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Introduction
1. This paper brings to the
attention of the Committee important matters
in the field of statistics that have arisen
at major global and regional meetings.
Outcomes covered are from recent sessions of
the United Nations Statistical Commission, the
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific1
and the Working Group on International Statistical
Programmes and Coordination. This paper
is structured to report to the Committee along
subject-matter lines: in each section, similar
issues from the different meetings are dealt
with. As some of the topics were discussed
at more than one meeting, an attempt to summarize
them has been made in order to avoid duplication.
Given the length of this paper it is not possible
to provide detailed information on all the matters
presented. On some of the topics, information
on the activities of the so-called "city groups",
as available to the secretariat in October 1998,
is also reported. A short description
of the "city groups" is given in paragraph 5.
When certain topics are dealt with in other
Committee papers, a cross-reference to the document
concerned is given.
2. The United Nations Statistical
Commission held its twenty-ninth session in
New York from 11 to 14 February 1997.
3. The Statistical Commission's
Working Group on International Statistical Programmes
and Coordination held its nineteenth session
from 10 to 12 February 1998, also in New York.
4. Since the Committee last
met, the Commission has held two sessions: the
fifty-third from23 to 30 April 1997 and the
fifty-fourth from 16 to 22 April 1998.
Both the sessions were held in Bangkok.
5. "City groups" refer to
those informal discussion groups, formed primarily
by representatives of national statistical offices,
that have been established to deal with specific
themes in the field of statistics. This
experience has generally been found to be productive
and useful in overcoming some of the constraints
that have limited the pace of developing international
statistical standards. Currently, a number
of city groups are actively working towards
resolving methodological issues in several branches
of statistics. Other information on city
groups can be found on the United Nations Statistics
Division's Web site (http://www.un.org/Depts/unsd/citygrp/citygrp.htm).
A list of city and similar groups is given in
annex I.
6. The Committee previously
indicated that, in addition to receiving information
about developments in other statistical forums,
it should attempt to pay greater attention to
providing inputs for discussions at such bodies,
particularly the Statistical Commission.
At the present session, the Committee's inputs
are being specifically sought on the topics
of guiding principles for technical cooperation
in statistics, and of good practices in official
statistics (see E/ESCAP/STAT.11/9 and 10 respectively),
which will be discussed at the thirtieth session
of the Statistical Commission, to be held in
New York from 1 to 5 March 1999. The Committee
may wish to decide whether it has comments on
other topics on the Statistical Commission's
provisional agenda, which is reproduced in annex
II, to which it wishes to draw the Commission's
attention.
Statistical support for
policy analysis issues at the international
level
7. The role of statistics
for policy analysis was emphasized by the Commission
at both the fifty-third and the fifty-fourth
sessions. It was recommended that statisticians
and key users of statistics form close working
relationships in order to promote the effective
utilization of data in policy-making and formulation.
The Commission appreciated the emphasis placed
by the Committee on the importance of users'
confidence in official statistics and observed
that the reliability of statistics was a crucial
factor for policy-making and research purposes.
It noted the efforts by several member countries
to increase users' confidence through enhancement
of statistical methodologies and improvements
in the timeliness of data.
8. At the fifty-fourth session,
it was reaffirmed that countries needed timely
and relevant information of high quality to
plan and implement policies and programmes designed
to attain sustainable economic growth and social
development. The Commission noted that
constant attention was necessary to improve
statistical services, promote analyses and research,
and institutionalize the collection and dissemination
of the required statistics. That was particularly
important in the financial and economic turmoil
that many countries in the region had been experiencing,
which underlined the need for sound and credible
statistical data collection and dissemination
systems.
Data dissemination standards
9. The Commission, at its
fifty-fourth session, welcomed the initiative
of the International Monetary Fund in establishing
the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)
and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).
The standards were considered desirable targets
for national statistical services, on which
they would have a long-term beneficial impact.
The Commission also noted the fact that GDDS
and SDDS were in line with the objectives of
the fundamental principles of official statistics.
It endorsed the need for inter-agency coordination
in the provision of technical assistance on
GDDS and in the adoption of statistical and
data dissemination standards, and considered
that national statistical agencies should be
provided with additional resources to respond
to SDDS/GDDS requirements. It is relevant
for the Committee to note that ESCAP was urged,
through the Committee on Statistics, to play
an active coordinating role in providing technical
assistance on SDDS/GDDS and in the further development
and implementation of data dissemination and
similar standards.
