E/ESCAP/STAT.10/5
28 October 1996
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Committee on Statistics
Tenth session
25-29 November 1996
Bangkok

1. SIAP programmes since the ninth session of the Committee on Statistics
2. Emerging issues and subject areas
3. Collaboration with governments and organizations and agencies
4. Institutional matters
5. Acknowledgements

ANNEXES

1. List of SIAP courses conducted from September 1994 to October 1996
2. Number of participants in SIAP training programmes (September 1994 to October 1996)
3. Cash contributions to SIAP, by country or area (1991-1996)

A. SIAP PROGRAMMES SINCE THE NINTH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON STATISTICS

1. The present report summarizes the activities of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) since the last session of the Committee in November/December 1994.

2. During the period from September 1994 to October 1996, the following SIAP training programmes were completed or are under way:

Courses in Tokyo:

1. Three group training courses in practical statistics (6 months);
2. Two special training courses in analysis and interpretation of statistics (2 months);
3. Two group training courses in automatic data processing for trainers (2 months);
4. One training course in analysis and computerization of human development indicators (1 month);
5. Two courses/workshops on sample design for household and establishment surveys (2 months).

Outreach programme:

6. Two advanced courses/workshops.
7. Thirteen in-country courses.
8. In addition to training courses and workshops, training missions were undertaken by the faculty of the Institute to conduct on-the-job training and workshops, and to provide advice and other forms of support to national statistical offices. These included:

1. Training mission in providing advice and technical support/training on statistical organization and procedures and on the collation and presentation of data in Majuro, Marshall Islands (February/March 1995).
2. uman development indicators appraisal mission in Hanoi, Viet Nam (April 1995).
3. Human development indicators appraisal mission in Yangon, Myanmar (April 1995).
4. Training mission in providing advice and technical support/training relating to the collection and analysis of statistical for policy analysis, in Majuro, Marshall Islands (August/September 1995).
5. Training mission on statistical computing with special reference to population statistics, in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran (September 1995).
6. Mission to provide assistance in the design of household expenditure survey for estimating weights for consumer price index (CPI) in Majuro, Marshall Islands (May/June 1996).
7. Mission to provide assistance for the analysis of household income and expenditure survey, in Tuvalu (June 1996).
8. Mission to provide on-the-job training to staff of the Statistics and Immigration Unit of the Government of Niue, in Alofi, Niue (July/August 1996).

Other programmes

The Institute also facilitated special training programmes at the request of member countries. The following programmes were organized:

9. An individual training programme in national accounts for an official from the Census and Statistics Department of the Government of Macau (September to December 1996); and
10. A special country-focused group training course in practical statistics for five government officials from Cambodia (5-29 November 1996).

3. The Institute also undertook activities in support of a component of the UNDP project RAS/95/001 (Regional Poverty Alleviation Programme), being executed by the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS), Kuala Lumpur. Training workshops to increase understanding and professionalism in the use of data in designing and evaluating poverty alleviation and gender sensitive policies and programmes amongst data producers and users were held in China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia and Viet Nam.

4. A list of SIAP courses conducted from September 1994 to October 1996 and the number of participants in SIAP training programmes during this period are given in annexes I and II, respectively.

B. EMERGING ISSUES AND SUBJECT AREAS

5. During the last few years several issues and subject areas have surfaced requiring more focused attention by the Institute. These are described below:

Assistance to less developed statistical offices

6. Surveys have provided clear evidence of diverse statistical systems in countries in the ESCAP region and that the disparity among them is widening. It is evident that this problem needs to be remedied through greater emphasis on assistance to those countries with less developed statistical systems, and that SIAP needs to continue with this thrust. The Institute has increased the intake of trainees from these countries to its Tokyo-based courses, as well as by conducting courses and workshops and undertaking missions in these countries. SIAP has played a significant role in training statistical personnel from the least developed countries and the island developing countries and many of the offices are engaged at present in building the basic infrastructure of a statistical system. The least developed countries are working towards having larger statistical offices with specialists on many sectors and subjects. On the other hand in the case of the small island developing countries where the population ranges from 10,000 to 250,000, statistical offices have very few personnel. In the latter instance, the need is to train a cadre of general statisticians who can put their hand to many subjects and whose work can be supplemented by short-term expertise from international organizations and bilateral donors.

