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with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
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LIMITED
E/ECA/PSPI.9/16
18 January 1996
UNITED NATIONS Original: ENGLISH
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Ninth Session of the Conference of African
Planners, Statisticians and Population and
Information Specialists
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 11-16 March 1996
ECA STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES IN 1994-1995,
EXAMINATION OF THE APPROVED 1996-1997
WORK PROGRAMME AND TRENDS FOR 1998-1999
CONTENTS
Page
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. WORK PROGRAMME 1994-1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
III. WORK PROGRAMME 1996-1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
IV. WORK PROGRAMME 1998-1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
V. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
ANNEX I LIST OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF OF ECA STATISTICS DIVISION
ANNEX II WORK PROGRAMME FOR 1994-1995
ANNEX III PROPOSED WORK PROGRAMME 1996-1997
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The staffing situation of the ECA Statistics Division during the
1994-1995 biennium was more or less the same as in the 1992-1993
biennium, except that the post of Chief, Statistics Division became
vacant on 29 December, 1994 and remained vacant throughout the second
half of the biennium. The Division had, on average, 95.1 per cent of
the total of professional work originally provided for it in the work
programme budget as against 90.5 per cent during the biennium 1992-
1993. A list of professional staff of the Division is attached as
Annex I.
2. It is proposed that the Conference should review the ECA
statistical activities during the biennium 1994-1995 on the basis of
the relevant work programme given in Annex II, and consider the
approved 1996-1997 work programme (Annex III).
II. WORK PERFORMANCE 1994-1995
3. The objectives of the statistical component of the subprogramme
as stated in the Medium-Term Plan for 1992-1997 are: (a) to
strengthen the capacities of institutions at national, sub-regional
and regional levels for data gathering, processing, analysis and
dissemination, and (b) to develop and maintain specialized macro- and
micro-economic statistical data bases.
4. The utilization of the actual resources available under the
regular budget during the 1994-1995 biennium was as follows:
substantive activities 59.2 per cent; operational activities 8.0 per
cent; non-quantifiable activities 7.8 per cent and intermediate
activities 14.8 per cent. The balance of available resources (5.3
per cent) was utilized to implement additional activities (3.4 per
cent) and activities carried over from the previous biennium (1.9 per
cent).
A. Measurable/quantifiable activities and outputs
5. Of the total number of activities quantified in the narrative of
the Programme Budget for the 1994-1995 biennium, 98.5 per cent were
implemented. These included support to the eighth session of the
joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Demographers;
the preparation and dissemination of various recurrent and non-
recurrent publications: for example, Framework for Monitoring
Statistical Development in Africa; African Statistical Yearbook;
African Socio-economic Indicators; Africa in Figures; Foreign Trade
Statistics for Africa - Series A: Direction of Trade; Foreign Trade
Statistics for Africa - Series C: Summary Tables; African Compendium
of Environment Statistics; etc. Also disseminated were computer
printouts; diskettes of data on ECA member States as gross domestic
product, international trade, public finance, agriculture, industry,
transport and communications, tourism, the environment, etc.
6. The following outputs/activities were added for the reasons
given:
- Support to the Workshops on Civil Registration and Vital
Statistics Systems, Co-sponsored by the United Nations
Statistical Division (UNSD), the United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
International Institute for Vital Registration and
Statistics (IIVRS). The Workshop for English-speaking
African countries was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 5-9
December 1994, and that for French-speaking African
countries in Rabat, Morocco, 4-8 December 1995.
7. The purpose was to provide African perspectives to the
International Programme for Accelerating the Improvement of Civil
Registration and Vital Statistics Systems.
- Support to the First Joint Conference of the International
Association for Official Statistics (IAOS) and the African
Statistical Association (AFSA), 20-26 May 1995. Two
workshops were organized as part of the Conference. The
first on Monitoring Living Conditions and Poverty, was
organized by Statistics Norway in collaboration with the
World Bank; the second Workshop on Principles of Effective
Data Interpretation and Presentation was organized by
Statistics Canada.