International technical
cooperation in statistics
10. The important matter
of international technical cooperation in statistics
was discussed extensively at each of the three
bodies considered. At the fifty-third
session of the Commission, it was suggested
that, while the existing modalities of technical
cooperation were valid (the Commission had previously
noted the secretariat's operational activities
in statistics, including technical meetings,
advisory services and methodological publications),
the design of specific activities should also
take into account the shifting priorities and
requirements in the countries of the region.
At the fifty-fourth session of the Commission,
the secretariat's activities were recognized
to have made a very useful contribution to the
development of statistics in the region, and
in close cooperation with the member countries
themselves, to have assisted significantly in
strengthening national statistical capabilities.
11. Subsequently, the Statistical
Commission's Working Group discussed the report
of the Workshop on Improving Technical Cooperation
in Statistics (E/CN.3/AC.1/1998/L.7), which
was the product of meetings convened by the
Netherlands. It also agreed to the wide
dissemination of that document to enable national
statistical offices and regional and international
organizations to provide feedback and comments
on the draft guiding principles that it contained.
It called on the regional commissions and regional
statistical committees to review and analyse
the document taking into account the relevant
regional experiences in the field of technical
cooperation. Accordingly, under the present
agenda item, the Committee on Statistics will
be discussing this report, along with a set
of draft guiding principles for good practices
in technical cooperation in statistics (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/9).
It is anticipated that the process of regional
review will refine the report on technical cooperation
to be presented to the Statistical Commission
at its thirtieth session in 1999.
National accounts and
related areas
12. In the field of national
accounts, the Statistical Commission, at its
twenty-ninth session, commended the milestones
defined by the Task Force on National Accounts
as an appropriate tool for monitoring progress
in the implementation of the 1993 System of
National Accounts (SNA). It recommended
that such information be supplemented by annotations
prepared by the regional commissions and that,
for medium-term implementation, priority attention
should be given to countries currently in the
earlier phases of SNA. More generally,
the needs of special country groups ought to
be taken into account. It was noted by
the Commission that, as the options presented
were not mutually exclusive, and because different
approaches might be required in different regions,
the above recommendations should be implemented
in a flexible manner. The Commission decided
that the new United Nations data questionnaire
for national accounts, based on the 1993 SNA,
should be implemented in 1999. It endorsed
the proposed support system for the Task Force,
emphasizing again the importance of making publications
(handbooks, manuals, and other technical series
developed in this field) available to countries.
13. At its fifty-third session,
the Commission endorsed the principle that the
scope and pace of implementation of the 1993
SNA should depend on national needs and capabilities,
as recommended by the Working Group of Statistical
Experts at its ninth session. Many countries
had initiated work on the 1993 SNA, which nevertheless
could take several years to implement in totality.
The Commission took note of the shortage of
personnel trained in national accounts in some
countries and welcomed the efforts of the secretariat
to develop project proposals for subregional
training workshops for middle-level statisticians
on the concept and application of the System.
It welcomed the offer of the Russian Federation
to provide experts to participate in national
accounts activities relevant to the economies
in transition. Furthermore, at its fifty-fourth
session, the Commission recognized the role
of the 1993 SNA as a framework for collecting
and presenting macroeconomic statistics.
It was noted that some countries had already
acquired theoretical knowledge about the 1993
SNA but still lacked practical experience in
the compilation of their national accounts.
The Commission again urged that workshops at
regional, subregional and country levels be
organized, particularly for middle-level statisticians.
The Committee may note that the first such subregional
workshop was, after unavoidable postponements,
held in Bangkok from 12 to 23 October 1998.
14. The Working Group on
International Statistical Programmes and Coordination
agreed with some proposed amendments to the
1993 SNA received at its nineteenth session.
It also agreed in principle with the proposed
delegation of authority to the Intersecretariat
Working Group on National Accounts in order
to handle effectively minor editorial amendments
and clarifications of an uncontroversial nature
in the 1993 SNA. In order to widen and
also speed up the process of considering "interpretations"
and "changes", it was suggested that all members
of the Statistical Commission should be involved
in the process, and that members would be allowed
a 30-day notification period. If during
that period no objections were raised, the proposal
would be considered adopted. The Working
Group accepted the proposed work programme of
the member organizations of the Intersecretariat
Working Group in support of the implementation
of the 1993 SNA and took note of the proposals
by the regional commissions for further close
cooperation with the United Nations Statistics
Division in the milestone assessment exercise
for implementation of the 1993 SNA. The ESCAP
secretariat is currently working with the United
Nations Statistics Division on this exercise.