Statistics in countries with disadvantaged economies in transition

7. Timely and reliable statistics are needed to monitor economic reform particularly in countries with economies in transition. A system when most economic activity was regulated and reported upon is changing to one where the market takes command. In this situation, techniques such as those used in countries with market oriented economies need to be adopted -- this necessitates a heavy retraining programme for statisticians in these national statistical offices. Statistical systems in these countries need assistance to produce internationally comparable and market oriented information.

8. In this context, the Institute has made a special effort during the last 2-3 years to assist the statistical offices of Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar and Viet Nam to train a basic cadre of official statisticians in methods of data collection, compilation, processing, basic statistical analysis and report writing. With regard to the Central Asian countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, which are now members of ESCAP, - the Institute has trained government statisticians from a few of them. However, programmes to assist these countries need to be significantly expanded.

Analysis and interpretation

9. The importance of training in data analysis and interpretation cannot be underscored in a situation where in many countries a substantial amount of useful data which is collected is not analysed and presented to a broader public. However, it needs to be emphasized that formal training can only be a part of a broader framework where to become a good analyst and interpreter of statistics, experience based on interaction with other statisticians, policy makers and other users, and work on real data and problems is even more important. The Special Training Course in Analysis and Interpretation of Statistics, as well as the six months Practical Statistics Course attempts formal training. Several country courses have also been held on the analysis of data collected in surveys.

10. The production of statistics which can be of assistance in resolving policy issues as well as alerting and allowing policy-makers to monitor the statistics of emerging problem areas is an important concern for national statistical offices. Both in the Practical Statistics Course as well as in the Analysis and Interpretation course the emphasis on project work is in the main on the production of statistics which will throw further light on some subject area or policy concern. SIAP also has in its country courses and advanced workshops dealt with subjects directly relating to policy concerns, such as statistics for gender responsive planning, the informal sector and food security.

Time series analysis and forecasting

11. Increasingly, countries of the ESCAP region are producing time series of sufficient length and quality for more detailed statistical analysis. Techniques of time series analysis, including the identification, estimation and validation of both statistical and econometric models can usefully be applied to these series for analysis and for forecasting.

12. Both the public and private sectors make use of forecasts. Reliable forecasts will improve the efficiency of decision-making. For national statistical offices short-term forecasts of the current situation may be one solution to the problem of timeliness of data since there is frequently a time lag between available data and what is needed by users. A module on this subject has been introduced into both the course in Practical Statistics as well as to the course in Analysis and Interpretation of Statistics.

Producer/user interaction

13. Many of the country courses conducted by SIAP had representatives from producers and users of statistics and this provided an opportunity for them to interact. SIAP also collaborated with national focal points for the development of human development indicators in some countries for conducting activities on HDI for planning for the benefit of its personnel. Courses/workshops where both producers and users are represented will become a more common format in the Institute's programme in the future.

1993 System of National Accounts (SNA)

14. In its activities towards the implementation of the SNA, SIAP will pursue two basic approaches: advocacy and compilation. Advocacy is targeted to a wider audience to promote understanding and appreciation of the basic concepts, the usefulness of the SNA-derived statistics in policy and planning, and the linkages of the SNA with social, environmental and other economic concerns. To pursue this, the SNA will be incorporated in courses intended to address emerging concerns such as environment, human development, gender, poverty etc. The enhanced knowledge and appreciation would create demand for the 1993 SNA-derived statistics and therefore would expedite activities for compilation of the 1993 SNA. SIAP has incorporated the 1993 SNA in the relevant training courses conducted in Tokyo since 1994 and participants who specialized in national accounts undertook project work within the 1993 SNA framework. Along with this, teaching materials are also being developed. The Institute also conducted programmes to assist in the development of national accounts in the countries of the region.

