This
issue is published in a positive period
for the Statistics Division of ESCAP:
after a long with vacancies, our division
is fully staffed with the recent arrival
of three new colleagues. The staff movements
section contains their names and short
backgrounds.
The Working Group
of Statistical Experts held its 11th meeting,
a short article summarizes its main conclusions
and discussions as all the documents and
the final report of the meeting are available
on-line.
This issue also
features the application of new information
technology to population data and the
interrelated subjects of time-use surveys
and the measurement of paid and unpaid
work. Many of the activities under the
project on the application of new information
technology are being concluded, whereas
activities on time-use surveys and the
measurement of paid and unpaid work are
just starting.
A number of selected
news items on training opportunities and
conferences are presented as usual. A
"special" article provides information
on selected Web-based resources about
poverty statistics: this field is increasingly
attracting attention among the international
statistical community as the methodological
and practical challenges are stimulating,
and the contribution of statistics towards
the resolution of the problem of "poverty"
is fundamental.
The
Workshop on Application of New Information Technology
to Population Data and the fifth meeting of the
project Working Party were held in Bangkok in
October 1999
The Workshop on Application of New Information
Technology to Population Data was held in Bangkok
from 12 to 20 October 1999. Funded by the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the project
RAS/96/P12, it was organized by the ESCAP secretariat
with active support of the Working Party on
the Application of New Technology to Population
Data, consisting of nine experts from Australia,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, New Zealand,
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Representatives
of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the
Pacific (SIAP), and UNFPA Country Support Teams
for East and South-East Asia, and for Central
and South Asia participated as resource persons.
Invited private sector companies also participated
as observers and made presentations. The Workshop
was attended by thirty participants from eighteen
selected countries in the Asian and Pacific
region.
The Workshop was inaugurated by Ms Kayoko Mizuta,
the Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP. In
her opening statement, Ms Mizuta welcomed the
participants and thanked the donor agency and
resource persons for their commitment to the
successful organization and funding of the Workshop.
She also appreciated the cooperation extended
by private sector organizations to the Workshop.
In noting the benefits of new technology to
statistical services in the region, Ms Mizuta
emphasized the role information technology (IT)
played in reducing costs of census and survey
operations. While it was not possible to present
the full spectrum of technological innovations
in just one workshop, she hoped that, by sharing
information and experiences in significant areas
of IT, participants would enrich and further
improve their understanding of new technologies
relevant for their operations. In wishing the
Workshop success, Ms Mizuta closed her statement
by highlighting that the Workshop materials
would be made available through the project
Web site.
Readers can access all the meeting documents
of the Working Party and those of the Workshop
through the ESCAP Statistics Division's Web
site at: http://www.unescap.org/stat/pop-it/index.htm
The
Working Group of Statistical Experts marked its
eleventh session from 23 to 26 November 1999 with
discussions on key statistical developments in
the Asia-Pacific region
The eleventh session of
the Working Group of Statistical Experts was
held in Bangkok from 23 to 26 November 1999.
The meeting was attended by representatives
of 23 members and associate members of ESCAP,
representatives of the other United Nations
bodies and specialized agencies, representatives
of other international and regional organizations
and also by the Statistical Institute for Asia
and the Pacific (SIAP).
The meeting was opened by the Executive Secretary
of ESCAP, who expressed pleasure at the strong
participation of countries and agencies at the
meeting and at the close interest it denoted
in the statistical work of ESCAP. He noted the
increasing significance of the Working Group
of Statistical Experts and its influence on
the deliberations of the Committee on Statistics
and of the ESCAP Commission. He thanked the
Bureau of the Committee for their support of
the secretariat's work.
The substantial discussions of the session
focussed on the following points as approved
in the agenda:
Overview of significant
global and regional issues in official statistics,
Census 2000 and its implementation
in Asia and the Pacific,
Application of new technology
to population data,
Poverty statistics,
Gender statistics,
Development indicators,
International standard
classifications: developments and status of
implementation,
Year 2000 problem: preparedness
of national statistical offices.
Furthermore, on 26 November, the Working Group
held an open forum on the topic of Development
of Performance Indicators for National Statistical
Offices.
