Statistical Newsletter
Published: 29 June 2012
Second Quarter, 2012
Towards improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the Asia-Pacific region:
Establishment of a multi-partner collaborative arrangement
Capacity Development
Supporting effective use of information and communication technology in population census operations - a Practical
Advisory Workshop, Moscow, 16-19 April 2012
Strengthening statistical capacity for crime prevention in Asia: a Crime Victimization Survey Workshop, Bangkok,
11-14 June 2012
Training
Regional Training Course on System of National Accounts 2008, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 21-25 May 2012
Two-months Course in Application of Information Management and Related ICT for Official Statistics, Chiba, Japan,
started 21 May 2012
Regional Training Workshop on the 2010 round of Population and Housing Censuses and Evidence Based Policy
Making, Chiba, Japan, 7-11 May 2012
Collaboration
Sharing knowledge to improve MDG monitoring and reporting: inter-regional MDG Indicators Meeting, Santiago,
15-17 May 2012
Sixth meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics, 25-26 March 2012; and fourth Global
Forum on Gender Statistics, 27–29 March 2012, Dead Sea, Jordan
Preparatory Regional Meeting of Labour Statisticians in support of the 19th ICLS (Asia and Pacific), Bangkok, 2-4 May
2012
Improving agricultural and rural statistics for food security: Workshop on Developing Country Action Plans, Manila,
2-4 May 2012
Implementation of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural Statistics: Meeting of the Drafting Committee,
Bangkok, 24-25 May 2012
Reviewing the 2010 census round and integrating agricultural questions with the 2020 round: Pacific Population and
Housing Census Workshops, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Noumea, 21 May-1 June 2012
Developing a strategy to improve social statistics in Asia and the Pacific: Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group,
Bangkok, 13-15 June 2012
Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM), Second SPRINT meeting, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 23-27 April
2012
Data dissemination and communication: UNSD Regional Workshop, Manila, 20-22 June 2012
Calendar of forthcoming statistical meetings in Asia and the Pacific region
Staff movement
New faces in Statistics Division
Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division
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Towards improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the Asia-Pacific region:
Establishment of a multi-partner collaborative arrangement
Registration of vital events, such as births and deaths, is not only central to establishing a person’s legal status but also to
understanding the health and demographic characteristics of a nation. ESCAP, in close collaboration with a multitude of development
partners, is embarking on a regional initiative to improve Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems across the Asia-Pacific
region in a comprehensive and inclusive manner.
The initiative is a multi-step and multi-partner regional process, involving Ministries of Public Health, Ministries of Interior, Civil
Registrars and National Statistical Offices from all member countries. The purpose is to formulate and endorse a Regional Plan for the
Improvement of CRVS. Following ESCAP Resolution 67/12, the Regional Plan will rely on findings of objective assessments of the
current systems and the quality of vital statistics produced.
ESCAP member countries will formulate the Regional Plan through consultations. To this end, a High-Level Meeting on Improving
CRVS will take place in Bangkok on 10-11 December 2012. ESCAP, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Royal Thai
Government are co-hosting this meeting. The first day of the High-Level Meeting will also coincide with the annual observance of the
International Human Rights Day (10 December), shedding light on the human rights perspectives of CRVS systems.
These plans are not new in the ESCAP region. The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has already developed a Pacific Plan
2011-2020 for Improving Statistics in the Pacific region. A key component is the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan 2011-2015 which
has been formally endorsed by Pacific Health Ministers. The Pacific Plan will support and complement the Regional Plan to be
facilitated by ESCAP. Also, several countries have already conducted assessments of their civil registration and vital statistics systems
and are developing national strategies and plans for accelerated improvement under the UNESCAP/UNDP/ADB programme,
“Supporting the Achievements of the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific.”
With the Millennium Development Goals target year 2015 just around the corner, the focus on producing reliable vital statistics is as
urgent as ever. Vital statistics are essential for producing timely and accurate population estimates and other demographic and health
statistics, which are basic requirements for effective policy-making, efficient resource allocation and evaluation of achievements.
