Working Party on the Application of New Technology
to Population Data, Second Meeting
The second meeting of the Working Party on
the Application of New Technology to Population
Data was held in Singapore, from 1 to 3 April
1998.
Representatives of nine countries from the
region attended together with staff members
of ESCAP, theStatistical Institute for Asia
and the Pacific (SIAP) and the United Nations
Statistics Division (UNSD).
Mr Paul Cheung, Chief Statistician, Singapore
Department of Statistics, opened the Working
Party, and continued to serve the meeting as
chairperson.
Mr Sihar Lumbantobing (Indonesia) was elected
Vice-Chairperson.
Mr M. Khalid Siddiqui, Chief of Statistics
Development Section, Statistics Division, thanked
the Singapore Department of Statistics for the
smooth pre-meeting arrangements and provision
of excellent host facilities. He also expressed
appreciation to the donor, UNFPA.
Main points of the adopted
agenda were:
Overall approach to
Census 2000: The Case of Singapore.
Use of secured Internet
in data collection and dissemination in
Singapore.
Internet applications
at various stages of population data collection
and dissemination: experience in the region.
Useful database applications
and systems.
Proposal on an awareness
package on the application of modern technology
to population data.
The meeting has proceeded through the above
mentioned points beginning with the Singapore
Department of Statistics briefing the participants
about its management of the operations undertaken
to carry on the next census in the year 2000.
Presentations on technical and infrastructural
solutions were provided to the participants.
The Singapore Department of Statistics also
brought to the attention of the Working Party
their implementation of the Electronic Transfer
of Returns (ETR) system.
The features of this system were presented,
and participants were informed that this new
service would be available through the Singapore
Department of Statistics' Web site http://www.singstat.gov.sg.
The state of development ofInternet applications
within the region was discussed. Documents from
each of the participating countries were presented,
and the sharing of experiences showed rather
different situations in this field; different
approaches were also recognized as far as the
infrastructure of telecommunication services
and Internet connectivity in the countries are
concerned.
Three different software packages (FASTAB,
TREND and CEIS) were introduced and participants
were given a demonstration of their features.
In discussing the last point, "Proposal on
an awareness package on the application of modern
technology to population data" the Working Party
recognized the importance of decision makers
and influential data users in the promotion
of the utilization of IT in the NSOs of the
region.
The Working Party also released a set of recommendations,
some of which are reproduced here:
Recommendations regarding
the work underway
Regretting that the
preparatory work for the identified pilot
applications had been delayed, mainly because
of the secretariat's personnel resource constraints,
the Working Party requested the secretariat
and the pilot countries to finalize the administrative
arrangements on a priority basis.
To expedite the preparation
of guidelines, the Working Party requested:
the secretariat to
provide the coordinators within a month
with samples of similar guidelines prepared
in other areas of information technology
or statistics;
the coordinators to
draw up outlines for the guidelines and
circulate them by e-mail to the members
of the Working Party for feedback within
one month after receiving the samples;
that the coordinators
then within 2-3 months prepare drafts
for as many chapters/sections as possible,
utilizing available literature, materials
and discussions of the Working Party,
experiences of the NSOs, and, if necessary,
the help of consultants;
that for other chapters/sections,
coordinators should approach the Working
Party members and other experts for contributions
and/or reference material;
the coordinators to
submit the structure and preliminary draft
of the guidelines to the third meeting
for comments and suggestions.
The Working Party recommended
that the guidelines should be self-contained,
be prepared with a view to benefiting developing
countries, and that their focus should not
be limited to the domains of the pilot applications.
Recommendations on the
Newsletter and the Web site
Noting the constraints
of the secretariat in producing the project
newsletter, the Working Party requested the
secretariat to prepare outlines for all issues
and solicit contributions from members by
e-mail. It recommended that the first two
issues be limited to the Working Party meetings
already held and requested the secretariat
to publish them as soon as possible.
The Working Party requested
the secretariat to dedicate a section to the
Working Party at the Statistics Division's
Web site, featuring the newsletter, meeting
documents, recommendations, guidelines and
other work done in the project.