The full report of the session, together with
all the documents presented at the meeting,
is linked through the Meetings page of the Statistics
Division web site at the URL http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/techmeet.htm
therefore, only excerpts of the session's report
will be presented here. Readers interested to
access the meeting documents or the full report
can do so through the Internet or by a direct
request to the contact addresses on the last
page.
Overview of significant global and regional
issues in official statistics
Under this agenda item, participants were briefed
about developments in official statistics originating
mainly from recent sessions of the United Nations
Statistical Commission, the ESCAP Commission
and the Subcommittee on Statistical Activities
of the Administrative Committee on Coordination.
Activities of the City Groups and themes discussed
at the Helsinki session of the International
Statistical Institute (ISI) were also covered.
The discussion on economic topics, focussed
on the 1993 SNA and related satellite accounts
and the phenomenon of e-commerce. For the latter,
"...Noting that electronic commerce was not
the main subject of discussion in any of the
existing global statistical forums, the Working
Group recommended that such a group be created".
On the 1993 SNA, participants were informed
about the intended increase of technical cooperation
activities by the OECD, which planned to cooperate
with ESCAP and ADB in their implementation.
An update on the progress of work of the Expert
Group on Informal Sector Statistics (the Delhi
Group) was also provided.
The General Data Dissemination System (GDDS)
and Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)
are still proving lively topics of discussion.
The Working Group noted that ESCAP had a role
to play in providing assistance in implementing
the GDDS, thus concentrating on countries still
developing their statistical systems.
The Working Group concurred with the concerns
expressed by the Statistical Commission and
ESCAP Commission that implementation of the
SDDS in particular might drain scarce statistical
resources away from national priority areas.
Participants raised concerns about country-ranking
exercises made by the media, based on data regarding
the implementation of SDDS.
The accuracy of data at national level as published
by international organizations and the dissemination
policies of the countries concluded the discussion
under this agenda item. To be highlighted is
the issue of pricing data disseminated in electronic
format, which received considerable attention.
Census 2000 and its implementation in Asia
and the Pacific
The Working Group noted that a large number
of countries/areas in the region planned to
undertake a population and housing census in
either 2000 or 2001. Several countries
conducted their censuses on a quinquennial basis;
the scope of those censuses varied according
to the census cycle and national data needs.
The Working Group noted that in some countries,
including those in Central Asia where the 2000
round of censuses were the first after they
had attained independence, particular challenges
were faced owing to the process of transition
to the market economy and the deterioration
of previous systems of data collection.
The Working Group was informed that the United
Nations publication Principles and Recommendations
for Population and Housing Censuses had been
revised and circulated for use during the 2000
round of censuses.
The Working Group expressed its appreciation
of external assistance, especially that made
available by UNFPA, which had played a significant
role during the earlier census decades in the
conduct of censuses in the least developed and
island developing countries. It noted
with regret, however, that such assistance was
shrinking. In view of that emerging scenario,
the Working Group felt that technical cooperation
among the countries of the region assumed greater
importance.
The Working Group took note of the preparations
for the forthcoming round of censuses and various
issues encountered by countries. It observed
that most countries had been following an elaborate
process of consultation with various data users
and stakeholders in designing questionnaires,
while in some cases feedback was also sought
on data dissemination. The Working Group
noted that many countries would do a 100 per
cent head count using a short questionnaire
form, while in many instances detailed questions
would be canvassed through a longer questionnaire
on a sample basis. Raising public awareness
of the importance of censuses was mentioned
as one key success factor in their conduct.
Singapore's unique tri-modal census data collection
strategy also attracted attention.
Application of new technology to population
data
A large portion of the discussion covered the
activities of the Working Party on the Application
of New Technology to Population Data. It was
recalled that the Working Party had met five
times and had recently organized a workshop
on this theme (see related article in this issue).
It was noted that statistical offices could
best benefit from information technology (IT)
if they adopted it on a systematic and continuous
basis. The Working Group agreed that the traditional
way of conducting censuses and surveys had to
make way for a more IT-intensive method.
Other linkages between the theme of application
of new technologies and census activities were
emphasized. Issues on pricing came up again.
Poverty statistics
The Working Group first recalled some useful
findings from the seminar in poverty statistics
held in Bangkok in June 1999. The fact that
many countries throughout the region agreed
on defining poverty in terms of deprivation
was positive, as it offers a common basis for
poverty measurement. However, differences in
the methodologies used for the measurement of
poverty were noted. There was also a recognition
that the measurement of poverty was at diverse
stages across countries.