8. The Conference was attended by 131 participants representing 23
African countries, 12 countries outside Africa and 16 agencies and
institutions comprising United Nations agencies, intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations. The Organization of African
Unity (OAU) participated in the Conference.
9. The purpose of the Conference, which had the theme "Managing
Development in the 1990s and Beyond: New Trends in Statistics", was
to further the role of statistics in developing countries, in Africa
in particular, and to create a better understanding and cooperation
between statisticians working in Africa and those working outside the
region.
- Regional Survey of Statistical Organization and Training,
1994.
10. The action, undertaken within the framework of activities of the
Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development Sub-
committee on Training, had as objective the survey of Directors of
National Statistical Offices in order to find out: (a) their opinions
of the quantity, quality and relevance of training available to them
to meet their training needs; and (b) the organizational
relationships between various parts of their National Statistical
Systems (NSS).
B. Non-quantifiable activities
11. About 7.8 per cent of the actual work months available during
the 1994-1995 biennium were used for non-quantifiable activities.
12. Under this category of activities, it should be mentioned that
the Statistics Division continued to manage the Secretariat of the
Coordinating Committee for African Statistical Development (CASD),
and during the 1994-1995 biennium, it provided substantive support to
the fourth and fifth meetings of CASD as well as meetings of the CASD
Sub-committees on Training; Research, Methods and Standards; Data
Processing; and Organization and Management of National Statistical
Systems; the Third International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD.94) and the first Joint Conference of the
International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS) and the
African Statistical Association (AFSA). In addition, resources were
used in the coordination of statistical activities at the global
level through participation in the United Nations Statistical
Commission; the ACC Sub-committee on Statistical Activities and in
the implementation of specific projects in statistics such as the
1993 System of Nations Accounts (SNA).
13. Activities relating to the CASD and its Sub-committees have a
direct impact on the overall subprogramme. The CASD is helping to
coordinate the efforts now being made to revitalize and develop the
African statistical network within the framework of the Strategy for
the Implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical
Development in Africa in the 1990s.
C. Operational activities
14. Meetings: The operational activities mostly requested by member
States include advisory services and the organization of training
seminars and workshops. During the first half of the biennium,
workshops were held on Statistical Computing and Strategies for
Accelerating the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital
Statistics Systems. However, due to the implementation of the
special measures related to the financial situation of the United
Nations Secretariat during the later part of the second half of the
biennium, the workshops on Statistics on Services in the Informal
sector of Developing Countries; and the Regional Working Group on
recommendations on the 2000 Round of Population and Housing Censuses
in Africa, which had been scheduled for that period were postponed to
the first half of the 1996-1997 biennium. Also postponed to the same
period was the Workshop on the Implementation of the 1993 System of
National Accounts (SNA) (French-speaking African countries) and the
ECA/UNSD Workshop on Environmental Statistics, Indicators and
Accounting (English-speaking African countries). The first workshop
postponement was due to the lack of a sufficient number of positive
responses towards participation in the meeting from member States by
the deadline for receipt of such responses. (an appreciable number
of positive response were received after the deadline). The Workshop
on Environment Statistics was postponed due to resource constraints.
15. Environment Statistics: During the biennium, activities in the
area of environment statistics were intensified in order to help
member States (a selected number for a start because of limited
resources) to improve their coverage of environment statistics as an
integral part of regular statistical activities. The ultimate aim is
to help countries in establishing/developing and strengthening
national capabilities in the field of environment statistics by
addressing conceptual, methodological and institutional aspects of
the collection, compilation, analysis and interpretation of the
natural and man-made environment.
16. In this connection, a consultant was recruited on short-term
under a Dutch Government-financed project on Development and
improvement of environment statistics in Africa. During the first
part of the assignment, the consultant undertook missions to two
member States in order to: i) analyze activities undertaken so far
by these countries in the field of environment statistics, and ii)
prepare a case study on further steps to be taken in the
formulation/strengthening of national programmes on environment
statistics.