Welcoming the recruitment
of a programme assistant for the project,
the Working Party requested the secretariat
to start collecting links to sites and documents
concerning IT applications to population data.
The Working Party asked
the secretariat to investigate the possibility
of establishing at its Web site a repository
of documents on population data technologies.
Meanwhile, it welcomed the offer of the Singapore
Department of Statistics to establish an online
repository with assistance from other members
and associate members of ESCAP and recommended
that reciprocal links be established between
the two sites.
Noting that web publishing
was standard practice for disseminating information,
the Working Party requested all members to
provide their future contributions in electronic
format. To alleviate the work load of the
secretariat, the Working Party encouraged
the provision of meeting documents in HTML,
or in a format that was easy to convert into
HTML.
Recommendations on themes,
timing and venues of future meetings
The Working Party decided
that the third meeting would be held tentatively
in the second half of October 1998, focusing
on population data capture, coding, verification
and workflow.
Noting that Indonesia
was preparing its pilot application on imaging
involving evaluation of alternative technologies
for handling the very large volume of census
forms, the Working Party considered Jakarta
to be one suitable venue for its third meeting.
It approved the provisional agenda and documentation
plan for the third meeting, as proposed by
the subgroup on imaging technologies.
The fourth meeting was
tentatively scheduled for March 1999, with
a focus on GIS.
Recommendations on the
use of Internet
Noting the positive
experiences of Singapore and other countries
in using the Internet in data dissemination,
the Working Party encouraged in general all
statistical offices to establish an effective
Internet presence, and use it innovatively
in census and survey operations.
The Working Party noted
the innovative efforts of some countries in
using the Internet for data collection and
encouraged them to share their experiences
with other countries.
The Working Party recommended
that NSOs adopt an incremental and modular
approach to developing a Web site, especially
when resources are limited.
Noting that several
advanced NSOs were depending on e-mail for
their daily communications and had thereby
significantly increased their productivity,
the Working Party recommended an extensive
use of e-mail and other Internet applications
by all NSOs in census planning, document sharing,
data transfer and other related functions.
The Working Party noted
that to achieve maximum benefits from the
new technologies, changes might be necessary,
among other things, in organizational structures,
coordination arrangements and individual responsibilities.
It recommended that NSOs should take a critical
look at population data operations as a whole
with a view to "reengineering" them to meet
the requirements and opportunities of Internet
technologies. It stressed that systematic
training of staff was essential to instill
a holistic approach that took the technology
into account from the beginning.
The Working Party recommended
that metadata be included as an essential
component at census Web sites as they added
considerably to the value of population data.
The metadata could include such information
as the general organization of the census,
coverage, census forms, instructions to field
workers, methods followed in derivation of
numeric results, accuracy, sampling methodology,
and references to published reports.
Recognizing that there
was a glut of information competing for users'
attention, the Working Party felt that it
was necessary to promote statistical Web sites
by using all available means, including announcements
on national and global search engines.
Discussing other ways
to increase the visibility of population data,
the Working Party recommended equipping Web
sites with a search facility, preferably the
types allowing open text searches; it further
recommended systematic use of HTML metakeys
and descriptive titles that were automatically
picked up by referencing engines and "crawlers".
Mindful that a large
number of Internet users in developing countries
were behind a narrow bandwidth connection,
the Working Party cautioned authors not to
include large graphics components on pages
that made download times prohibitive. The
Working Party emphasized that it was important
for the developers to test web pages with
low-end browsers that did not support graphics,
and provided a text-only alternative.
The Working Party noted
that the development of electronic commerce
technologies and secure data encryption had
opened up new possibilities for commercial
statistical products. It urged NSOs to consider
that new area as another means of data dissemination.
Noting the benefits
of the Internet in making statistics available
to users faster and in greater depth than
previously, the Working Party recommended
that statistical offices streamline their
release approval/authorization processes to
match the significant progress achieved in
the technical dissemination process.