15. In a related field, the
attention of the Committee is drawn to the meeting
of the Expert Group on Capital Stock Statistics,
held in Canberra from 10 to 14 March 1997.
Among the topics discussed were concepts of
capital, perpetual inventory method, alternative
approaches to measuring capital stock, experience
with multifactor productivity, new measures
of capital related to the extension of the asset
boundary (as recommended by the 1993 SNA), balance
sheet issues, and international comparability
and cooperation. The main conclusions
reached by countries represented at the conference
led to the general agreement that significant
further work would be required to address outstanding
and emerging capital stock issues. It
was also agreed to publish results from such
work in a handbook on capital stock measurement.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) has since agreed to develop
and publish such a handbook in consultation
with interested agencies.
16. As far as issues on the
informal sector are concerned, the Department
of Statistics of India, recognizing the importance
of the informal sector in its economy and in
that of many developing countries, initiated
the establishment of the Expert Group on Informal
Sector Statistics (the Delhi Group). The
first meeting of this group was held in New
Delhi in May 1997. At its second meeting,
held in Ankara in April 1998, the Delhi Group
recommended that the International Labour Organization
and the United Nations Statistics Division should
complete the stocktaking of country practices
in the collection of statistics on the informal
sector. It was also agreed to consider
not only the economic dimension but also the
social dimension of the informal sector, with
particular emphasis on poverty and social security.
Finance statistics
17. At its twenty-ninth session,
the Statistical Commission took note of the
activities and progress made by the International
Monetary Fund in the specialized statistical
systems on balance of payments, monetary and
financial statistics and government finance
statistics. It also took note of efforts
to harmonize concepts and definitions in those
areas with the 1993 SNA. It endorsed a
proposal contained in the report of the Task
Force on Finance Statistics that work programmes
of international organizations in the field
of finance statistics should be presented periodically
as a means of providing updated information
and as the basis of discussion on particular
issues.
18. In considering the report
of the Task Force on Finance Statistics, the
Working Group on International Statistical Programmes
and Coordination noted that the International
Monetary Fund's Manual on Monetary and Financial
Statistics would be ready in 1998. Both
the Intersecretariat Working Group and the Balance
of Payments Committee had reviewed, discussed
and recommended necessary clarifications and
updating of the 1993 SNA and the fifth edition
(1993) of the Balance of Payments Manual regarding
the treatment of financial derivatives.
The need for further conceptual work in financial
statistics was expressed in order to produce
new and analytically useful concepts in areas
such as international reserves, short-term private
non-banking external debt, and indicators of
financial sector health: in this regard, special
attention had to be paid to the development
of internationally comparable accounting standards
and the links between microeconomic variables
and macroeconomic accounts, and to the need
to draw the attention of policy makers to the
new call for financial statistics brought about
by the recent financial crisis in Asia.
Price statistics, including
the International Comparison Programme
19. The Statistical Commission
affirmed that the issue of measuring prices
was a particularly important one. It agreed
with the work programme proposed by the Ottawa
Group on Consumer Price Statistics. It
agreed on the need to conduct an evaluation
of the global International Comparison Programme
(ICP) to address the reservations by certain
member States about ICP implementation and the
uses of ICP results, and on the need to seek
ways to improve the credibility of ICP data.
It appointed a steering committee of countries
and agencies to supervise the review process
of ICP. The Statistical Commission suggested
that the steering committee should review the
terms of reference for the evaluation of the
global ICP contained in the annex to document
E/CN.3/1997/3/Add.1 in order to take into account
the very special problems involved in making
comparisons between highly developed and developing
countries, such as how to ensure that the items
chosen reflected common characteristics and
were representative of all countries being compared.
20. At the fifty-fourth session
of the Commission, it was noted that price statistics
was considered an important area in many national
statistical services; the Commission thus welcomed
efforts being made towards improving the measurement
of inflation. It was also noted that ICP
results could be used to provide an alternate
measure of comparable real gross domestic product
across countries, which was particularly important
in the face of exchange rate volatility among
them. While a reservation was expressed
about the value of ICP and the soundness of
the methodology adopted, there were also calls
for donors to support the secretariat's project
proposal on the Programme.
21. Issues on price statistics
have also been discussed within the Ottawa Group
on Consumer Price Statistics, which held its
third meeting from 16 to 18 April 1997.