A topic of great interest for the Working Group
was the adoption of poverty reduction by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) as its new overarching
objective. The implications, especially in terms
of resources devoted to poverty measurement,
were recognized and ADB briefed the Working
Group on the strategy being developed.
The fact that poverty measurement was so important
for various countries of the ESCAP region led
to speculation about whether the development
of a common methodology could be beneficial
to countries themselves. In this context, prominence
needed to be given to the satisfaction of national
needs, further exploratory work on international
comparability of poverty statistics was considered
an important goal. The leading role played by
the Rio Group on Poverty Statistics was recognized
and countries of the region were invited to
participate in its work.
In endorsing the recommendations of the Seminar
on Poverty Statistics, the Working Group strongly
urged the Asian Development Bank to take
up these recommendations in the course of implementing
its technical assistance activities on poverty
reduction.
Gender statistics and Time Use surveys
The Working Group recalled that addressing
gender issues in important fields such as measuring
employment was one of the recommendations from
the Platform of Action of the Fourth World Conference
on Women in Beijing in 1995.
This important fact led the Working Group to
recognize the importance of making progress
in measuring paid and unpaid work and time use
(see the article on the Ahmedabad seminar).
Several countries contributed to the discussion
by highlighting rather different approaches
to the subject, reflecting primarily the diversity
of social and cultural practices across the
region. It was recognized that time use surveys
were likely to improve the quality of countries'
labour statistics and that the conduct of time
use surveys needed careful planning.
Development indicators
The Working Group noted that the series of
global conferences and summits during the 1990s
had generated new statistical data requirements
for evaluating progress on the goals adopted,
and considered it useful for national statistical
agencies to be more involved in future such
meetings. It welcomed Resolution 1999/55
adopted by the Economic and Social Council on
30 July 1999 and appreciated in particular the
recognition by the Council of the need to
lessen the data provision burden on member States
pertaining to the basic indicators needed as
a follow-up to the conferences. It noted that
overlap among international organizations in
the creation of indicators and collection of
information persisted. The Working Group
welcomed the Council's realization of
the importance of strengthening national statistical
capacity, and supported the full involvement
of the regional commissions and recipient countries
in the proposed high-level working group on
donor coordination in support of national statistical
development strategies.
The Working Group reviewed various core indicator
sets that had been developed. Among them it
noted that UNDAF-CCA had by far the largest
number of indicators. It expressed concern
that some of the indicators were not methodologically
robust; moreover, many were neither readily
available nor were needed for national requirements.
Other important points discussed concerned
the Human Development Index (HDI) and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development
Report. The Working Group noted many expressions
of misgivings with regard to the HDI and heard
with concern that some national statistical
organizations were obliged to utilize their
limited resources to respond and to clarify
misconceptions generated by the Reports. The
Working Group appealed to international agencies
to use statistical data responsibly, and to
be mindful of the potential implications
that publication of erroneous or conceptually
controversial statistics had on the countries
concerned.
The Working Group also noted with interest
the efforts made by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics in developing national progress indicators
in response to the issue of the appropriateness
of GDP as a single measure of progress. The
various options to achieve measures of progress
and their corresponding methodological implications
were discussed by the Working Group.
International standard classifications:
developments and status of implementation
The discussion of the Working Group on this
issue was based on the outcomes of a recent
meeting on classifications held in Canberra,
from 27 September to 1 October 1999. The meeting,
organized by the United Nations Statistics Division
with the collaboration of the Australian Bureau
of Statistics and ESCAP, was attended by 14
countries, almost all from the ESCAP region,
and a number of regional and international organizations.
The Working Group noted that the Workshop,
being the first in the region to deal with classifications
in general, had focused on the current implementation
of activity and product classifications, policy
needs and strategic planning for classification
work, and on introducing to participants the
international family of economic and social
classifications. Most of the countries
represented at the Workshop had implemented
an activity classification based on the International
Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic
Activities (ISIC), Rev.3, while the much more
recent Central Product Classification (CPC)
was being implemented or considered for implementation
by only some of the countries.
The Working Group noted the need expressed
by the Canberra Workshop for a more regional
approach to the development and adaptation of
classifications, whereby countries with similar
economic structures might wish to coordinate
their detailing of the categories of international
standards such as ISIC or CPC.