The Working Party noted
that a number of software, applications, and
solutions have been developed by NSOs which
can be shared among the countries/areas of
the region. It recommended that such software
and applications available which might be
available for distribution be listed on the
ESCAP homepage. The Working Party expressed
its gratitude to the Singapore Department
of Statistics for identifying FASTAB as a
product which could be shared in the region.
Recognizing the importance
of the influence of policy and decision makers
in prioritization for budget allocations,
the Working Party recommended that an awareness
package should be prepared and that its content
should stress the importance and purpose of
census taking including the necessity of making
available census data quickly to the users.
The content of the package could focus on
strategies and application of technology in
the various phases of census operations with
an emphasis on speedy processing and timely
dissemination of census data. The package
should be in the form of a short video with
supporting documents, which should be made
available for the 2000 round of censuses.
Fifty-fourth
session of ESCAP
The fifty-fourth session
of ESCAP was held in Bangkok, in April 1998,
at the United Nations Conference Centre.
It saw participation of: representatives from
45 members and associate members, representatives
from 15 other countries,
other United Nations bodies and specialized
agencies, various intergovernmental as well
as non-governmental organizations. After the
adoption of the agenda, the session was declared
open by the Chairperson of the fifty-third session,
HE Mr S.A.M.S. Kibria, and participants were
welcomed by the Prime Minister of Thailand,
HE Mr Chuan Leekpai.
Following these initial statements, participants
focused their attention on issues relating to
the six subjects below:
Regional economic cooperation
Environment and natural
resources development
Socio-economic measures
to alleviate poverty in rural and urban areas
Transport, communications
tourism and infrastructure development
Statistics
Least developed, landlocked
and island developing countries
Other important issues regarding the ongoing process
of the United Nations reform were also discussed.
Extracts from the Commission session's report
related to Statistics and the Statistical Insitute
for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) follow. These
decisions and recommendations provide general
inputs guiding our work programme.
The Commission recognized
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.
It 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.
The Commission welcomed
the initiative of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) 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 observed
with interest that several countries had already
subscribed to SDDS while others were attempting
to do so. In that connection it appreciated
the efforts made and difficulties faced by
those countries and urged that technical expertise
and assistance should be made available to
them. The Commission 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,
especially where adherence to the standards
might otherwise distort statistical priorities.
It urged that ESCAP, through the Committee
on Statistics, should 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.
The Commission underscored
the importance of population and housing censuses
as vital sources of statistics, especially
for small areas. It emphasized the need for
all member and associate member governments
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.
Many countries were
aspiring to improve the quality and timely
availability of census data and develop cost-effective
strategies for census operations through such
approaches as improved organization, conduct
of pilots and experiments, use of imaging
and optical character recognition (OCR) technologies,
decentralized data processing, improved training
and the enlisting of voluntary support of
various organizations and individuals. 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 UNFPA-funded project on
the application of new technology to population
data.
In the field of gender
statistics required for development planning,
the Commission noted with interest that several
members and associate members had successfully
developed and improved statistics on gender
issues. After participating in ESCAP projects
on gender issues, a number of countries had
continued their work in that area by issuing
and updating statistical publications on women
and men and developing a sex disaggregated
database. The Commission noted the need for
technical and financial assistance as well
as training on gender statistics and gender
sensitization, in particular in the areas
of methodology and analysis. Effective methodologies
for evaluating the contribution of women to
the national economy, especially in the informal
sector, also needed to be addressed. The Commission
urged the secretariat to continue playing
a coordinating role in the area of gender
statistics.
The Commission recognized
the role of the 1993 System of National Accounts
(SNA) as a framework for collecting and presenting
macroeconomic statistics required for planning
and policy purposes. It noted with interest
the activities being planned or undertaken
in various countries, and the different stages
of development reached in the implementation
of the System. In that connection it observed
that some countries had already acquired theoretical
knowledge about the 1993 SNA but still lacked
practical experience in the compilation of
national accounts statistics. The Commission
urged that workshops at regional, subregional
and country levels be organized, particularly
for mid-level statisticians, and heard with
appreciation that host facilities would be
provided by the Government of Indonesia for
a subregional workshop scheduled from 1 to
12 June 1998 in Jakarta. The Commission expressed
its appreciation of the secretariat's efforts
in promoting the implementation of the 1993
SNA and urged bilateral and multilateral donor
agencies, including the Asian Development
Bank and the United Nations Development Programme,
to provide the support needed to accelerate
the development of national accounts compilation
in the region.