The group has so far taken up such issues as
(a) choice of index formula; (b) estimation
of bias in the consumer price index (CPI); (c)
purposes and concepts of CPI; (d) incorporation
of quality change in CPI measures; (e) inflation
measurement, including alternative CPI measures;
and (f) conceptual problems: durable goods,
financial services, new goods and/or outlets.
International trade statistics
22. In this field, the Statistical
Commission decided the order of priority for
carrying out methodological work. The
preparation of a compilers' manual was given
the first priority, followed by the preparation
of a revision of the publication Customs
Areas of the World2
and the collection of technical information
on index numbers of international trade.
All countries were encouraged to supply the
United Nations Statistics Division with the
commodity breakdown of their current and past
international trade statistics, preferably in
terms of the Harmonized Commodity Description
and Coding System (HS), for the purpose of completing
the Statistics Division's database according
to HS. The Statistical Commission noted
and welcomed similar recommendations by the
Harmonized System Committee of the World Customs
Organization.
23. The Statistical Commission
decided that the Task Force on International
Trade Statistics should continue to function.
It adopted revised concepts and definitions
for international merchandise trade statistics,
subject to the Secretariat incorporating amendments
that would clarify the draft text while maintaining
its structural integrity. The Secretariat
was requested to publish and distribute the
revised concepts and definitions.
24. The Working Group on
International Statistical Programmes and Coordination
noted the actions that the Task Force on International
Trade Statistics had taken, and its plans for
further action, in relation to the requests
made by the Statistical Commission at its twenty-ninth
session. It endorsed the idea that the
international trade statistics database maintained
by the United Nations Statistics Division according
to five commodity classifications from 1962
to date (HS 1996 and 1988 versions and revisions
1, 2 and 3 of the Standard International Trade
Classification) could be rationalized to a smaller
number of classifications. It consequently
requested the Task Force:
- To study the burdens placed
on international organizations from having
to maintain concordances and recompile international
trade data according to those classifications;
- To review the problem of
maintaining comparable time series of trade;
- To develop proposals on
what to do in the medium and long term, including
a consideration of the use of the central
product classification, as suggested by the
Statistical Commission at its twenty-seventh
session;
- To include the results in
its report to the thirtieth session of the
Statistical Commission.
Industrial and construction
statistics
25. The Statistical Commission
endorsed the work carried out by the Task Force
on Industrial and Construction Statistics, and
agreed that, as it had largely accomplished
its goals, it should be discontinued.
It recommended that draft revised international
recommendations in that area should reflect
clearly and be consistent with the concepts,
definitions and terminology used in the 1993
SNA and the International Standard Industrial
Classification of All Economic Activities, Third
Revision.3
It was also recommended that they be published
as part of the collection of United Nations
recommendations.
Services statistics
26. The Statistical Commission
took note of the progress report of the Inter-Agency
Task Force on Service Statistics. It stressed
the importance of ensuring consistency between
the fifth edition of the International Monetary
Fund's Balance of Payments Manual, the Central
Product Classification, version 1.0 (CPC 1.0),
the 1993 SNA and the manual on trade-in-services
statistics proposed by the Task Force.
It was also requested that the contents of the
proposed manual should be consistent with the
findings of the Globalization Group of OECD.
27. The Working Group on
International Statistical Programmes and Coordination
welcomed the proposed trade-in-services manual
and requested that it be reviewed in draft by
the Statistical Commission at its thirtieth
session. It also concluded that the Task
Force on Statistics of International Trade in
Services should carefully consider what Foreign
Affiliates Trade Statistics (FATS) variables
were required in the system. As regards
that last point, it was suggested that for negotiation
purposes, the interesting variable was that
of products from FATS, classified according
to CPC.
28. Of particular interest
in this field is the work done by the Voorburg
Group on Service Statistics. The Group
met for the first time in January 1987 at the
request of the United Nations Statistics Division.
Its scope was to assist in the development of
a classification of products created from service
activities, that is, the service section of
the newly released CPC 1.0. The Group
expanded its mandate and its achievements span
a considerable number of contributions in the
area of service statistics. It held its
last meeting in September 1998 in Rome.
The technical papers produced by the Group are
available on CD-ROM directly from Eurostat.
International economic
and social classifications
29. The Statistical Commission
agreed that the United Nations Statistics Division
should play a pivotal role in the coordination
of economic and social classifications to resolve
differences and encourage the harmonization
of classifications. It endorsed the recommendation
that the name of the Expert Group on International
Classifications should be changed to Expert
Group on International Economic and Social Classifications,
reflecting the decision to consider international
economic and social classifications as a family.
