E/ESCAP/STAT.10/13
9 October 1996
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Committee on Statistics
Tenth session
25-29 November 1996
Bangkok

1. At its ninth session in 1994, the Committee on Statistics decided that its office-bearers, who had been elected at the start of the ninth session, should form a Bureau whose term of office would be extended to the end of the tenth session of the Committee, with a new Bureau being elected at that stage, following consultations during the session. This note is intended to facilitate the process of electing the Bureau.

2. The functioning of the Committee and its Bureau will be taken up under item 6 of the provisional agenda, and what follows is therefore subject to decisions that may be taken under that item. At its ninth session, the Committee decided that the officials elected to the Bureau would represent their respective national statistical organizations and would not serve in their personal capacity. While subregional representation in the Bureau was favoured in principle, a flexible approach was recommended, keeping in view the effective functioning of the Committee. No specific number of members was set for the Bureau; nor was the term of the Bureau's tenure explicitly stated. These questions are being taken up in document E/ESCAP/STAT.10/6, for further consideration by the Committee.

3. As far as the subregional aspect of the Bureau's composition is concerned, the annex to this note shows the origin of the office-holders in the Committee on Statistics and its predecessor bodies -26 meetings in all. The following table, organized by subregions as delineated by ESCAP, shows the frequency of election by country or area for the Committee sessions since 1974, 1 Including the session of the Committee on Development Planning and Statistics in 1989. and in parentheses, for all meetings since 1951. The number of Committee sessions attended since 1974 appears in the last column. In reading this table, it should of course be borne in mind that the present members and associate members have joined the Commission at widely differing dates.

4. The secretariat stands ready to assist the Committee in the consultative process leading to the election of a new Bureau. One procedure that is followed in some organizations is to appoint a "kingmaker", usually a senior former office-holder of the Committee, to sound out opinions and organize consultations among interested parties, and to present an agreed slate of candidates to the Committee towards the end of the session.

Frequency of election of office-holders in the Committee on Statistics by country or area since 1974

________
a/Shared responsibility at one meeting.
b/USSR prior to 1991.
c/Shared responsibility at two additional meetings.
d/ Shared responsibility at one additional meeting.

Annex

Origin of the office-holders in the Committee on Statistics and its predecessor bodies, 1951-1994

________
a/ Host country.
b/ As head of the drafting committee.
c/ Office-holder not a statistician.