Development Account Projects
Strengthening statistical capacity in support of progress towards the internationally agreed development goals in the countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Commission (SAARC)
Background:
The availability of good-quality statistics and the capacity of Governments, donors and international organisations to systematically measure, monitor and report reliable statistics and indicators lies at the heart of development policy and the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs. In recent years, the MDGs have succeeded in raising awareness of the importance of the importance of statistics for evidence-based policymaking. However, a substantial gap exists between the need for statistics and monitoring tools and the ability of most countries in the SAARC region to routinely provide them.
This project is designed to improve the availability and reliability of basic data required for development planning in the SAARC region, with emphasis on data requirements relating to the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs. The project is aimed at facilitating networking within the region through interactive sharing and management of knowledge and at strengthening links between producers and users of statistics. It builds upon lessons learned from five statistical development projects implemented or being implemented by the Statistics Division of the Development of Economic and Social Affairs in the CARICOM, ASEAN, ESCWA and SADC regions. All of those projects have been successful in strengthening the regional network of statisticians increasing intraregional statistical cooperation and raising the regional profile of statistics. They have also provided these regions with an impetus in statistical capacity-building as shown by the number of region-led follow-up projects. ESCAP will collaborate in the implementation of the present project.
Objective:
To strengthen the capacity of countries and relevant regional institutions in the SAARC region for the production and analysis, on a regular basis, of benchmark statistics required for national development planning and for monitoring progress towards the internationally agreed development goals.
Expected accomplishments:
- Improved organisation of statistical systems and user-producer relationships, resulting in quality, timely and relevant data on internationally agreed development goals
- Increased adoption of international statistical methods and standards for knowledge management in relation to the measurement of progress towards the internationally agreed development goals
Implementation status:
The project began implementation in mid-2008 with a capacity-building workshop on statistical organization and user-producer relations. This will be the first of several capacity-building workshops to be organized over the life of the project. Preparations will be made for workshops in 2009 on harmonization of development indicators with special focus on the indicators used in major conference follow up and MDGs; on good practices in promotion of an integrated approach to compilation of economic statistics, including implementation of 1993; and on methods for collection of socio-economic data using population censuses, household and labour force surveys. A Working Group meeting of national statistical organizations (NSOs) and IT experts is also planned. Study tours will begin in the first year of the project and shall be ongoing. A Web-based knowledge management tool will also begin development in the first year and is expected to increase the acceptance of international statistical standards and methods in Asia.