The development of a module on basic principles
for the implementation and use of international
classifications, for inclusion in the Common
Code of Best Practices in the United Nations
System, was also endorsed.
30. The Statistical Commission
recommended that the revised CPC be published
as CPC 1.0, and encouraged member States to
start implementing it and to make suggestions
to the Secretariat for its further improvement.
It emphasized the importance of keeping the
goods part of CPC in step with future revisions
of HS, and requested the Secretariat to seek
country assistance for doing so. The Statistical
Commission recognized the need to continue to
consult the Voorburg Group on Service Statistics
so as to utilize its technical expertise for
future revisions of CPC.
31. The Working Group on
International Statistical Programmes and Coordination
welcomed the completion of CPC 1.0. The
Working Group also welcomed the close working
relationship that had been established by the
United Nations Statistics Division and the Voorburg
Group with the World Trade Organization in the
context of the General Agreement on Trade in
Services.
32. The Working Group also
welcomed the opportunity to review the International
Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic
Activities, and its derived and related classifications
such as the General Industrial Classification
of Economic Activities within the European Communities
and the North American Industry Classification
System, at the next meeting of the Expert Group
on International Economic and Social Classifications
scheduled for November 1998.
Environment statistics
and environmental accounting
33. In discussing this broad
field, the Statistical Commission considered
basic environment statistics to be of the highest
priority, followed by environmental indicators
and accounting. It stressed the need to
develop a closer linkage between environmental
indicators and environmental accounting and
welcomed the proposal by the United Nations
Statistics Division to collaborate with the
London Group on Resource Accounting on the revision
of the System of Integrated Environmental and
Economic Accounting (SEEA). It endorsed
the establishment of a computer bulletin board
system for sharing information on technical
cooperation activities in that field.
34. At its fifty-third session,
the Commission concurred with the Committee
on Statistics on the importance of environment
statistics and noted that some countries in
the region had been compiling statistics for
assessing environmental degradation and monitoring
environmental protection expenditure.
It also noted the importance of linking natural
resources and economic accounting, and recommended
that ESCAP should work closely with agencies
outside the region to promote environment statistics,
particularly through regular training seminars
and the exchange of data. The secretariat's
activities in this field include the publication
of an operational handbook on environment statistics
and the future conduct of a series of subregional
workshops.
35. The Statistical Commission's
Working Group endorsed the proposed first international
compilation of environmental indicators, and
encouraged national statistical services and
international organizations to participate fully
in that exercise.
36. The London Group on Environmental
Accounting, at its first meeting, held in London
in March 1994, considered alternative approaches
to SEEA, namely the Dutch National Accounting
Matrix including Environmental Accounting.
There was general agreement that the frameworks
were broadly consistent and the choice of a
framework depended on the desired emphasis.
During its meetings, the Group considered several
issues such as classification of environmental
expenditure, valuation issues, costs of environmental
protection, and forest accounting. The
fourth meeting, held in Ottawa in June 1997,
addressed the evolution of SEEA, identified
the status of the debate related to natural
resource accounting, explored the impact of
environmental targets on the economy, and examined
water resources accounting.
Demographic statistics
37. Within this important
field, the focus was on the 2000 World Population
and Housing Census Programme. The Statistical
Commission commended the work of the Expert
Group on the 2000 World Population and Housing
Census Programme and appreciated the way in
which census experts from all regions had been
involved in its preparation. It supported
the way in which the Secretariat had collaborated
with the regional commissions, the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) and other organizations
in revising the principles and recommendations.
It endorsed the provisional principles and recommendations
for population and housing censuses, while proposing
revisions of an editorial nature in several
areas. The Secretariat was requested to
publish the principles and recommendations in
all the official languages of the United Nations.
In the context of census issues, the United
Nations Statistics Division, in collaboration
with the regional commissions, was requested
to prepare and disseminate a report on the costs
of conducting a decennial census.
38. The Statistical Commission's
Working Group emphasized the importance of the
2000 round of population and housing censuses
but recognized the resource constraints that
countries were facing in that regard.
These issues were brought to the attention of
the Commission on Population and Development,
which held its thirty-first session in February
1998. The Working Group concluded that
population and housing censuses were accorded
insufficient priority at this crucial stage
in their preparation: many countries, including
many newly independent ones, had experienced
very large internal and external migration flows
and very large changes in fertility and mortality.