The Working Group requested the secretariat
to survey the status of implementation of classifications
in the region, from which might emerge the need
for the development of regional or subregional
variants of standard international classifications.
The Working Group also asked the secretariat
to keep countries abreast of developments in
the classifications field through the regular
dissemination of information. The Working Group
also noted that classification work would be
undertaken in two areas which were of particular
interest to developing countries of the region,
namely statistics on the informal sector (in
conjunction with the Delhi Group) and time use
surveys.
The Working Group noted with interest the discussions
at the Canberra Workshop on the design of alternative
groupings of activities in classifications,
and considered that the region could make significant
contributions in that regard. Currently,
for instance, although the "tourism industry"
and "information industry" were very important
in many economies of the region, it was difficult
to obtain data on them using the current configurations
of activity or product classifications.
The Working Group also noted that because agriculture
and fisheries continued to account for sizeable
proportions of GDP and employment in many Asian
and Pacific countries, the case for a more detailed
breakdown of those sectors in existing classifications
was a strong one.
Year 2000 problem: preparedness of national
statistical offices
The Working Group was pleased to note that
the discussions in the previous session of the
Working Group in November 1997 had been instrumental
in initiating discussion at the ESCAP Commission
level. The consequent activities by the
secretariat and SIAP had significantly improved
Y2K awareness in the region and had given a
boost to the rectification efforts in various
national statistical offices.
The Working Group agreed that the NSOs should
use the remaining weeks of 1999 for last-minute
contingency preparations, rather than for initiating
new rectification efforts that could not be
completed before the change of the century.
Some NSOs that had started Year 2000 rectification
early and had subjected their systems to prudent
testing expressed confidence in being internally
Y2K compliant. The Working Group heard that
one NSO had maintained the capacity to revert
to its old non-compliant applications, if its
rectified and tested applications failed for
unexpected reasons.
Seminar
on time use surveys, 7-10 December 1999, Ahmedabad,
India
A seminar on time use surveys
was held in Ahmedabad from 7 to 10 December
1999. The seminar was jointly organized by the
Government of India, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the Centre For Development
Alternatives (CFDA) and ESCAP in collaboration
with several national and international partners.
Time use surveys were recognized as becoming
increasingly important for estimating the value
of paid and unpaid work. While developed countries
use these studies mainly for measuring unpaid
and household work, developing countries tend
to utilize them also for estimating the size
of the workforce and its contribution to the
national income. Though several micro level
studies have been conducted by scholars in developing
countries, India was one of the first countries
in the region to conduct a large-scale time
use survey, covering six major states of the
country.
The seminar was divided into the following
sessions:
Inaugural Session;
Technical Sessions
1 & 2: Time Use Studies: Conceptual, Methodological
and Operational Dimensions;
Technical Session 3:
Labour Force/Work Force Estimation and Employment
Policies;
Technical Session 4:
Valuation and Compiling Satellite Accounts;
Technical Session 5:
Analysis of Time Use Patterns and Policy Implications;
Technical Session 6:
Towards a Global Consensus;
Valedictory Session.
The seminar made several recommendations for national
governments, international organizations, researchers
and activists:
Recommendations
Time use surveys provide
detailed information on how individuals spend
their time and reveal the structure of individuals'
daily lives with a combination of detail and
comprehensiveness not achieved in any other
type of social survey. Consequently, such
surveys are highly valuable for understanding
the socio-economic life of people and for
policy making in the social and economic spheres.
The seminar noted that each economy could
be viewed as a binary economy, consisting
of household and market economies, which produce
GHP (Gross Household Product) and GMP (Gross
Market Product) respectively. It is important
to understand, measure and monitor both the
economies. It is important therefore for countries
to carry out time use surveys in a fairly
regular fashion.
There is a need to strengthen
national statistical offices by equipping
them with the required skills and capabilities
for this purpose. It will be useful therefore:
to prepare guidelines
and instruction manuals for conducting time
use studies;
to prepare resource kits
and training materials as well as organize
suitable training programmes as and when
needed;
To provide country specific
needs/concerns of countries and to develop
a methodology that suits the specific situation
of the country.
