DESA News

Volume 14, No.10 - October 2010

Capacity development


Supporting local governments and leadership

Global Forum on Local Development & Pan African Ministerial Workshop on Leadership Capacity Development will be held from 4-7 October at the Serena Hotel Conference in Kampala, Uganda

The convening of the Global Forum on Local Development is timely and strategic, bringing all the key players to the table to support the growing importance and significance of democratically elected Local Governments and making them champions for the achievement of the MDGs. The Forum is holistic taking into account both rural and local governments; and it strongly recognizes local governments as an important agent in state building, including in fragile post-conflict states.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Government of Uganda are organizing the Global Forum. DESA through the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) is collaborating with UNCDF in facilitating the organization of the Global Forum and will organize the Pan African Ministerial Workshop on Leadership Capacity Development for Decentralized Governance and Poverty Reduction in Africa.

For more information: http://www.unpan.org/Events/BrowseEventsbyCalendar/tabid/94/mctl/
EventDetails/ModuleID/1532/ItemID/1607/language/en-US/Default.aspx?selecteddate=10/4/2010

Sharing knowledge in the dissemination and use of census data

Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis will be held in Bangkok from 5-8 October in the context of the 2010 World Programme for Population and Housing Censuses

Organized by DESA’s Statistics Division, in cooperation with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the seminar will provide a forum for sharing national practices and experiences in the dissemination and use of census data.

The seminar will review emerging trends, innovative approaches and technological tools employed in the dissemination of census data. The seminar is expected to provide a basis for assessing existing national dissemination strategies as well as technologies used by national statistical offices. It will also aid in taking stock of national capacities and challenges for meeting the increasing requirements of census data users.

Furthermore, the seminar is expected to help in identifying good practices and lessons learned in the dissemination and analysis of census data. The ideas generated by the discussion and the recommendations made by participants will contribute towards the drafting of an international guideline for effective dissemination and utilization of census data.

For more information: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Thailand_5Oct10/default.htm

Experts will discuss gender statistics in the Philippines

Global Forum on Gender Statistics will be held from 11-13 October in Manila, followed by the 4th meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics

The Global Forum is being organized by DESA’s Statistics Division in collaboration with the National Statistical Coordination Board of the Philippines. This Forum will be the third in a series of international meetings on gender statistics with the purpose of promoting the advancement of gender statistics among decision makers and all other user groups.

The focus of the 2010 Forum will be on the gender dimensions of health statistics, including measurement of maternal mortality, causes of death and disability, and related methodological advances. National practices in the incorporation of a gender perspective in national statistical systems and in the measurement of women and men’s health will be reviewed.

The 4th meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics is being held following the Global Forum in Manila on 14 October. The objectives of the meeting are to further define priorities for the overall Global Gender Statistics programme, update the group on the work of the three advisory groups (gender statistics and indicators database, gender statistics training activities and curricula, and statistical legislation for gender statistics) and share agency and expert experiences in gender statistics.

For more information: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/
Philippines_Globalforum_Oct2010/default.htm

Kick off of the Project on National Development Indicators for the African region

National experts on development indicators and national data managers from seven African countries will launch the project from 18-20 October in Nairobi

DESA’s Statistics Division is organizing a meeting to launch the project on “Improving the Collation, Availability and Dissemination of Development indicators, including MDGs.” The meeting will bring together national experts on developments indicators as well as national data managers from the seven African countries covered by the project (Burundi, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania).

The experts will review and discuss the following points: (a) Aims and objectives of the project and lessons learnt from the pilot phase and the Asian region; (b) How to improve reporting of development indicators at the country and international level (issues of coordination, availability and frequency of data, agreement on metadata and data discrepancies); (c) Improving dissemination of development indicators (data dissemination policies, current country data dissemination practices, systems and platform for development indicators).

For more information: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/newsletter/globalstat_unsd_calendar.htm

Improving capacity for LDCs through trade

Least Developed Country (LDC) members of WTO were working in Geneva from 28-29 June, 9-12 August and 23-24 September to strengthen their capacities in making use of the special trade-related support measures

As part of its work on improving the capacity of LDCs in making use of the special support measures available to them, DESA’s Development Policy and Analysis Division (DPAD) developed a set of surveys addressed to LDCs and their trading partners. The objective of the trade-related surveys is to gain a better understanding of the international support measures and the extent of their use by the LDCs.

The workshops for LDCs focused on specific capacity-building activities related to the surveys and on enhancing the participants’ ability to provide meaningful responses. With the assistance of trade experts and officials from ITC, UNCTAD and WTO, the workshops provided an excellent learning opportunity for all participants through the sharing of experience and approaches taken in collecting the information. In addition to assisting the participants in finalizing their surveys, the workshops also improved the quality of the responses.

The information gathered from these surveys and the results of another set of surveys addressed to LDCs, OECD DAC members and international organizations about LDC-specific official development assistance, technical cooperation and other forms of assistance will be used as an input to the web-based information portal implemented by DPAD. The portal is dedicated to providing information about the support measures available to LDCs and will provide these countries with increased opportunities for accessing the actual benefits associated with the LDC category.

The portal will also contain information about graduation. In this regard, the CDP Unit will also focus its activities in the coming months on a country-specific macroeconomic model framework to assess the likely impact of graduation on countries, and to assist in building capacity and promoting strategies in preparation for a smooth transition and adjustment to the phasing out of advantages associated with LDC status.

For more information: http://www.un.org/esa/policy/devplan/ldcproject.html