In most of those countries, because of the economic
and social conditions, there was a critical
risk that censuses would not be undertaken although
the need for them was great. Census plans
in some countries of the ESCAP region had been
placed in jeopardy by the financial crisis and
consequent budget cuts. The Working Group
therefore called on governments and international
institutions to give high priority to the next
population and housing census, especially in
those countries which had experienced the greatest
population changes and where the need for a
census was therefore the most urgent.
39. At its fifty-fourth session,
the Commission underscored the importance of
population and housing censuses as vital sources
of statistics, especially for small areas.
It emphasized the need to give due priority
to the 2000 round of censuses and to allocate
adequate resources for them. The Commission
noted the rich experience in conducting population
and housing censuses which existed in the region
and heard plans and preparations for future
censuses in various countries. For some
countries, especially the least developed and
those with less developed transportation facilities,
census- taking remained a challenging task to
organize and finance, often requiring considerable
efforts to mobilize external resources.
Moreover, it was noted that many countries were
aspiring to improve the quality and timely availability
of census data and to develop cost-effective
strategies for census operations through such
approaches as improved organization, conducting
experiments, the use of imaging and optical
character recognition technologies, decentralized
data processing, improved training and enlisting
the voluntary support of various organizations
and individuals. The sharing of experiences
in the region was also considered important
for realizing such improvements. In that
regard, the Commission noted with appreciation
the offers made by some countries to share their
experiences in census planning and data analysis,
as well as the activities of the secretariat
under a project funded by UNFPA on the application
of new technology to population data.
Those activities included the organization of
thematic meetings of the working party established
under the project, the next ones being scheduled
for January and May 1999.
Social statistics
40. As far as the statistical
implications of recent major United Nations
conferences are concerned, the focus of discussion
has been on the Minimum National Social Data
Set (MNSDS). MNSDS was endorsed, with
minor proposed changes, by the Statistical Commission
on the recommendation of its Working Group on
International Statistical Programmes and Coordination.
Both the Statistical Commission and the Commission
at its fifty-third session recognized that the
15 MNSDS indicators should be considered a minimum
list; users are invited to build on MNSDS to
meet national needs and circumstances, as well
as requirements in specific fields. At
its last session, the Working Group endorsed
the progress made by the Secretariat on the
implementation of MNSDS and requested that the
work continue. It recognized that the
development of indicators was a dynamic process
and authorized the Secretariat, in consultation
with the Chairman of the Working Group, to adjust
the definition of indicators if required; it
reiterated that such work was undertaken in
the context of strengthening national statistical
data collection capabilities.
41. The Siena Group for Social
Statistics and Social Monitoring focuses its
programme on social indicators, social accounting,
concepts and classifications, and on linkages
and frameworks for integrating social, economic
and demographic data for the purposes of policy
formulation and analysis. The Group's
next meeting is scheduled to be held in Sydney
in December 1998, hosted by the Australian Bureau
of Statistics; the meeting's theme is "Families
in the twenty-first century". The previous
meeting focused on the theme "On the way to
a multicultural society". The Group has
a steering committee that meets on an ad hoc
basis so as to ensure that the Siena Group's
initiatives are sustained.
Gender statistics
42. At its fifty-third and
fifty-fourth sessions, the Commission generally
endorsed the development of statistics on gender
issues in the region. It recognized and
noted the efforts and programmes of the countries
in the region. The Commission observed
that many countries needed technical assistance
and guidelines to make their efforts to improve
gender statistics more effective. As a
number of countries, after participating in
ESCAP projects on gender issues, had continued
their work in that area by issuing and updating
statistical publications on women and men and
developing sex-disaggregated databases, the
secretariat was urged to continue playing a
coordinating role in that area of statistics.
43. Gender statistics also
received general support from the Working Group
on International Statistical Programmes and
Coordination. The United Nations Statistics
Division's programme on gender statistics, which
has produced two editions of the publication
The World's Women: Trends and Statistics,
a handbook on producing national statistical
reports on women and men, and the Women's Statistics
and Indicators Database, is also contributing
to the effort to mainstream a gender perspective
in all policies and programmes in the United
Nations system. In related work, the Division
is developing a classification of time-use that
will be relevant to a range of socio-economic
statistics, including gender statistics.
Statistics on poverty
44. Statistics on poverty
received particular attention at the Working
Group on International Statistical Programmes
and Coordination's nineteenth session.
The Working Group linked the discussion on statistics
on poverty to the need for indicators to monitor
social programmes. In that context, it
recalled the importance of supporting and monitoring
the implementation of MNSDS, which was recognized
as a guide to national statistical services
in considering data requirements for monitoring
the implementation of social programmes.