As far as the conceptual framework and methodology
of time use surveys are concerned,
It is important that
time use studies include both paid and unpaid
work. Since developed countries also experience
home work and home based work, time use
surveys can be a useful tool to capture
realistic estimates of the work force/labour
force even in developed countries;
There is a need to do
further work on the Trial Classification
of Time Use Activities, particularly (as
done in India) in the first three categories
of the classification. A classification
will emerge gradually with more and more
countries undertaking time use studies;
The seminar has contributed
significantly towards moving in the direction
of a global consensus with respect to concept,
methodology, activity classification etc.
The Indian time use study has developed
concepts and methodology which can be modified
to suit specific needs of developing countries.
One can gradually build on the achievements
of the seminar to evolve global consensus
with regard to major methodological issues;
It was felt that as far
as data collection on time use patterns
is concerned, it will be necessary to train
enumerators if the interview method is used,
or to monitor the quality of data if the
diary method is used.
Some other issues emerged from the seminar.
These are presented in detail in the report
of the seminar, which is available in the ESCAP
Statistics Division's web site at http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/timeuse/timeuse.asp
together with most of the seminar papers. Copies
for those who do not have Internet access will
be made available on request.
Conferences
/ Training opportunities / Other news
Training
in survey research techniques by the Summer
Institute of the University of Michigan
The Summer Institute in
Survey Research Techniques is a teaching programme
of the Survey Research Center, at the Institute
for Social Research, University of Michigan.
The Survey Research Center was established
at the University of Michigan in 1946 to interact
effectively with all parts of the University
and to perform five major functions:
Provide a well-trained
staff and research capability for conducting
surveys on economic and social problems;
Conduct methodological
research for the improvement and development
of survey procedures;
Help in the integration
of the social sciences by providing facilities
for interdisciplinary research on social problems;
Foster theoretical
advancement in the social sciences based on
new data from interdisciplinary research;
Provide graduate training
in all phases of survey methodology.
The summer of 2000 marks the 53rd consecutive
Summer Institute, and offers courses covering
a complete range of techniques employed in social
science and other sample surveys.
Courses will take place from 5 June to 28 July
2000 and are offered in one-week, two-week,
four-week, and eight-week formats, allowing
participants to tailor their course elections
to their individual interests and time constraints.
Covered topics include:
Survey sampling methods
Survey data analysis
Multi-level analysis
Social science research
methods
Qualitative methods
Cognitive foundations
Questionnaire design
Event history analysis
Handling missing data
Computer assisted interviewing
Courses may be taken with or without academic
credits, and costs are different for these two
options. Participants who do not take classes
for credit can expect to pay between $700 for
a one-week class to $2,100 for four classes.
Further information should be sought at the
following address:
Summer Institute Institute for Social Research Survey Research Center P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248 U.S.A.
2000
Summer Workshops in Washington, at the International
Programs Center (IPC) of the U.S. Bureau of the
Census
The International Programs
Center of the U.S. Bureau of the Census has
organized six workshops for the summer 2000.
These workshops are product oriented and cover
practical skills needed in a statistical office.
Courses are as follows:
Analysis and Evaluation
of Gender Statistics, 8 - 26 May (3 weeks,
US $3,000);
Sampling and Statistical
Methods, 30 May - 23 June (4 weeks, US $4,000);
Subnational Population
Projections for Planning, 26 June - 21 July
(4 weeks, US $4,000) ;
Geographic Information
Systems (GIS), 24 July - 1 September (6 weeks,
US $7,200, includes commercial software)
Census and Survey Processing,
5 - 29 September (4 weeks, US $4,000)
Building an Integrated
Data Dissemination System, 2 - 20 October
(3 weeks, US $3,000)
The U.S. Bureau of the Census invites all interested
people, participants and sponsors, to apply at
their earliest convenience as courses tend to
fill rapidly.
For large groups or specific training needs,
the U.S. Bureau of the Census invites statistical
agencies and organizations to contact them and
discuss the possibility of organizing custom-tailored
workshops.
For questions and comments please contact:
Bureau of the Census International Programs Center Training and Technical Assistance Branch Washington Plaza II, Room 309 Washington, D.C. 20233-8860
Tel. (301) 457 1444
Fax. (301) 457 3033
E-mail: ipcta@census.gov
The
2000 cycle of training seminars of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of
Labor
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has
a long tradition in providing international
training. As it did in past years, this summer
it will again organize selected courses on labour
statistics.