Demography and social statistics

15. A large number of countries in the region do not have reliable vital registration and thus population trends have to be monitored by the estimation of demographic parameters by indirect methods. Training is needed both on the various methods of indirect estimation as well as to reconcile indirect estimates of demographic parameters for different years with trends provided through incomplete registration. Apart from demography, several topics on social statistics are covered in the Institute's Tokyo-based courses, including sex-age structure and growth of population, measures of mortality, fertility and nuptiality, and statistics on households and housing, manpower and employment, education and health.

Sampling capability

16. During the last several years, both the Committee on Statistics and the Working Group of Statistical Experts convened by ESCAP have discussed the need to strengthen sampling capability in the region. In 1994, an Advanced Workshop on Sampling Design for Household Surveys was conducted by SIAP in Bangkok and the discussions revealed the need to evaluate and improve the design of ongoing surveys. In 1995, SIAP conducted the first annual course/workshop on this subject which served as a forum for sampling statisticians to discuss experiences in sampling with a view to suggesting improvements. A second course was recently completed in September 1996.

Statistical computing

17. Data processing has been a module in most of the Institute's courses conducted in Tokyo. Under the outreach programme, courses and missions were organized to train officials in statistical computing software and for processing of survey data for estimating human development indicators. The Group Training Course in Automatic Data Processing for Trainers is targeted at middle-level statisticians with some computing background and who are likely to be involved in training others. A range of software packages are covered in this course, which emphasizes more on imparting knowledge to others than on problem solving. Participants are expected to take part in the preparation and presentation of a course on a chosen package.

National training capability

18. A growing number of statistical offices are establishing national training institutions to cater to the growing demand for trained statisticians. Some of these institutions have requested the assistance of SIAP to formulate curricula as well as to conduct courses for trainers. The annual Group Training Course in Automatic Data Processing serves to enhance the training capability in this vital aspect of statistical activities.

Other areas

19. In pursuance of the recommendations made by the Governing Board of SIAP, the Institute plans to strengthen its programmes and develop new activities emphasizing new advances in statistical training methodologies and modalities and advances in information technology for statistical activities. Subject to availability of resources, priority topics such as gender statistics, social and environment statistics, statistics on services, and international trade and financial statistics will be incorporated in the Institute's programmes.

C. COLLABORATION WITH GOVERNMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES

Collaboration with governments

20. SIAP has also collaborated with:

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Statistical Coordination Board in conducting a training workshop on the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting, Olongapo City, Philippines, 2 to 12 May 1995;

The Central Bank of Malaysia in conducting a training workshop on Statistical Analysis, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5-16 June 1995;

The Government of Macau in conducting an individual training programme on national accounts for one official from the Census and Statistics Department of Macau, 24 September to 20 December 1996.

Collaboration with organizations and agencies

21. SIAP collaborated with:

The South Pacific Commission in conducting one Country Course on Time Series Analysis, in Suva, Fiji, 25 November to 2 December 1994;

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in conducting a training mission on Statistical Computing with Special Reference to Population Statistics, in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, 4-17 September 1995;

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in conducting an advanced workshop on Data for Food Security in an Integrated System of Agricultural Statistics, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 8 to 19 July 1996.

D. INSTITUTIONAL MATTERS

22. It will be recalled that the Committee on Statistics, at its ninth session held in 1994, had recommended the adoption of a resolution on the statute of SIAP (in pursuance of Commission resolution 50/5 of 13 April 1994) to provide a more permanent institutional framework by making SIAP a subsidiary body of ESCAP.

23. In this regard, the Committee may note that the Commission, at its fifty-first session in 1995, adopted resolution 51/1 on the Statute of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific. The Committee may also note that the statute of SIAP provided for the establishment of a Governing Board and during the Commission session held in 1995, the following were elected as members of the first Governing Board of SIAP, along with Japan, the host government: Australia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

24. The report of the first session of the Governing Board of SIAP held in March 1996, which had been submitted to the Commission at its fifty-second session in 1996, is before the Committee as document E/ESCAP/STAT.10/9 for consideration under item 9 of the provisional agenda. The report of the second session of the Governing Board of SIAP (to be held from 20 to 22 November 1996) will also be submitted to the Committee as document E/ESCAP/STAT.10/9/Add.1.

