ISWGNA and AEG:
Mandate and governance
Herman Smith
UNSD
10th Meeting of the Advisory Expert
Group on National Accounts
13-15 April 2016, Paris
1
Outline of Presentation

Introduction

Mandate

Governance arrangements for ISWGNA and AEG
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United Nations Statistical Commission
ISWGNA
ISWGNA: Management Group
ISWGNA: National Accountants
Advisory Expert Group (AEG)
Projects, Technical Expert Groups and City Groups
Secretariat
Updating the System of National Accounts
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ISWGNA





Set up by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) to
enhance cooperation among international organizations working
in the same field.
Five members since the early 1980s:

Eurostat

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

United Nations

World Bank
Chair of the group rotates among the five organizations
Secretariat is at the UNSD
ISWGNA functions at two levels: “Management Group” and
“National Accountants”
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Mandate
a)
Provide strategic vision, direction and coordination for the
methodological development and implementation of the SNA in
national, regional and international statistical systems;
b)
Revise and update the SNA and develop supporting normative
international statistical standards and other methodological documents
on national accounts and supporting statistics;
c)
Promote the development of databases at international, regional and
national level on national accounts statistics;
d)
Promote the implementation of the SNA and supporting statistics;
e)
Promote the use of national accounts and supporting statistics in policy
formulation.
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Governance Arrangements
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UNSC – provides the mandate of the ISWGNA, endorses its works
programme and monitors its work progress
ISWGNA - carries out the mandate and reports progress on its
programme of work to the UNSC
–
Engages technical expert groups, city groups or other expert groups to carry out
the work programme.
–
Separate project management frameworks may be developed for large projects
(eg. revision of SNA)
ISWGNA: Management Group - ensures appropriate outputs and
inputs for the work of the ISWGNA
–
Managers also act within their own organizations to further the agreed goals and
objectives of the ISWGNA.
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Governance Arrangements

ISWGNA: National Accountants – sponsors and facilitates the technical work of the
work programme of the ISWGNA

AEG – assists the ISWGNA in carrying out its work programme, resolves issues on
the research agenda of the SNA and reviews documents and tools for the SNA
implementation programme
–
18 members from national, regional and international statistical organizations (plus
representatives from the 5 international organizations) with all regions of world represented
–
Members invited with views toward particular areas of expertise
–
Members act on personal basis rather than as representatives of their organization
–
AEG and ISWGNA members are entitled to vote on issues where consensus cannot be found
–
Chair of ISWGNA also serves as chair of AEG
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AEG: Terms of Reference
a)
Evaluate and contribute to manuals and handbooks for guidance
and training in the implementation of the SNA and supporting
statistics
b)
Review and contribute to the methodological development of the
SNA through research and assessing the appropriateness of
proposals for clarification, interpretation and changes to the SNA
c)
Review and contribute to the formulation of communication and
dissemination strategies and of statistical responses on emerging
policy issues based on the SNA
d)
Consider proposed international data collection activities in line
with the normative standards and accompanying international
recommendations in an efficient and cost-effective way
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Governance Arrangements
• Projects, Technical Expert Groups, City Groups – may be
convened to advance research on particular normative and
methodological matters
• Limited life spans and with focus on particular issues
• Fall within scope of national accounts, but have their own mandates and
governance structures
• ISWGNA will coordinate with these the groups to take account of their
work in the work programme of the ISWGNA
• For large projects (eg. the revision of the SNA) it may be necessary to
develop separate project management frameworks
∙
Secretariat - UNSD serves as the main source of logistical and
administrative support to the work programme of the ISWGNA.
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Governance Structure
Report
to
Liaise
with
a
Includes, for example,
academia and line
ministries.
b
Includes specific
projects needing separate
project management
frameworks, (i.e. update
of the 1993 SNA)
c
Includes expert groups to
advance specific research
on issues on the SNA
research agenda
d
ISWGNA liaises and
consults with these groups
to coordinate outputs.
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Research on the SNA
∙
Proposals for task forces or expert groups to conduct
research submitted to ISWGNA
∙
ISWGNA assesses results per update procedures for
the SNA established by the UNSC (1999)
∙
If changes are necessary ISWGNA presents changes
to UNSC for adoption
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Updating procedure for the SNA
11
Thank you
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ISWGNA functions
a)
Promote adoption of best practices in implementation of the SNA;
b)
Foster coordination, monitoring and reporting on implementation of the SNA to
ensure that all relevant entities have clear roles and that their actions are
complementary and effective;
c)
Provide training and technical cooperation in implementation of the SNA and
supporting statistics;
d)
Prepare manuals and handbooks for guidance and training in implementation
of the SNA and supporting statistics;
e)
Foster methodological development of the SNA and supporting statistics;
f)
Encourage national support for the acquisition and maintenance of viable
economic statistics and national accounts programmes and communicate the
policy relevance of the SNA;
g)
Formulate statistical response on policy issues based on the SNA;
h)
Develop international data collection activities in line with the normative
standards and accompany international recommendations in an efficient and
cost-effective way.
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ISWGNA: Management Group functions
a)
Set the strategic direction of the work programme of the ISWGNA (within
the parameters set by the Statistical Commission), ensure appropriate
input and outputs, and agree on desired outcomes
b)
Prepare the work programme of the ISWGNA and endeavour to support
the thrust of those arrangements
c)
Monitor and implement the work programme of the ISWGNA
d)
Raise funds and monitor budgets to support the work programme of the
ISWGNA
e)
Identify issues and risks for national accounts and supporting statistics for
appropriate coordinated statistical response
f)
Report to the Statistical Commission and communicate with expert
groups, as appropriate
g)
Liaise with national, regional and international stakeholders and users, to
understand and manage their expectations and gain their support.
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ISWGNA: National Accountants functions
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Promote adoption of best practices in implementation of the SNA, foster
coordination, monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the SNA to
ensure that all relevant entities have clear roles and that their actions are
complementary and effective
Provide training and technical cooperation in implementation of the SNA and
supporting statistics
Prepare manuals and handbooks for guidance and training in the
implementation of the SNA and supporting statistics
Promote methodological development of the SNA through research and
assess the appropriateness of proposals for clarification, interpretation and
changes to the SNA
Encourage national support for acquisition and maintenance of viable
economic statistics and national accounts programmes
Formulate a statistical response on policy issues based on the SNA
Develop international data collection activities in line with the normative
standards and accompany international recommendations in an efficient and
cost-effective way.
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Secretariat: Main Tasks
a) Maintain the ISWGNA website;
b) Prepare reports for the Statistical Commission;
c) Communicate with the Statistical Commission,
countries, regional and international agencies and
bodies
d) Provide logistical and other support to the ISWGNA
and the AEG.
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