45. A seminar on poverty
statistics, organized by the Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean in collaboration
with the other regional commissions, was held
in Santiago, Chile, in May 1997. The seminar
was attended by countries from all regions and
international organizations involved in work
on poverty statistics, including ESCAP.
The experience in measuring poverty incidence,
poverty intensity and the use of a set of indicators
in the design and monitoring of policies for
poverty eradication was examined. To follow
up the conclusions and recommendations of the
seminar, an expert group on poverty statistics,
entitled the Rio Group, held a further meeting
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in May 1998.
The meeting centred on in-depth studies of important
topics identified in the first meeting: (a)
poverty lines; (b) focused or targeted poverty
studies; (c) statistical instruments for the
measuring of poverty; and (d) poverty statistics
and social policy. A document containing
information on the state of the art in poverty
measurement, along with suggestions and recommendations,
will be prepared for the next session of the
Statistical Commission.
46. The Commission welcomed
the inclusion of poverty statistics as one of
the priority areas of the secretariat's work
programme, and the subject has gained greater
prominence with the pronounced rise in the incidence
of poverty in several crisis-affected countries
of the region. The secretariat plans to
organize a workshop on poverty statistics in
Bangkok during the first half of 1999.
Year 2000 problem
47. At the initiative of
the tenth session of the Working Group of Statistical
Experts, the Commission, at its fifty-fourth
session, deliberated on the impact of the year
2000 (Y2K) problem in the region. The
Commission expressed deep concern about the
predicted disruptions that the Y2K problem in
computers and embedded chips was likely to cause
at the national, regional and global levels.
Noting with concern the slow start made by many
countries of the region in tackling the problem,
it urged all governments to make its resolution
a high priority. The Commission warned
that any delays were likely to increase the
modification cost and make the timely resolution
of the problem very difficult, as the required
skills were already in short supply. The
Commission endorsed the recommendations of the
Working Group concerning the Y2K problem.
While recognizing that the problem could only
be solved at the level of each organization,
the Commission encouraged all members to share
their experiences in resolving the year 2000
problem and asked the secretariat to facilitate
such regional cooperation. The Committee
will find a more complete coverage of the year
2000 problem in document E/ESCAP/STAT.11/14.
Information technology
issues
48. The Commission, at its
fifty-third session, stressed the fundamental
importance of information technology in the
work of national statistical offices.
It was convinced that that provided one of the
most cost-effective ways to improve the collection
of reliable and disaggregated data. However,
the adoption of the latest technology was severely
hampered in many countries by the unavailability
of skilled personnel. The Commission therefore
urged the secretariat and the Statistical Institute
for Asia and the Pacific to provide more training
and advice on information technology applications
in statistics to supplement national human resources
development efforts.
49. The Commission also reaffirmed
its support for the development of the ESCAP
Statistical Information System as a key regional
repository for reliable and comparable economic
and social data, and urged the secretariat to
allocate resources for making the system operational
and accessible to member countries as soon as
possible. It also urged the secretariat
to use the recently launched ESCAP World Wide
Web site actively for disseminating statistical
information, documents and data.
50. In response to the recommendations
of the Commission and the Committee on Statistics,
the secretariat has a number of activities planned
in this field. A seminar on the application
of information technology in national statistical
offices will be held in Taejon, Republic of
Korea, from 15 to 18 December 1998. A
further five-day seminar on information technology
management for decision-makers is tentatively
planned for March 1999 in Bangkok.
