ASEAN Regional Workshop on Strategic Statistical Planning: Towards a
Stronger ASEAN Community Statistical System
28 - 29 November, Jakarta
Developing and implementing a Regional Statistical
Strategy - Example from the Pacific
Gerald Haberkorn
Manager, Statistics for Development Programme
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Noumea, New Caledonia
(www.spc.int/sdp)
Structure of presentation
1. Political context – growing awareness and recognition of
statistics
2. Designing a regional statistical strategy in the Pacific island
region
3. Commitment to, and monitoring of implementing the
regional statistical strategy
1. Political context – growing awareness and
recognition of statistics
• Growing acceptability to talk about statistics
(moving from policy-making on the run to evidence-based policy
development and policy /performance monitoring
• Evident from recent developments at regional,
national, and international levels
1. Political context – growing awareness and
recognition of statistics
Recent developments at regional level
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Starting Point: Pacific Plan – regional policy framework (2006)
Commissioning of Regional Statistical Benchmarking Study (2007)
Implementation in 2008
Recommendations endorsed at Ministerial level in 2009
SDP/ADB commissioning study to “help strengthen the
implementation of its various recommendations …” (2010)
• Endorsement of Cook & Paunga report by 3rd Regional Conference of
Heads of Planning and Statistics (2010)
• Development of Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy and associated
Pacific Statistics Action Plan by SPC and partners(2010)
1. Political context – growing awareness and
recognition of statistics
Recent developments at national level (a)
• Vanuatu: solid political and financial support to statistics by very
committed Minister of Finance (and Statistics): annual budget allocation
commensurate with activity commitments laid out in long-term statistical
master plan developed through an Australian funded/ABS-assisted ISP);
• Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea:
o strong political support with prime ministers of Samoa and Tonga, and
the National Executive Council of PNG endorsing in 2010 the
development of National Strategies for the Development of Statistics
(NSDS), jointly undertaken by a PARIS21-SPC partnership,
o Strong support by government of Vanuatu requesting to also be
involved in process of developing such a long-term statistical strategy.
1. Political context – growing awareness and
recognition of statistics
Recent developments at national level (b)
• various types of “statistical master plans” at varying stages of
development , political endorsement and implementation
o Cooks Islands, Niue, Tokelau (assisted by Statistics NZ)
o FSM, Guam, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau (assisted by ABS/SPC )
1. Political context – growing awareness and
recognition of statistics
Recent developments at international level
• Statistics becoming a politically acceptable discussion point in
policy debates and aid negotiations (beyond perennial complaints about
timeliness, quality, lack of accessibility)
• The emergence, energy, perseverance and commitment to the
cause by PARIS21.
1. Political context – growing awareness and
recognition of statistics
Growing recognition at all levels (a)
• Existing/growing demands for national and regional statistics
cannot be met by adhering to the status quo;
• most small island states NSOs are not in a position, and most
likely will never be in a position to collect and compile, tabulate
and analyse, report and disseminate everything required (let
alone desired), and even less so – do this on their own;
1. Political context – growing awareness and
recognition of statistics
Growing recognition at all levels (b)
• need for regional solutions to address national statistical
demands and priorities that do not undermine the statistical
sovereignty of small island states;
• regional solutions to be complemented (in most cases
preceded) by national solutions
o illustrated in the insufficient allocation of resources to NSOs to
undertake basic statistical work, including undertaking routine statistical
collections and regularly proving a regionally agreed-to standard set of
statistics and indicators.
2. Designing a regional statistical strategy in the
Pacific island region
Key messages:
• The design process (“managing the process”) was critical in paving
the way to secure political acceptance and financial support to
start implementing the Ten Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
(2011 – 2020)
• Process involved careful choice (strategic) of consultants to
ensure
o technical/substantive content and acceptance of strategy,
o Solid knowledge of political culture and management (of national government
agencies) to facilitate political acceptance and implementability)
• Process involved close collaboration between consultants and
SPC throughout development of the strategy.
2. Designing a regional statistical strategy in the
Pacific island region
Outcome:
• Design of strategy expanded on earlier benchmarking study;
• Recommendations of various strategic, thematic, operational
priorities over a 10 year period, organized along 3 distinct
phases.
• Recommended SPC Statistics for Development Programme to
coordinate implementation of the strategy, with a statistical
steering committee (PSSC) providing the governance structure
to guide / oversight SPC in this process;
• Strategy and proposed governance arrangements adopted by
Regional Conference of Heads of Planning and Statistics (7/2010)
2. Designing a regional statistical strategy in the
Pacific island region
Pre-Strategy implementation (additional activities)
• Step 1: develop Pacific Statistics Strategy Action Plan
o Purpose: prioritize objectives and define associated activities;
o Development team: one of the previous consultants (to provide
obvious link to overall strategy development) and myself.
• Step 2: develop PSSAP M & E Framework (focus on Phase 1)
o Purpose: self-evident
o Development team: AusAID programme officer + AusAID
contracted external M & E specialist + myself (SDP manager).