III. WORK PROGRAMME 1996-1997
17. Annex III shows the work programme as contained in the 1996-1997
Proposed Programme Budget. It should be mentioned that as a result
of reduction in cost structures a number of activities in the
original proposals for the programme budget have been omitted. These
concern especially the operational activities including seminars,
workshops and group training etc. for which it was decided that no
regular budget resources would be allocated, and that they would not
be included in the programme budget if there were no firm indication
of the extrabudgetary resources to fund them.
18. In accordance with the revised Medium-Term Plan for the period
1992-1997, the title of the subprogramme has been changed to
"Statistical and Information Systems Development". The new
subprogramme subsumes the activities of the former subprogramme
"Statistical Development" and part of the subprogramme "Development
Issues and Policies".
19. The subprogramme places emphasis on assisting countries in
establishing and/or developing a durable structure for the
collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of integrated
demographic, social, economic and environment statistics as well as
other development information; developing the statistical data
required for planning, monitoring and evaluating social and economic
development; developing national statistical expertise; developing
national data and information processing capabilities, especially
through establishment of national databases (as constituents of
subregional and regional databases), national information centres and
enhance the use of modern information technology; improving the
quality, relevance, timeliness and intercountry comparability and
exchangeability of the data being collected, through harmonization of
standards and methodologies; and strengthening; developing and
maintaining multisectoral and other development information databases
to be disseminated to all the member States and to interested
development planners and researchers; the access to these databases
will be widened through electronic media and eventually direct access
will be made possible through the planned network linkages.
IV. WORK PROGRAMME 1998-1999
20. In view of the renewal programme at ECA, which will indicate the
strategic directions for ECA's future activities, no proposals for
the work programme 1998-1999 are included in this document.
V. CONCLUSION
21. The Conference is invited to review the activities within the
statistical component of the subprogramme, and make comments and
suggestions on their implementation during the biennium 1994-1995,
and on the activities planned for the period 1996-1997.
ANNEX I
LIST OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF OF ECA STATISTICS DIVISION
I. REGULAR BUDGET STAFF
Office of the Chief
Chief of the Division Vacant
Statistical Development Section
Chief of Section A.E. Cummings-Palmer
(Sierra Leone)
Chief, Demographic and Rene Rakotobe
Social Statistics (Madagascar)
Chief, Statistical Data A.M. Farazi
Base (United Kingdom)
Environment Statistician Christine Kronauer
(Federal Republic of Germany)
K.K. Bockor 1/
(Togo)
Demographic Statistician A.M. Bakyono
(Burkina Faso)
Associate Statistician K. Cassamajor
(statistical database) (Guyana)
Economic Statistics Section
Chief of Section A.K. Amelewonou
(Togo)
Statistician (Trade) E.F. Ching'anda
(Malawi)
Statistician (Industry) V. Tankou
(Cameroon)
Statistician (national accounts) S. Traore
(Mali)
Associate Statistician (Prices) A.P. Ngwako
(Botswana)
II. UNFPA COUNTRY SUPPORT TEAMS / UNFPA-CST
CST - Addis Ababa
Regional Adviser in E.A. Colecraft
Demographic Statistics (Ghana)
Regional Adviser in Data Jean-March Hie
Processing/Database Management (Cameroon)
Regional Adviser in Sampling J.O. Onsembe
(Kenya)
CST - Dakar
Regional Adviser in Demographic Hamady Sow
Statistics (Mali)
Regional Adviser in Data R. De Clercq
Processing/Database Management (Belgium)
Regional Adviser in Census O. Bocoum
Cartography/Automated Mapping (Mali)
Regional Adviser in Sampling A. Mayouya
(Congo)
CST - Harare
Regional Adviser in Demographic Jacob Tayo
Statistics (Cameroon)
Regional Adviser in Census R.R. Tripathi
Cartography/Automated Mapping India
ANNEX II
WORK PROGRAMME FOR 1994-1995
Activities
1. Parliamentary services
(a) Ten reports to the Conference of African Planners,
Statisticians and Population and Information Specialists on: ECA
statistical activities (1992-1993), work programme (1994-1995) and
provisional work programme (1996-1997)*/ (1994); Selected issues on
the implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical
Development in Africa in the 1990s: (1994)*; Methodological and