Annex I
LIST OF CITY GROUPS*
Canberra group/household
income statistics
Mr McLennan
Statistician
Australian Bureau of Statistics
P.O.Box 10
Belconnen ACT 2616
Australia
Tel:
61.6.252-7911
Fax:
61.6.253-1328
E-mail: Harry.Kroon@abs.gov.au
(Mr Harry Kroon, ABS, Australia)
E-mail: plan@cbs.nl
(Mr Paul van der Laan, CBS, Netherlands)
WWW site: www.census.gov/hhes/www/incmeas.html
Capital stocks
Mr McLennan
Statistician
Australian Bureau of Statistics
P.O.Box 10
Belconnen ACT 2616
Australia
Tel:
61.6.252-7911
Fax: 61.6.253-1328
WWW site: www.oecd.org/std/capstock97/index.htm
Delhi group / informal sector statistics
Mr Asthana
Department of Statistics
Sardar Patel Bhavan
Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110001
India
Tel:
91.11.373-2150
Fax: 91.11.334-2384
Good behaviour, effective communication
with stakeholders
Mr Outrata
President
Czech Statistical Office
Sokolovska 142
186 04 Praha 8, Czech Republic
Tel:
422.827-319
Fax: 422.663-11243
Expert group on intangibles
Mr Holt
Director
Office for National Statistics
1 Drummond Gate
London, SW1V 2QQ
United Kingdom
Tel:
44.171.533-6204
Fax: 44.171.533-6220
E-mail: tholt@ons.gov.uk
London group / environmental accounts
Ms Baumgarten
Statistics Canada
Ottawa, Canada K1A OT6
Tel:
1.613.951-3803
Fax: 1.613.951-3618
Ottawa group / price statistics
Mr Ducharme
Prices Division
Statistics Canada
Ottawa, Canada K1A OT6
Tel:
1.613.951-0688
Fax: 1.613.951-2848
E-mail: ducharme@statcan.ca
Paris group / labour and compensation
Mr Mazodier
Timbre B005, Bureau 949, INSEE
18, Bld. Adolphe Pinard
75675 Paris (Cedex 14)
France
Tel:
33.1.4117-5529
Fax: 33.1.4117-6865
E-mail: pascal.mazodier@insee.fr
Rio group / poverty statistics
Mr Schwartzman
President, Fundacao IBGE
Av. Franklin Roosevelt 166
20021 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Tel:
55.21.220-6671
Fax: 55.21.262-7308
E-mail: simon@ibge.gov.br
(Mr Schwartzman, IBGE, Brazil)
E-mail: psainz@eclac.cl
(Mr Pedro Sainz, ECLAC, Chile)
WWW site: www.ibge.org/poverty
Roundtables on business survey frames
Mr Demmons
Statistics Canada
Jean Talon Building 8 D-3
Ottawa, Canada K1A OT6
Tel:
1.613.951-4055
Fax: 1.613.951-6196
For information on the eleventh meeting, Helsinki,
Finland, September 1998:
Ms Tuula Viitaharju
Statistics Finland
Tel:
358.9.1734-3378
Fax: 359.9.1734-3554
WWW site: www.stat.go.jp/roundtable/rndtab.htm
Siena group / social statistics and social
monitoring
Mr Garonna
Director General
Instituto Nazionale di Statistica
Via Cesare Balbo 16, 00100 Rome, Italy
Tel:
39.6.467-32200
Fax: 39.6.467-32354
For information on the fifth meeting, "On the
way to a multicultural society", Neuchatel,
Switzerland, June 1997:
E-mail: Heinz.Gilomen@bfs.admin.ch
(Mr Heinz Gilomen, Federal Statistical Office,
Switzerland)
For information on the sixth meeting, "Families
in the twenty-first century", Sydney, Australia,
December 1998:
E-mail: Tim.Skinner@abs.gov.au
(Mr Tim Skinner, ABS, Australia)
Voorburg group / services statistics
Mr Ryten, Ms Nijhowne
Standards Division
Statistics Canada
Jean Talon Building 8 D-3
Ottawa, Canada K1A OT6
Tel:
1.613.951-8577
Fax: 1.613.951-8578
E-mail: nijhsha@statcan.ca
Annex II
ROVISIONAL AGENDA OF
THE THIRTIETH SESSION OF THE STATISTICAL COMMISSION
- Election of officers.
- Adoption of the agenda
and other organizational matters.
- Economic statistics:
- National accounts;
- International trade
statistics;
- Service statistics;
- Finance statistics;
- Other economic statistics.
- Demographic, social
and migration statistics.
- Environment statistics.
- Statistical implications
of recent major United Nations conferences.
- Follow-up to the agreed
conclusions of the Economic and Social Council
high-level and coordination segments, and
to its resolutions.
- International economic
and social classifications.
- Technical cooperation.
- Coordination and integration
of international statistical programmes.
- United Nations Economic
and Social Information System.
- The International Institute
for Statistics proposed by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
- Programme questions
and related matters.
- Provisional agenda and
dates for the thirty-first session of the
Commission.
- port of the Commission
on its thirtieth session.
1
Hereinafter referred to as "the Commission".
2
United Nations publication, Sales No. E.89.XVII.12.
3
United Nations publication, Sales No. E.90.XVII.11.
*This
list reproduces the original list as it is given
on the Web site of the United Nations Statistics
Division: http://www.un.org/Depts/unsd/citygrp/cgroup.htm.
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