The Commission noted
that price statistics was considered an important
area in many national statistical services,
and welcomed efforts being made towards improving
the measurement of inflation. It noted that
the International Comparison Programme (ICP)
results could be used to provide an alternate
measure of comparable real GDP across countries,
which was particularly important in the face
of exchange rate volatility among them. While
a reservation was expressed about the value
of the ICP, and the soundness of the methodology
adopted, there were also calls for donors
to support the secretariat's project proposal
on the Programme.
The Commission expressed
deep concern about the predicted disruptions
that the year 2000 (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
recognized that the problem was not restricted
to statistics, but also affected infrastructure
services such as electricity supply and telecommunications,
as well as banking and other systems. The
Commission emphasized that it was the responsibility
of top level management to initiate organization-wide
action to address the issue. For identification
and resolution of the problem, the Commission
recommended the use of multidisciplinary teams
that periodically reported on progress to
high-level management.
As an immediate measure,
the Commission recommended that organizations
demand guarantees from suppliers that all
new software and equipment were year 2000
compliant. The Commission advised all organizations
to make contingency plans in case of failure
of their own systems or of external or foreign
systems that they were increasingly dependent
on. Given the urgency of the situation, the
impending high work volume in fixing existing
systems meant that mission-critical applications
had to be given the highest 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 of
Statistical Experts in regard to 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 Commission expressed
its appreciation for the work of the secretariat
in the field of statistics, which deserved
support, additional resources and due priority.
The secretariat's activities had made a very
useful contribution to the development of
statistics in the region, and in close cooperation
with the member countries themselves, had
assisted significantly in strengthening national
statistical capabilities. It endorsed the
priority areas of work of the Statistics subprogramme
in 1998-1999 as listed by the Committee on
Statistics, and concurred with the view of
the Working Group of Statistical Experts that
most of those areas remained as priorities
for the next biennium. Priority areas identified
by the Commission included the 1993 SNA, social
statistics including disability statistics,
services statistics, gender statistics, the
informal sector, price statistics, environment
statistics, poverty measurement and management
issues in statistics.
The Commission noted
with gratitude that, since the fifty-third
session, the secretariat had received generous
extrabudgetary assistance which had contributed
enormously to the impact of its operational
activities. Bilateral donors included the
Governments of Japan, the Netherlands, the
Republic of Korea and Sweden, while China
and Singapore had provided host facilities.
Substantial multilateral assistance had been
provided by UNFPA, UNIFEM and the World Bank.
In discussing the Statistical
Institute for Asia and the Pacific, the Commission
took note of the important activities of the
Institute in 1997/98 and the range of subjects
included in the curriculum of its Tokyo-based
courses and under its outreach programme.
The Commission commended SIAP for consulting
with national statistical offices on the restructuring
of courses to better meet the region's training
needs. It welcomed inclusion in the training
curriculum of new topics, such as, statistics
on disability, gender issues, poverty and
income distribution, the environment and the
informal sector.
The Commission expressed
appreciation to UNDP for its programme support
to SIAP for strengthening national capability
in data collection, compilation and analysis
for the preparation of national human development
reports.
Several delegations
reiterated the benefits that their countries
had received from SIAP's training courses;
some requested SIAP to consider increased
participation for their countries. SIAP was
also urged to continue and expand its training
programmes in sampling, data processing, and
analysis and interpretation of statistics,
as well as to offer new topics such as modeling
and forecasting.
The Commission also
expressed its appreciation of the initiatives
taken to chart the new direction of SIAP,
particularly in developing collaborative partnerships
with national statistical offices and other
international and regional bodies for the
conduct of training courses. In this regard,
it urged ESCAP members and associate members
and international organizations to actively
collaborate with SIAP. Several delegations
offered to cooperate with SIAP in the conduct
of courses in their countries.