25. The Committee's attention is drawn to the deliberations of the Governing Board of SIAP at its first session. In particular, attention is drawn to the Governing Board's decision to establish a task force to chart a new direction for the Institute through a wide-ranging and detailed examination of the modality of operation and training and other activities. The Committee is informed that a meeting of the task force has been scheduled for 28 and 29 October 1996 and the report of that meeting will be submitted to the Governing Board at its second session.

26. The Committee is also informed that a post-project evaluation of the UNDP-supported project on Assistance to Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific: A Programme in Human Development Indicators was undertaken to make an overall assessment of the effectiveness and relevance of UNDP support to the Institute provided over the years for the development of institutional and technical capacities of the national statistical agencies. The task force and the Governing Board will be reviewing the outcome of the evaluation undertaken by a UNDP consultant. In conjunction with the post-project evaluation and also for planning SIAP's training programme, the Institute had conducted a survey of SIAP programme and country training needs of member countries. Information has been gathered on priorities in statistical programmes, the support provided by donors for the development of statistics, and details regarding requirements of major users.

27. The Institute has gradually, since its establishment, been expanding its programme of courses, activities and services in response to the growing needs of the countries in the region. All these require continued funding support. The Committee may note from annex III that some members/associate members (China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Singapore) have increased their annual contributions to the institutional budget of SIAP. Cash contributions from other members and associate members have not shown much increase in the last decade; meanwhile contributions from the Government of Japan have increased significantly. Currently, the share of cash contributions of the Government of Japan to the total of cash contributions is approximately 90 per cent, reflecting an extremely imbalanced situation. The situation should be rectified, taking into account the fact that the status of the Institute has changed from that of a project under an assistance agreement between the Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme to that of a subsidiary body of ESCAP which should be supported multilaterally by member and associate member countries. The need to increase the cash contributions from other member and associate member countries has become critical in order to enable the Institute to operate on a stable financial basis. Some countries continue to receive assistance from the Institute on a sustained basis, but make no contributions. The Committee may wish to urge these countries to make cash contributions.

E. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

28. SIAP wishes to acknowledge with deep appreciation the contributions of the following:

1. (a) The host Government, Japan, for its continuing and generous support, both in cash and in kind, and for the provision of fellowships for the courses in practical statistics, analysis and interpretation of statistics, and automatic data processing, as well as for the increase of its cash contribution and the provision of equipment to SIAP, including the recent upgrading of computing facilities.
2. (b) The contributing members and associate members in the region for their continuing and in some cases increased cash contributions, through which they have demonstrated their interest in the Institute; and
3. (c) Other agencies of the United Nations and other international organizations.

29. The Institute is deeply grateful to UNDP for its continued programme support to SIAP.

30. The Director of the Institute wishes to extend his appreciation to the members of the Committee on Statistics for their continuing advice and support to SIAP.

Annex I

LIST OF SIAP COURSES CONDUCTED FROM SEPTEMBER 1994 TO OCTOBER 1996

A. TOKYO-BASED COURSES

B. OUTREACH PROGRAMMES

C. INDIVIDUAL TRAINING PROGRAMME

Annex II

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS IN SIAP TRAINING PROGRAMMES (September 1994 - October 1996)

A - Group Training Course in Practical Statistics.
B - Group Training Course in Automatic Data Processing for Trainers.
C - Special Group Training Course in Analysis and Interpretation of Statistics.
D - Training Course in Analysis and Computerization of Human Development Indicators.
E - Course/Workshop on Sample Design for Household and Establishment Surveys.
F - Country Courses.
G - Advanced Course/Seminar, and Workshop.
H - Individual Training Programme.

Annex III

CASH CONTRIBUTIONS TO SIAP, BY COUNTRY OR AREA (1991-1996)

(United States dollars)

* Pledged at the fiftieth session of the Commission.
** Pledged at the fifty-first session of the Commission.
*** Pledged at the fifty-second session of the Commission.