technological developments in the 1990 round of population and
housing censuses in Africa (1994);* The 1993 System of National
Accounts: selected issues regarding its implementation in the African
region (1994);* Role of Statistical Information Systems (SIS) in
planning, monitoring and evaluation of national socio-economic
development (1994);* Evaluation of 15 years of the Statistical
Training Programme for Africa (STPA) (1994);* Civil registration
systems, data collection, analysis and uses (1994)*; Importance of
informal sector statistics for development planning (1994).*
-------------------
*/ High priority
2. Published materials
(a) Twelve recurrent publications: Statistical Newsletter (bi-
annual); Directory of African Statisticians (biennial, 1994);
Directory of electronic data processing centres and experts and
statistical data bases in Africa (1995); African Statistical
Yearbook: 1992-1993 issue (Volume I, 1994; Volume II, 1995); African
Socio-economic Indicators (annual)*; Africa in figures (annual)*;
Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa, Series A: Direction of trade
(biennial, 1994); Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa, Series C:
Summary tables (biennial, 1995); African Compendium of Environment
Statistics (biennial, 1995); Directory of statistical training
centres and associate centres participating in the Statistical
Training Programme for Africa (biennial, 1994); Directory of
statistical training centres not participating in the Statistical
Training Programme for Africa (biennial, 1995).
(b) 14 non-recurrent publications: Review of progress in: (i)
postgraduate and specialized statistical training in the African
region (1994); (ii) Development of environment statistics in the
African region (1995); Research at national statistical services and
Tcentres participating in the Statistical Training Programme for
Africa (STPA) (1995); Guidelines for the improvement of statistics on
the situation of children in Africa (1994); Guidelines for the
improvement of statistics on aging and elderly persons in Africa
(1995); Use of micro-computers and related software packages for
processing foreign trade statistics in African counties (1994);
Compilation of energy balance sheets in Africa: practices and methods
(1994); Implementation of the International Comparison Project (ICP)
in Africa: progress and selected issues (1994); Review of coverage,
quality and timeliness of tourism statistics in Africa (1995);
Approaches to the measurement of selected demographic and social
indicators (1995); Statistical data bases: the impact of new
technology on development of national statistical systems in the
African region (1994); Establishment and improvement of development
information systems in Africa (1995).
(c) Technical material: Computer printouts of annual
statistical indicators on: International trade (1994 and 1995);
National accounts (1994 and 1995); Prices (1994 and 1995); Sectoral
deflators/inflators for national accounts (1994 and 1995); Public
finance (1994 and 1995); Agriculture (1994 and 1995); Transport and
communications (1994 and 1995); Tourism (1994 and 1995); Industry,
energy and construction (1994 and 1995); Environment (1994 and 1995);
Demographic and social indicators; (1994 and 1995); Development,
maintenance and dissemination of computerized data bases: ECA multi-
sectoral statistical data base. Other technical material:
Statistical annex to the Survey of Economic and Social Conditions in
Africa (1994 and 1995); Distribution, on request, of statistical
software to member States, under the "clearing-house" arrangements of
CASD (on-going activity).
3. Information materials and services:
Statistical wall charts and graphs (1994 and 1995); Promotional
material for commemoration of African Statistics Day - 18 November
(1994 and 1995).
4. Operational activities
(a) Advisory services missions in support of programmes on:
Statistical development and training at national, subregional and
regional levels;*/ Development and maintenance of national
statistical data bases: Improvement of international trade
statistics; Applying the 1993 System of national accounts and
improving the quality of the basic economic statistics needed for
their compilation as well as development policy formulation and
planning*; Setting up integrated systems of industrial, energy and
construction statistics and improving the coverage and timeliness of
these data; Improving demographic and social statistics, with special
emphasis on improvement of data on women, children, youth and the
disabled; Establishing and/or improving environment statistics in
national statistical offices.