The Commission also
commended SIAP on its efforts to achieve cost-effectiveness
by relocating one Tokyo-based course to a
venue where costs were lower and the support
of the national authorities was forthcoming.
It recognized that with the savings from such
an initiative, more courses could be conducted
on new topics. Furthermore, it welcomed the
inclusion of ESCAP members and associate members
with similar needs in specialized country
and other training courses organized by SIAP
and hosted by national statistical offices
to enhance cost-effectiveness and substantive
impact.
In welcoming the offer
of training expertise to assist SIAP in specialized
subject areas, the Commission urged ESCAP
members and associate members and international
organizations to enhance their in-kind contributions,
including assignment to SIAP of experts on
a non-reimbursable loan basis.
The Commission noted
the recommendations and suggestions of the
Governing Board of SIAPat its third session.
It welcomed SIAP's proposal to mobilize additional
funding from non-traditional sources and through
other funding arrangements. Furthermore, it
supported the suggestions of the Board concerning
the training of trainers, distance learning,
restructuring of the six-month course on practical
statistics, statistical training on a sectoral
basis and in emerging areas, advanced-level
seminars on contemporary issues, and involvement
in collaborative arrangements with statistical
agencies on recent developments in statistics
to source materials for the training programmes.
The Commission expressed
its gratitude to the Government of Japan for
its generous provision of the bulk of the
funding support to SIAP, and urged that the
financial viability of the Institute should
be secured in order to prevent any adverse
impact on its programme and activities. It
noted with appreciation that the Government
of Japan would continue to provide to SIAP
significant support in 1998/99 in both cash
and kind.
The Commission acknowledged
the increase in cash contributions by several
ESCAP members, and placed on record its appreciation
to members and associate members for their
contributions to SIAP. It also expressed its
thanks to UNDP and other donors for their
continued programme support. In addition,
it requested other ESCAP members not contributing
to the Institute to do so, and those countries
not meeting the minimum amounts as indicated
in the Commission's guidelines to increase
their contributions.
The Commission strongly
supported SIAP's programme of work for 1998/99.
The Commission, in expressing its satisfaction
with the work of SIAP as the only regional
training centre in statistics, stressed that
the Institute should continue to focus its
training programme on statistical capability
building needs of the developing and least
developed ESCAP members and associate members.
Book
Review
UNFPA Country Support Team
for East and South-East Asia, Bangkok. Census
and Survey Data Processing in East and South-East
Asia in the 1990s: Issues and Lessons Learned. Bangkok, UNFPA/CST, 1998. 40 pages.
This concise volume presents, from a practical
point of view, experiences and know-how gained
by the countries of the East and South-East
Asia in conducting population and housing censuses
and demographic surveys during the 1990s. The
main author is Mr M Nuri Ozsever, the ESCAP
Adviser on Population Data Processing and Database
Management with the Bangkok CST.
It is the sixth of the UNFPA/CST Occasional
Paper Series and its main contents are short
descriptions of the countries' approaches to
the many aspects of processing an extensive
and difficult operation like a census or a household
survey. "The purpose of this paper (as noted
in the introduction) is to bring out some
of the data processing experiences."
The information presented is drawn from the
responses of seven out of the twelve countries
that received a survey questionnaire in 1995.
The paper introduces the kind of hardware and
software resources used by the reporting countries
and different methods of data collection. It
describes lessons learned about various topics
(data processing tasks, requirements of financial
and human resources, training programmes etc.)
and concludes by focusing on how data processing
plans for the next year 2000 round of censuses
should be realistically developed.
In the words of Mr. Ghazi Farooq, Director
of the UNFPA CST for East and South-East Asia,
this publication, like the other papers of the
series, "is not intended to reflect original
and path-breaking research--which is not a function
of the CST--but to provide, based on the practical
experiences of the Team, analytical and thought
provoking reviews and perspectives on important
and emerging issues of particular relevance
to the sub-region."