2. Designing a regional statistical strategy in the
Pacific island region
Pacific Statistics Strategy Action Plan
Outlines:
• six key strategic objectives guiding statistical development in the
Pacific Island region over the next decade;
• Specific activities to be undertaken to achieve these objectives ;
• Purpose as well as the importance of each activity, and what would
be missed by not implementing each activity,
• Expected outcomes of each activity,
• Activity costs (for Phase 1 only), and
• Potential partnerships with other statistics providers and agencies
with distinct comparative advantages .
3. Commitment to, monitoring implementation
of regional Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
Principal financial support: AusAID (4 funding envelopes)
• Multi-year funding support to SPC to implement regional statistical
strategy related activities (A$ 10 million, 2010-2013);
• Multi-year funding support to the Australian Bureau of Statistics to
support TYPSS-related priority activities, as jointly agreed-upon
with AusAID and SPC (A$ 3 million, 2011 – 2013);
• Direct support to Pacific island NSOs in pursuing national statistical
developments , as part of AusAID’s bilateral Partnerships for
Development policy ($ value varies between countries; current
beneficiaries, PNG and Samoa)
• Funding support to Paris21 to implement Pacific islands focused
statistical development initiatives (A$ 750,000, 2011-2013).
3. Commitment to, monitoring implementation
of regional Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
Others funding sources
• ADB provides multi-year financial support to SPC’s regional
household survey programme (2012-2013: US$ 1 million);
• PARIS21: joint development of NSDS with SPC, plus assistance with
statistical advocacy initiatives (2011-2013)
• PFTAC: IMF’s Pacific arm makes a much valued and appreciated
contribution to statistical capacity building, particularly in the field
of macro-economic statistics ($ value unknown);
• SPC core and programme budget provides ongoing support to our
statistical development activities across the region (2012: A$ 2,4 million);
3. Commitment to, monitoring implementation
of regional Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
Monitoring system
• Pacific Statistics Steering Committee (PSSC) meets six-monthly to
review implementation of Pacific Statistics Action Plan, Phase 1
(2011-2014); the 1st of 3 discrete operational phases supporting
TYPSS implementation;
• Monitors on behalf of Regional Conference of Heads of Planning
and Statistics – the regional governance mechanism which reviews
the work/performance of SPC Statistics for Development
Programme and approves work programme for next 3 years.
• Meeting every 3 years not seen suitable to effectively and
efficiently monitor TYPSS implementation -> hence PSSC set-up.
3. Commitment to, monitoring implementation
of regional Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
Monitoring system (2)
• PSSC comprises of 6 heads of Pacific island NSOs, 2 financial (AusAID, ADB)
and 2 technical partners (UNFPA, current chair of UNDAF ME TWG; University
of the South Pacific); PFTAC ex officio adviser on macro-economic statistics.
• All members
o committed to implementation of Phase 1,
o involved in guiding/monitoring overall plan coordination by SPC,
o monitor performance and impact of Pacific Statistics Action Plan activities
executed by all active players: SPC, PFTAC, ABS, UNFPA, Unicef and other
development partners
• Mid-term review of Pacific Statistics Action Plan Phase 1 implementation
planned for February – April 2013 to
o Ascertain ongoing relevance of TYPSS priority objectives for Phase 1;
o Evaluate relative importance of emerging priorities;
o Make adjustments where deemed necessary.
3. Commitment to, monitoring implementation
of regional Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
Summary observation
• Ten-year strategic outlook combined with four-year commitment by all
players (including four year financial commitment by AusAID) helped
develop stronger and more effective partnerships between national
clients/stakeholders and SPC and other development partners.
• SDP well on track in delivering against key TYPPS outcomes, as noted by a
SPC-wide independent review mid-year, highlighting recognition by both
o Pacific island clients/stakeholders (heads of NSOs and other key players in NSSs)
who “were consistently supportive of SDP and largely enthusiastic about the
level and content of support received”, and
o key donors, who saw “no real alternative to the (statistical capacity building)
support it (SDP) is giving to the region”.
3. Commitment to, monitoring implementation
of regional Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
Challenges
• More effective coordination and communication between implementing
partners of TYPSS (‘good work in progress’; not experiencing anything different
from others working in the reality of multi-agency and multi-agenda dynamics).
• Achieving greater harmonization of statistical concepts, classifications
and systems (need stronger/tangible political support at national level, and from
technical/financial partners: common methodologies, including core
questionnaires/core set of questions; strategies; DP systems)
3. Commitment to, monitoring implementation
of regional Ten-Year Pacific Statistics Strategy
Opportunities
• Improve management of Pacific development statistics and indicators
build on progress of regional NMDI database (www.spc.int/nmdi) that provides
instant/user-friendly access to comparable development statistics and indicators
as requested by Pacific Leaders in 2005
o Improve NMDI thematic sectoral coverage (e.g. agriculture, forestry, energy)
o Ensure regular compilation of baseline data by sectoral specialist, to maintain
timeliness and provide QA function;
o Expand geographic coverage to include Pacific islands territories