These courses have the structure of seminars
and can be addressed to final users or trainers:
in this last case any seminar, except for Managing
Information Technology, might be followed by
a Training of Trainers course designed specifically
for participants who need to train their colleagues
on material learned in a BLS seminar. Courses
include field trips, lectures, workshops and
discussions.
Seminars have a duration of 4 to 6 weeks. The
programme includes the following seminars:
Managing Information
Technology (4 weeks), 15 May - 9 June
Measuring Employment
and Unemployment (6 weeks), 15 May - 23 June
Labor Market Information
(5 weeks), 22 May - 23 June
Measuring Productivity
(5 weeks), 26 June - 28 July
Analyzing Labor Statistics
(6 weeks), 14 August - 22 September
Constructing Price Indexes
(6 weeks), 14 August - 22 September
Economic Indicators (5
weeks), 16 October - 17 November
More detailed information is available at hte
following contact address:
Elizabeth A. Taylor, Director International Labor Statistics Center Bureau of Labor Statistics Room 2190 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20212-0001
The
Conference of the International Association for
Official Statistics (IAOS) on "Statistics, Development
and Human Rights"
The Swiss Federal Statistical
Office (SFSO) and the Swiss Development and
Cooperation Agency (SDC) are organizers of the
next independent Conference of the International
Association for Official Statistics.
The Conference is organized with the support
of several other organizations. The International
Association for Official Statistics (IAOS),
a section of the International Statistical Institute
(ISI), brings together producers and users of
official statistics. The objectives of IAOS
are to promote the understanding and advancement
of official statistics and related subjects
and to foster the development of effective and
efficient official statistical services, particularly
in developing countries, through international
contacts among individuals and organizations,
including users of official statistics as well
as research institutions.
The Conference aims:
To consider the development
and use of official statistics as a tool for
observing and measuring the implementation
of human rights and the effectiveness of human
development.
To promote a dialogue
and a multidisciplinary exchange of experiences
between producers of official statistics and
the users of this information, in particular
those involved in the implementation of human
rights, in political debate, policy design,
scientific research and analysis, as well
as in the media.
To allow individuals,
research institutes, NGOs and national and
international organisations active in the
fields of statistics, development and human
rights, to improve mutual knowledge, to strengthen
links of cooperation and to consider possibilities
of future joint action.
The Conference is not intended to focus on a political
debate on current violations of human rights,
nor to qualify or assess national human development
achievements.
Several personalities have already confirmed
that they will deliver keynote addresses to
the Conference, thus highlighting the high political
significance of this event.
The official languages of the Conference will
be English and French.
The Conference sessions will be grouped in
six topic areas:
Childhood at a Glance
(special session)
Cross-Cutting Issues
Civil and Political Rights
Statistics, Human Rights
and Population Issues
Human Development, Economic
and Social Rights
Human Rights at the Core
of Statistical Policies
corresponding to different areas of the contribution
of statistics to development and human rights'
implementation.
The programme of the Conference provides mainly
for invited papers sessions. However, contributed
papers on themes similar to those of the invited
papers sessions can be proposed by any participant
in the Conference and will be organized in parallel
contributed papers sessions.
For further information on the Conference you
may address your enquiries to:
IAOS Conference Secretariat Swiss Federal Statistical Office Espace de l'Europe 10 CH - 2010 Neuchâtel Switzerland Tel + 41 32 713 60 83 Fax + 41 32 713 60 93
E-mail: iaos2000@bfs.admin.ch
Web site http://www.iaos2000.admin.ch
PARIS21:
something to keep an eye on
What
is PARIS21?
"In a world of infinite needs and finite resources
Governments and Donors need to direct resources
with the greatest effectiveness towards tackling
the big development issues. ... " with these
words starts the home page which describes the
outcome of the Joint UN/OECD/World Bank/IMF
Senior Expert Meeting on Statistical Capacity
Building, held in Paris, 18-19 November 1999.
PARIS21 (PARtnerships In Statistics for development
in the 21st Century) is a consortium created
upon agreement between developing countries
and donors to ensure adequate funding and support
for national statistical systems.
The initiative aims to help bridge the gaps
in statistical capacity which are affecting
the ability to formulate effective policy in
developing countries.