--------------------
*/ High priority
(b) Four workshops on: Statistical computing: selected issues
(1994) (XB); Implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts
in African countries (1995);* The biennial meeting of directors of
centres participating in the Statistical Training Programme for
Africa (1995) (XB); Improvement and development of environment
statistics in Africa (1994).
(c) Field Projects: Statistical development programme for
Africa; Regional advisory service in demographic statistics.
5. Co-ordination, harmonization and liaison
Participation in the meetings of the ACC machinery on
statistical issues; participation in other technical co-ordination
meetings of the UN system and other international organizations in
the field of statistics and other development information.
ANNEX III
PROPOSED WORK PROGRAMME 1996-1997
1. Parliamentary services
(a) Parliamentary documentation: One report to the ECA
Conference of Ministers on the Implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan
of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s (1996);
Four reports to the Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and
Population and Information Specialists on: Statistical needs
assessment and strategy development: the African experience (1996);
Implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts in the African
region (1996); The Coordinating Committee on African Statistical
Development (CASD) and its sub-committees: Major achievements and
selected issues (1996); ECA statistical activities (1994-1995),
approved work programme (1996-1997) and work programme (1998-1999),
(1996).
(b) Substantive servicing of the Conference of African
Planners, Statisticians and Population and Information Specialists
(1996).
2. Published materials
(a) Twelve recurrent publications: Statistical newsletter (bi-
annual); Africa in figures (annual); Intra-African Trade Statistics
(biennial), (1997); African Statistical Yearbook, 1995, Volume I
(1996), Volume II (1997); African Compendium of Environment
Statistics (biennial) (1997); Directory of Statistical Data
Processing Capacities and Databases in Africa (biennial), (1997);
Promotional materials for commemoration of African Statistics Day -
18 November (1996 and 1997).
(b) Seven non-recurrent publications: Possible alternative
approaches to population censuses in Africa (1996); National
experiences in the formulation of statistical development plans
(1997); Availability, estimation and management of data in African
countries: Selected issues (1997); New modes of statistical data
capture, dissemination and distribution (1997).
(c) Technical materials: Integrated computer printouts of
annual economic, social and environmental indicators. (1996 and
1997); Statistical Annex to the Survey of Economic and Social
Conditions in Africa (1996 and 1997); Development, maintenance and
dissemination of ECA multi-sectoral statistical database (on-going
activity).
3. Operational activities
(a) Advisory Services
Advisory missions in support of programmes on: Statistical
development and training at national, subregional and regional levels
(two missions); Development and maintenance of national statistical
data bases (two missions). Applying the 1993 System of National
Account and improving the quality of the basic economic statistics
needed for the compilation as well as for development policy
formulation, etc., (four missions); Improving environment,
demographic and social statistics (two missions).
(b) Group training:
Workshops on: Compilation of public sector accounts in the
framework of the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA), (one for
French-speaking African countries, 1996 and one for English-speaking
African countries, 1997); Enhancing statistical capacity including
statistical information systems in African countries, (one for
English-speaking African countries, 1996 and one for French-speaking
African countries, 1997); Environmental accounting for selected
African countries (1996) (XB).
4. Coordination, Harmonization and Liaison
Coordination with United Nations agencies and ACC task forces
working in the statistics fields in Africa, in particular:
Participation in meetings of the ACC machinery on statistical issues
(on-going activity); Representation of ECA at the 29th session of
the United Nations Statistical Commission (1997); Contributions to
activities of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical
Development (CASD) and its sub-committees, and the African
Statistical Association (AFSA) (throughout the biennium);
Participation in the coordination and implementation of the phase II
development of the United Nations Economic and Social Information
System (UNESIS); Participation in other technical coordination
meetings of the UN system and other international organizations in
the field of statistics.