The paper makes interesting reading for all
those concerned with the dvelopment of censuses,
surveys, or other activities involving statistical
data processing, throughout the East and South-East
countries.
The language is simple and accessible to all.
Highly recommended.
Missions
of ESCAP Statistics Division Staff
Mr A.J. Flatt, Director,
Statistics Division undertook a mission to:
New York (7-15
February): To represent ESCAP at the 19th
session of the Statistical Commission's Working
Group on International Statistical Programmes
and Coordination, New York, 10-13 February
1998, and related meetings.
Mr M. Khalid Siddiqui, Chief, Statistics
Development Section, together with Mr Ilpo
Survo, Programme Officer, undertook a joint
mission to:
Singapore (30
March - 4 April): To service and organize
the Second Meeting of the Working Party on
Application of New Technology to Population
Data, Singapore, 1-3 April 1998.
Mr Loh, Meng Kow, Statistician and Ms Heidi Arboleda, Regional Adviser on
National Accounts undertook a joint mission
to:
Hong Kong, China (6-8 January): To discuss the technical inputs
in Hong Kong to the first Subregional Workshop
on the Implementation of 1993 System of National
Accounts (SNA), and Hong Kong's possible participation
in the OECD-ESCAP meeting on national accounts
in Bangkok, 4-8 May 1998.
Ms Heidi Arboleda, Regional Adviser
on National Accounts, visited the following
countries:
Nepal (9-22 February):
To provide advisory services on the implementation
of the 1993 System of National Accounts in
Nepal according to the terms of reference
sent by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Bhutan (3-10 March):
To provide advisory services on the activities
to be undertaken for the improvement of the
Bhutan System of National Accounts.
Brunei Darussalam (8-17 April): To provide advisory services
on the estimation of GDPand the compilation
of the 1993 SNA.
Mr L.H. Lewis, ESCAP Adviser
on Population Statistics with the UNFPA/CST
in Suva, undertook missions to:
Viet Nam (5-16
January): To provide technical assistance
on preparation for the 1999 population and
housing census.
Papua New Guinea (1-14 February): To provide technical assistance
on the preparation for the 2000 census of
population, as well as on the formulation
of the project document.
New York (23 February-10
March): To work as member of a team in finalizing
UNFPA indicators at Asia and the Pacific Division,
UNFPA Headquarters in New York (23 February-6
March); and to discuss with the United Nations
Statistical Division (UNSD) on Central Asian
population censuses, United Nations, New York
(9-10 March).
Ms Luisa T. Engracia, ESCAP Adviser
on Population Statistics with the UNFPA/CST
in Almaty, undertook missions to:
Tajikistan (25-31
January): To assess the capability of the
State Statistical Committee to plan and undertake
a census of population and to determine its
needs for technical assistance.
Maldives (4 February-7
March): To assist in processing and tabulating
the results of the 1995 census of population.
Uzbekistan (22-28
March): To identify the needs of the Tashkent
pediatrics institute in processing the data
of a survey on the elderly population: the
survey is part of an ESCAP study: Asia's Population
Future: Implications for the Family and the
Elderly.
Bangladesh (21
April-7 May): To assist in the formulation
of a component project on computerized mapping
for the 2001 population census under the Population
and Development subprogramme of the 5th UNFPA
Population Country Programme of Bangladesh.
Mr M.N. Ozsever, ESCAP Adviser on Population
Data Processing and Database Management with
the UNFPA/CST in Bangkok, undertook a mission
to:
Mongolia (16 March
- 4 April): A joint mission to assist (i)
the National Statistical Office (NSO) in designing
a reproductive health (RH) survey questionnaire
and to discuss data processing issues; and
(ii) the Health Management Information and
Education Center (HMIEC) of the Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare (MHSW) in designing
a Logistic Management Information System (LMIS)
situation Analysis/Study.
Myanmar (7-11
April): A joint mission to assist the Department
of Population, Ministry of Immigration and
Population in finilazing the tabulation plan
for the main Fertility and Reproducive Health
Survey's report, and to discuss related data
processing issues; also to partecipate as
a resource person in the Dissemination Workshop
on the preliminary findings of the above survey.