All heads of aid agencies, heads of statistical
offices in United Nations member countries,
participants at the 18-19 November meeting and
permanent delegates to the OECD Development
Assistance Committee have been asked to nominate
contact persons and members to participate in
the following three task forces:
Task force 1 - Addressing
the data requirements of policy frameworks.
This task force will examine urgently the
ways in which country-owned sustainable statistical
systems can be included within development
framework initiatives. The secretariat of
the Development Assistance Committee (DAC)
of the OECD is already in contact with the
other multilateral secretariats to ensure
that every Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP) or strategic plan contains a clear
statement of data and monitoring requirements.
Task force 2 - Building
Strategic Statistical Master Plans. A
highly practical approach is anticipated,
initiating pilots in a few countries to test
out the process for producing a Strategic
Statistical Master Plan.
Task force 3 - Best
Practice and Effective Technical Cooperation.
A practical approach is also anticipated for
this task force to appraise current or recent
projects in order to focus on success stories
in statistics.
PARIS21 is in continuous and rapid evolution and
readers interested in obtaining fresh information
should refer to the web site at http://www.paris21.org/.
What's
on the Web on "poverty statistics"
Continuing to search the Web to find useful
links on various statistical subjects, this
time we write about our searches in the field
of poverty statistics. This is a hot issue and
abundant results came from the search engines,
but very much of what was found did not really
constitute a good enough hit. Or, sometimes,
results were geographically-related to specific
countries or areas.
For this reason we invite our readers to consider
the Web sites we present here only as a useful
starting point, and to perform other searches
if information is needed on poverty statistics
related to a particular country (see issue 114
on how to locate statistical information on
the Internet). However, we believe that the
web sites presented would be very useful to
all those who have to work within this subject.
Experts in poverty statistics who would like
to highlight web resources that we missed finding
are warmly invited to write to the editor.
Some of the links we propose refer to Web sites
of statistical agencies of the United States
government. In particular, the U.S. Census Bureau
has its poverty page at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html,
an initial reference of very well featured pages
referring to either the methodology utilized
or current data and indicators for the United
States.
This is not the only U.S. Web site where good
information can be found, look also at http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/index.htm
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which offers
poverty related information from a "labour"-wide
perspective.
A third site we propose is a U.S. academic
Web site, http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/poverty/
which presents the book "Measuring Poverty:
A New Approach" by the National Academy of Sciences.
A useful summary is presented together with
other information concerning the book, which
lists several recommendations on how to deal
with the measurement of poverty.
"Poverty Guidelines, Research, and Measurement"
at http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/poverty.htm
is another U.S. web site dealing with this subject.
Of special interest are some articles on methodology
available as Acrobat documents.
Particularly impressive is the World Bank's
web site on poverty, including poverty measurement,
at http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/index.htm.
Very useful are their web links and the Poverty
Monitoring Database which provides quick access
to comprehensive poverty information, although
the quality of the data and estimates will inevitably
be variable until more work is undertaken on
poverty measurement.
Two other valuable web sites for information
are that of the Rio Group on Poverty Statistics
at http://www.ibge.gov.br/poverty/
and ESCAP's own pages on the "Seminar on poverty
statistics" at http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/povstat/povstat.htm;
the seminar was organized by the Statistics
Division in June 1999 (see Statistical Newsletter
No. 114).
To conclude, you can visit the web site of
the National Statistical Coordination Board
of the Philippines at http://www.nscb.gov.ph/poverty/
and find abundant and updated information, together
with useful technical notes.
Staff
movements
With great pleasure we announce that the
Statistics Division of ESCAP is finally fully
staffed after a long period with posts vacant.
We would like to share with our readers our
warm welcome to our new colleagues:
Ms Selma Guven
joined the Statistical Development Section
as Statistician, effective 18 October 1999.
Ms Guven joined the Division after 24 years
of working experience with the State Institute
of Statistics in Turkey, where she was head
of Environment Statistics Division for the
last ten years. Ms Guven will initially focus
her activities in the field of environment
statistics.
Mr Blaise Ehou joined the Statistical Information Services
Section as Statistical Database Administrator,
effective 22 November 1999.
Mr Ehou worked for several ministries in Canada
and in Eurostat at the European Community.
