UNSD-SADC Statistics Project
First Meeting of the Steering Committee
Durban, 14-16 July 2006
Building Statistical Capacity to
Monitor Development
Francesca Perucci
United Nations Statistics Division
Monitoring development goals and
the impact on statistical systems
 Monitoring requirements in countries have
increased the demand for official statistics
 National and international reports have
increased the visibility of official statistics
 Monitoring reports are important advocacy tool
for strengthening statistical capacity and
improving statistics
 Monitoring requirements have called the
attention to shortcomings in the availability of
data
How many countries can produce MDG
indicators?
Countries in Africa with at least 2 data
points for any given indicator
Africa
100%
Percentage of countries
Countries with
+20 indicators* (%)
At least 2 data
points
75%
50%
25%
0%
1-10
11-20
21-30
Number of indicators
81
Northern Africa
80
Sub-Saharan Africa
81
All other developing
regions
77
World
78
more than 30
* Based on data produced by countries
How often are the necessary data
produced?
Countries in Africa with at least 3 data
points for any given indicator
Percentage of countries
80%
70%
No. indicators with min. 3 points
60%
No. indicators with min. 2 points
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1-10
11-20
21-30
more than 30
Countries with
+20 indicators* (%)
Africa
23
Northern Africa
40
Sub-Saharan Africa
21
Other developing
regions
65
World
44
Number of indicators
* Based on data produced by countries
Assessment of data availability
 Country data in Africa are available for most of
the indicators but less frequently than elsewhere
 Country data are less recent
 Lack of data especially in some crucial areas
such as employment
Implications for capacity building
 Results of the assessment were presented at various
meetings with NSOs (ex: Rome, Oct. 2005, Cape Verde,
Dec. 2005)
 Results were circulated to national statistical offices of
all member states
 Discussion on the results and the implications for
countries’ capacity took place at the Statistical
Commission in March 2006
 A resolution was proposed by countries for its adoption
at the current session of ECOSOC –being held in
Geneva this month
Building statistical capacity
The challenge
 Ensuring that the necessary statistics and
indicators be made available in the short
term to allow countries to monitor progress
and inform the necessary policies
 Developing sustainable statistical systems in
countries
 Ensuring that indicators be available in the
short-term at the international level to
promote and inform the political debate
Building statistical capacity
The way forward
 Strengthening the network of national
statisticians in the region and the dialogue
across regions
 Stepping up the discussion to the political
level (from the region to the UN Stat
Commission to ECOSOC and GA)
 Bring the demand for technical and financial
assistance to donors within a consistent
framework (bilateral and multilateral donors
should improve their coordination
mechanisms)
The Development Account
 The Development Account is an
integral part of the technical
cooperation activities of the economic
and social entities of the United Nations
under the umbrella of the Executive
Committee for Economic for Economic
and Social Affairs (EC-ESA)
The Development Account
• Development Account projects aim at capacitybuilding through sub-regional, regional and
interregional economic and technical cooperation among
developing countries
• The projects serve as a natural extension to the
normative and policy activities of the implementing
agencies in their follow-up the United Nations
conferences and summits in economic and social
affairs. Projects are executed by members of EC-ESA.
• The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Affairs acts as Programme Manager of the Account.
The Development Account
The approach
The General Assembly established that
Development Account projects should:
• demonstrably strengthen national development
capacity ensuring project sustainability
• use information and communications
technology and networking of expertise
• use partnerships and South-South
cooperation.
Project sustainability
• Project sustainability is ensured through
consistent and proactive involvement of
stakeholders in project design and
implementation.
• Project sustainability can also be promoted
through the co-financing of pilot activities by
partners.
Information and Communications
Technologies
• Information and communications
technologies (ICT) are at the core of many
Development Account projects because of
their multiplier potential and adaptability
to development activities beyond the project
scope.
Networking
•
•
•
Development Account projects emphasize the
importance of building knowledge networks—
supported by information and communications
technologies—which allow countries directly to
access information on good practices.
Capacity-building through networking of local
expertise offers collaborative opportunities,
often beyond those originally envisioned by project
designers.
Networks can create additional regional and
interregional links conducive to capacity-building
in specific fields, thus leading to requests for
further networking and technical assistance.
Partnership and South-South
Cooperation
•
•
•
The Development Account supports the creation and
strengthening of development partnerships between
the United Nations and outside institutions.
80 per cent of projects are executed by more than one
entity and often in collaboration with other UN entities.
Many projects engage regional organizations and local,
regional, and/or international non-governmental
organizations.
All projects emphasize exchange of experience and
cooperation activities among developing countries
within and outside the region
Development Account Projects
• To date, 94 projects have been approved by the
General Assembly out of regular budget funds
for a total amount of $67 million
Development Account Projects in Statistics in Africa
Title
Entity
Region
Theme
06/07T: Strengthening statistical
capacity in support of progress
towards the internationally
agreed development goals in the
Southern African Development
Community region
DESA and
ECA
Africa
Statistics
06/07J: Strengthening African
statistical systems to generate
gender-disaggregated data to
suppport policies to promote
gender equality and
empowerment of women
ECA with
DESA and
ESCAP
Africa
Advancement of
women and
statistics
06/07R: Collection and analysis of UNODC with
data and trends on drugs, crime,
ECA and
and victimization in Africa
DESA
Africa
Social development,
social integration
and statistics
04/05V: Strengthening statistical
capacity-building in support of the
Millennium Development Goals
(MDG’s) in the region of the
Economic Community of West
DESA, ECWA
African States
and ECA
Africa
Statistics
Development Account Projects in Statistics
Title
Entity
06/07A: Interregional
ESCAP with
cooperation on the measurement
ECLAC,
of the informal sector and
ESCWA and
informal employment
DESA
Region
Theme
Global
Macroeconomics,
finance, social
development, social
integration and
statistics
06/07B: Interregional
cooperation to strengthen social
inclusion, gender equality and
health promotion in the
Millennium Development Goal
process
ESCAP
Global
Advancement of
women and
statistics
06/07F: Strengthening the statistical
capacity of Central Asian countries to
monitor progress towards the
Millennium Development Goals
ECE with
DESA and
ESCAP
Asia
Statistics
THANK YOU