Publications
released by the Statistics Division
Statistical Newsletters
Nos. 106 and 107
Statistical Indicators
for Asia and the Pacific, Volume XXVII, No.3,
September 1997 and No.4, December 1997
Asia-Pacific in Figures,
1997, eleventh edition
Women in India - A Country
Profile, Statistical Profiles, No. 12, 1997
Women in Sri Lanka -
A Country Profile, Statistical Profiles, No.
13, 1997
Staff
Movements
Mr Loh Meng Kow,
formerly Statistician in the Statistics Development
Section, has been appointed as Chief of the
Statistical Information Services Section effective
1 March 1998.
Mr Roberto Pagan joined the Statistics Division as Associate
Statistician in the Statistical Information
Services Section on 25 March 1998.
Visitors
to the Statistics Division
Mr. Zhao Yuhai, Deputy Director-General, Department of Planning,
The State Science & Technology Commission
of China, Beijing
Mr. Xie Min, Senior
Staff Member, Statistics Division, Department
of Planning, State Science & Technology
Commission of China, Beijing
Ms. Liu Shumei, Statistics Division, Department of Planning,
State Science & Technology Commission
of China, Beijing
Yang Qi Quan, Associate
Research Professor, National Research Center
for Science & Technology for Development,
The State Science & Technology Commission
of China, Beijing
Dr. Junpen Meka-Apiruk, Policy & Planning Analyst, Office of Policy
and Planning, Ministry of Science, Technology
and Enviroment, Thailand
Ms. Pornthipa Luengwatanakit, Chief, Science Indicator Section, Office of
Policy and Planning, Ministry of Science,
Technology and Enviroment, Thailand
Mr. Albert W. De Groot, Head, Unit Macro and Public Sector Economies,
Division of Macro and Sector Policies, Netherlands
Mr Romeo A. Reyes, Senior Regional Programme Coordinator, United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bangkok
Mr Takaaki Taki, Executive Secretary, Japan ESCAP Association,
Bangkok
Ms Heather Gibb, Senior Researcher, The North-South Institute,
Ottawa
Mr Takashi Saito, Enterprise Statistics and Research Office,
Research and Statistics Department, Ministry
of International Trade and Industry (MITI),
Tokyo
Mr Fukunari Kimura, Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics,
Keio University, Tokyo
Mr Shafeek I. Saleeb, Interegional Adviser on Computers and Informatics,
United Nations Statistics Division , New York
Mr Boonthavy Sisouphanthong, Director, National Statistical Centre, Vientiane
Mr Shi Ting, Statistician,
Division of International Statistics, International
Statistical Information Center, State Statistical
Bureau (SSB), Beijing
Mr Lu Haiqi, Statistician,
Division of International Statistics, International
Statistical Information Center, SSB, Beijing
Mr Ren Xiaoyan, Statistician, Division of International Statistics,
International Statistical Information Center,
SSB, Beijing
Mr Shenglong Hao, Statistician, Information Division, Integrated
Department, SSB, Beijing
Ms Uyen Luong, Deputy to the Director, Asia and the Pacific
Division, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
New York
Ms Kanitha Phongsupasamit, Manager, Business Consulting Division, Sakura
Bank Group, Bangkok
Ms Nittaya Sithimanee, Rajamongkol Institute, Bangkok
Software/Training
IDAMS NEWS,
Internationally Developed
Data Analysis Management Software Package.
IDAMS is distributed free-of-charge by the
UNESCO Secretariat upon request from institutions
and it can also be obtained from official distributors.
We received IDAMS NEWS, informing us about
this free software package, and its training
sessions: there are no registration fees, but
all other costs are at the expense of participants.
Moreover, it is specified that the international
training seminars are not meant to train participants
in statistical techniques.
English will be the main language although
explanations in French can be provided. Training
materials will be in English and French.
For 1998 there is a training session to be
held in Paris, at UNESCO Headquarters, from
Monday 23 to Wednesday 25 November.