His experience spans statistics, economics
and computer science fields. Mr Ehou's primary
area of work with ESCAP will be on database
development and maintenance.
Mr Joel Jere joined
the Statistical Development Section as Statistician,
effective 07 December 1999.
Mr Jere comes to ESCAP from the Southern Africa
Development Community, where he worked as
Commonwealth statistical expert. Earlier he
had been working with the Malawi National
Statistical Common Service. Mr Jere takes
on responsibility for a broad range of economic
statistics.
Publications
released by the Statistics Division
Statistical Indicators
for Asia and the Pacific, Volume XXIX, No.3,
September 1999
Selected Proceedings
of the Seminar on Statistics on Trade
in Services, Bangkok
ESCAP Comparisons of
Real Gross Domestic Product and Purchasing
Power Parities
Missions
of ESCAP Statistics Division Staff
Mr Andrew J. Flatt, Director, Statistics
Division, undertook missions to:
Tokyo (6-8 October):
To represent ESCAP at the 5th session, held
at the Institute's Headquarters, of the SIAP
Governing Board;
Ahmedabad (4-11
December): Together with Ms Heidi R. Arboleda,
Regional Adviser on National Accounts, Ms
Carmelita N. Ericta, Expert on Gender
Statistics, and Ms Kesarin Roonrungmanirat,
Associate Statistician, to service the second
meeting of the Regional Resource Group on
Integrating Paid and Unpaid Work, and to organize
and service the seminar on time use surveys.
Ms Heidi R. Arboleda, Regional
Adviser on National Accounts, visited the following
countries:
Viet Nam (10-23
October): To provide advice on various aspects
of the 1993 SNA and to serve as a training
expert;
Lao PDR (1-7 November):
To provide advice on various aspects of the
1993 SNA and to serve as a training expert
at a training workshop on the compilation
of the 1993 SNA in Vientiane;
Myanmar (8-19 November):
To provide advice on various aspects of the
1993 SNA and to serve as a training expert.
Mr Nuri M. Ozsever, ESCAP Regional
Adviser on Population Data Processing and Database
Management with the UNFPA/CST in Bangkok, visited
the following countries:
Lao PDR (26-30
October): To assist the Lao Youth Union (LYU)
and the National Statistical Center (NSC)
in developing data processing and tabulation
plans for the Reproductive Health Survey for
Adolescents and Young People;
China (15-19 November):
To assist the Ministry of Health to develop
a framework for data entry and analysis of
the RTI/STD survey results;
Cambodia (5-14
December): To assist the National Institute
of Statistics (NIS) in conducting workshop
on the PopMap application and dissemination.
Ms Luisa T. Engracia, ESCAP
Regional Adviser on Population Data Processing
and Database Management with the UNFPA/CST in
Kathmandu, undertook missions as follows:
Bangkok (12-20
October): To participate and act as a resource
person at the Workshop on Application of New
Technology to Population Data;
Tajikistan (18-25
November): To conduct the second phase of
training on data processing for the staff
of the Population Studies Centre.
Visitors
to the Statistics Division
Mr David Bain,
Project Manager, National Accounts Branch,
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Belconne
Mr Tony Johnson,
Principal Research Officer, National Accounts
Research, Australian Bureau of Statistics,
Belconnen
Mr Chamnong Paungpook,
Policy and Plan Analyst, National Economic
and Social Development Board (NESDB), Bangkok
Ms Sivalai Vararuth,
NESDB, Bangkok
Ms Jindarat Srikam,
NESDB, Bangkok
Ms Supattra Cherdchuchai,
NESDB, Bangkok
Mr Maurice Clapisson,
Evaluation Officer, Central Evaluation Unit,
Office of Internal Oversight Services, United
Nations , New York
Dr Jadamba, WHO
Liaison Officer, Office of the WHO Liaison
Officer with ESCAP, Bangkok
Ms Rosanita Serrano,
Programme Coordinator, UNDP Asia Pacific Gender
Equality Network (APGEN), Manila
Ms Carolyn Hannan,
Principal Social Affairs Officer, Office of
the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement
of Women, Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, United Nations, New York
Mr Richard Roberts,
Chief, International Trade Statistics Branch,
Statistics Division, Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York
About Us | Media Centre | Members | Programmes | Documents | Publications | Jobs | 
Bangkok, Thailand