The Kenya Seminar on Census Data Analysis is scheduled to be held on 19-22 March in Nairobi, Kenya

The main objective of the national seminar is to provide an opportunity for the staff members of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics to further analyze data from the 2009 population and housing census of Kenya on selected topics. The ultimate objective is to promote greater analysis and dissemination of the data collected from the Kenya 2009 census. After the seminar, participants are expected to produce thematic analytical reports, based on analysis generated during the seminar.

The national seminar will cover the following topics:

• population projections at sub-national and sectoral level,
• analysis of data on international migration, and
• analysis of data on gender issues.

For more information:
2010 World Population and Housing Census Programme

International workshop on Household Income, Consumption and Full Accounting of the Households Sector will be held in Beijing, China, on 26-28 March

UN DESA’s Statistics Division in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics of China is organizing this workshop as part of the project to strengthening statistical capacity development in China and other developing countries in Asia funded by the Chinese Government.

It will present an overview of the Households Sector as an institutional sector in National Accounts and will train participants on how to compile a full sequence of non-financial accounts for it.

Particular attention will be given to the compilation of GDP by income approach with emphasis on the income by corporations and households, adjustments for the conceptual differences between the estimates derived using the results of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey and National Accounts, and the use of extrapolation and benchmarking techniques for compilation of annual accounts for the Households Sector.

For more information:
UN DESA’s Statistics Division Calendar of Events

4th Global Forum on Gender Statistics will be held at the Dead Sea, Jordan on 27-29 March, back-to-back with the 6th Inter-agency and Expert Group Meeting on Gender Statistics (IAEG-GS) on 25-26 March

The Forum is being organized by UN DESA’s Statistics Division and the Department of Statistics of Jordan, in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN-Women and the World Bank. It is held as part of the Global Gender Statistics Programme promoted by the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics (IAEG-GS) with the purpose of enhancing the capacity of countries to collect, disseminate and use quality gender statistics.

The forum will provide an important opportunity to review and discuss new initiatives and data collection tools for the improvement of gender statistics and focus on women’s empowerment, including: economic empowerment, autonomy and physical empowerment, adolescent girls, and knowledge empowerment.

The 6th Inter-agency and Expert Group (IAEG) meeting will bring together representatives of international agencies within and outside UN system, statisticians from National Statistical Systems, and development partners, to review progress and provide guidance on future activities geared at advancing gender statistics.

For more information
UN DESA’s Statistics Division’s site on gender statistics

International Meeting on “Achieving Greater Transparency in Legislatures through the Use of Open Document Standards” was arranged at the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. on 27-29 February

The meeting was organized by UN DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) and its Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the U.S. House of Representatives.

It convened Secretaries-General and staff of Parliaments, currently using Extensible Markup Language (XML) for parliamentary records with a view to: a) determine how XML has been implemented by parliaments around the world and how it is being used by them and by civil society organizations to enhance citizens’ participation; b) exchange experiences about the policy and organizational challenges faced by Parliaments’ senior management to increase transparency; c) identify current best practices and state of the art applications; d) outline projects anticipated by legislatures over the next five years and explore venues of possible collaborations and synergies to reduce costs; and e) elaborate policy and technical recommendations for the use of open document standards in parliaments.

Other invitees included legislative and legal informatics experts from a selected number of international organizations, universities, foundations and civil society organizations. Approximately 100 participants took part in the policy and technical debates during the three-day agenda.

For more information:
Event website highlighting “Achieving Greater Transparency in Legislatures through the Use of Open Document Standards”

The Government of the Republic of Moldova, through its e-Government Centre (eGC), partners with UN DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) to make e-learning courses available

In its endeavour to strengthen the capacity of its public service, the Government of the Republic of Moldova, through its e-Government Centre (eGC), recently requested DPADM to partner with them in making DPADM’s e-learning courses on United Nations Public Administration Network’s (UNPAN) Online Training Centre available for their use on a larger scale and in a more systematic way.

They propose to make the courses mandatory for all public servants as part of their ambitious Strategic Programme for Technological Modernization to bring services closer and more accessible to citizens and businesses and to improve quality through the intelligent use of ICT. In response to this request, DPADM is working with the government focal point to develop a concrete plan for implementation.

The UNPAN Online Training Centre delivers courses on various topics in public administration. Its main goal is to increase opportunities for government officials and citizens from all over the world to access training materials on e-government, human resources, knowledge management and the Millennium Development Goals.

For more information:
UNPAN Online Training Centre