The software package release 4.0 runs under
DOS, while the 3.02 release for mainframe is
in either IBM OS or IBM VM/CMS version. User
manuals are in English, French and Spanish.
For reasons of space we cannot provide here
a copy of the request forms: interested persons
and institutions can find more information about
the seminar for 1998 by contacting UNESCO directly.
Mail:
UNESCO, CII/INF - IDAMS
1, rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15
France
Telephone: (33-1) 45.68.38.96, (33-1) 45.68.38.97,
(33-1) 45.68.37.89
Fax: (33-1) 45.68.55.82 (specify IDAMS)
E-mail: idams@unesco.org
Web site: http://www.unesco.org/idams
International Training
Programmes in Labour Statistics, 1998
The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), International Labor Statistics
Center is organizing a group of training seminars
on various topics.
These seminars are designed primarily for
economists, statisticians, analysts, managers
and researchers working with labour statistics.
A basic knowledge of statistics and some experience
in analysis of labour and social data is required.
The aim is to strengthen the participants'
ability in handling labour statistics and to
demonstrate how such data may be used in policy/programme
development and decision making.
The seminars will include lectures, discussions,
workshops and a field trip.
The list of seminars follows: those in italics
will most likely be over before the present
issue of the Newsletter, but they are included
for reference.
Managing Information
Technology,
May 18 - June 12, 1998;
Tuition Fee= $3,650
Constructing Price
Indexes (*),
June 1 - July 10, 1998;
Tuition Fee= $5,150
Measuring Productivity,
June 29 - July 31, 1998;
Tuition Fee= $4,400
Measuring Employment,
Underemployment and Unemployment (*),
July 13 - August 21, 1998;
Tuition Fee= $5,150
Projecting Tomorrow's
Workforce Needs,
August 17 - September 25, 1998;
Tuition Fee= $ 5,150
Economic Indicators,
August 24 - September 25, 1998;
Tuition Fee = $5,150
Analyzing Labor Statistics (*),
October 13 - November 20, 1998;
Tuition Fee = $5,150
Training of Trainers
(TOT),
Three days special program available as optional
only for participants at the marked (*) seminars.
Tuition Fee= $500
Materials will be provided by the BLS (texts
and reference materials) but participants are
asked to bring with them materials (questionnaires,
sample publications) on methods used in their
countries to collect data on labour statistics.
The seminars will be held in English. Arrangements
for simultaneous interpretation are possible
for an additional fee.
The BLS cannot provide financial support for
participants, who are usually sponsored by their
governments.
Other information about certificates awarded
after successful participation, medical insurance
requirements, arrival date and orientation,
accommodation etc is available. Please contact:
Elizabeth A. Taylor, Director
International Labor Statistics Center
Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Department of Labor, Room 2190
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, D.C. 20212-0001
Telephone: (202) 606-5666
Fax: (202) 606-7900
E-mail: Int_Train@bls.gov
http://stats.bls.gov/inthome.htm
Obituary
It is with deep regret that we announce the
demise of Dr. S.G. Tiwari, the former
Regional Adviser on National Accounts, on 10
March 1998 at New Delhi. He leaves behind his
wife Sheila, and two sons. He was 79 years old.
Dr. Tiwari joined the Statistics Division
of ESCAP in April 1970 and retired in June 1984.
During 14 years of continuous service with ESCAP,
he undertook some 68 missions to 29 countries
to advise on various aspects of national accounts.
Responding to specific requests from governments,
he made an enormous contribution to the development
of national accounts capability among countries
of the region. His expert services were always
valued very highly.
Prior to joining ESCAP, Dr. Tiwari had a distinguished
career with the Government of India, culminating
in the position of Chief of Economic Growth
and Policy, Planning Commission. In the 1960s
he played a prominent role in a series of ECAFE
expert group meetings in preparation for the
adoption of the 1968 SNA. Dr. Tiwari was educated
at Banaras Hindu University, obtaining an M.A.
in Economics in 1943 and D.Litt in National
Income in 1949.
He will be remembered here with respect and
affection.
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