.3 Periodic review of statistical programmes to minimise the burden on data providers

5.4 Sharing collected data with other organisations and collecting data jointly where appropriate

5.5 Contributing to an integrated presentation of statistical programmes, including data collection plans, thereby making gaps or overlaps clearly visible

5.6 Ensuring that national statistical offices and other national organisations for official statistics are duly involved and advocating that the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics are applied when data are collected in countries

Sources and methods for data collection are appropriately chosen to ensure timeliness and other aspects of quality, to be cost-efficient and to minimise the reporting burden for data providers

Principle 6: Confidentiality


6.1 Putting measures in place to prevent the direct or indirect disclosure of data on persons, households, businesses and other individual respondents

6.2 Developing a framework describing methods and procedures to provide sets of anonymous micro-data for further analysis by bona fide researchers, maintaining the requirements of confidentiality

Individual data collected about natural persons and legal entities, or about small aggregates that are subject to national confidentiality rules, are to be kept strictly confidential and are to be used exclusively for statistical purposes or for purposes mandated by legislation

Principle 7: Prevention of misuse


7.1 Responding to perceived erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics

7.2 Enhancing the use of statistics by developing educational material for important user groups

Erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics are to be immediately appropriately addressed

Principle 8: Utility and feasibility of standards


8.1 Systematically involving national statistical offices and other national organisations for official statistics in the development of international statistical programmes, including the development and promulgation of methods, standards and good practices

8.2 Ensuring that decisions on such standards are free from conflicts of interest, and are perceived to be so

8.3 Advising countries on implementation issues concerning international standards

8.4 Monitoring the implementation of agreed standards

Standards for national and international statistics are to be developed on the basis of sound professional criteria, while also meeting the test of practical utility and feasibility

Principle 9: International coordination


9.1 Designating one or more statistical units to implement statistical programmes, including one unit that coordinates the statistical work of the organisation and represents the organisation in international statistical meetings

9.2 Participating in international statistical meetings and bilateral and multilateral consultations whenever necessary

9.3 Working systematically towards agreements about common concepts, classifications, standards and methods

9.4 Working systematically towards agreement on which series to consider as authoritative for each important set of statistics

9.5 Coordinating technical cooperation activities with countries between donors and between different organisations in the national statistical system to avoid duplication of effort and to encourage complementarities and synergy

Coordination of international statistical programmes is essential to strengthen the quality, coherence and governance of international statistics, and avoiding duplication of work

Principle 10: Bi-lateral and multi-lateral cooperation


10.1 Cooperating and sharing knowledge among international organisations and with countries and regions to further develop national and regional statistical systems

10.2 Basing cooperation projects on user requirements, promoting full participation of the main stakeholders, taking account of local circumstances and stage of statistical development

10.3 Empowering recipient national statistical systems and governments to take the lead

10.4 Advocating the implementation of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in countries

10.5 Setting cooperation projects within a balanced overall strategic framework for national development of official statistics

Bilateral and multilateral cooperation in statistics contribute to the professional growth of the statisticians involved and to the improvement of statistics in the organisations and in countries

Documents

Survey on the Implementation of the “PRINCIPLES GOVERNING ... · NSOs (UNSC, 2013), the CCSA also decided to undertake an in-depth assessment on the degree of implementation of