Vital statistics are most effectively derived at local levels, from civil registration systems that record vital events such as births,
deaths, marriages and adoptions. A civil registration system allows for the compulsory, permanent, continuous and universal
recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events. Civil registration also safeguards human rights with respect to social
identity and benefits for every member of the population, as internationally agreed on in the United Nations Millennium Declaration
and the Declaration on the Right to Development.
A civil registration system is critical for raising the visibility of and improving policy focus on the most vulnerable groups, including
women and children in poverty, migrants, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups. Birth certificates and other civil records
issued to members of these groups provide a basis for designing social protection schemes that reduce risks and vulnerabilities and
help to prevent and reduce statelessness.
Civil registration systems in many countries of the Asia-Pacific region, however, suffer from various deficiencies. Registration
coverage is often incomplete, vital events are not recorded properly and registration records do not reach the vital statistics system
in a timely manner. As a result, many countries have resorted to developing and/or using alternative sources of data on vital events,
such as population censuses, household sample surveys and surveillance on sentinel sites or sample registration systems to generate
vital statistics. Although useful, these sources cannot replace civil registration records as a source of continuous, universal and
disaggregated data. Moreover, these sources do not bring the legal and human rights benefits of civil registration.
Actions to remedy incomplete registration need to address both demand and supply side issues. On the demand side, there is a lack
of awareness of the need to register, lack of incentives to register and sometimes discriminatory practices towards particular
marginalised groups. Furthermore, costs related with registering a vital event may outweigh the perceived benefits of registration. In
some subpopulations, language, customs, beliefs and practices may impede accurate reporting of vital events. Incomplete
registration can also be due to lack of awareness of medical professionals. On the supply side, factors impeding registration include
limited availability of registration facilities, lack of infrastructure and equipment, and inadequate training of registration personnel.
The regional partnership brings together a multitude of development partners, including ESCAP, World Health Organization particularly its West Pacific Regional Office (WHO-WPRO) and the South East Asia Regional Office (WHO-SEARO)- the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organization for Migration. The initiative relies
on instrumental technical assistance from the University of Queensland Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub (UQ HISHub),
the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Plan International.
Capacity Development
Supporting effective use of information and communication technology in population census
operations - a Practical Advisory Workshop, Moscow, 16-19 April 2012
The ESCAP Statistics Division in collaboration with the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat) organized
the workshop in Moscow from 16 to 19 April 2012. The programme of the workshop was developed jointly by ESCAP and Rosstat
based on the outcomes of a need assessment workshop held in Novosibirsk in July 2010 under the same Russian Federation funded
project. In addition to these priority issues, the practical advisory workshop also covered emerging international standards underlying
the modernization of statistical information systems.
Organized as a practical advisory workshop, the meeting offered opportunities for participants to learn, debate, and experiment with
a number of methodological concepts and software tools through hands-on exercises. The main topics covered by the 4-days
workshop included: the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM) and the Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM);
DDI and microdata dissemination; the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange standard (SDMX); Data dissemination and
Geographical Information Systems (GIS); and electronic questionnaires.
Bringing together methodologists and information technology experts from national statistical offices from 13 countries (Afghanistan,
Armenia, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam), the workshop’s main objective was for participants to gain knowledge of emerging
concepts, standards and frameworks developed by the international statistical community to support the modernization of statistical
information systems. The workshop aimed to enable participants to be able to integrate some of these in developing ICT development
plans for their organization towards more automated, cost-effective and adaptive information systems.
Strengthening statistical capacity for crime prevention in Asia: a Crime Victimization Survey
Workshop, Bangkok, 11-14 June 2012
As a kick-off activity of the project “Strengthening statistical capacity for crime prevention in Asia”, the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with ESCAP organized a training workshop on crime victimization surveys. The training workshop
brought together team leaders from selected target countries in the Asia-Pacific region and international and regional experts.
The objective of the project is to support the implementation of victimization surveys in three selected countries in the region. The
experiences and lessons learned from these surveys will be disseminated as models and reference points and will facilitate the
replication of victimization surveys in other countries in the region.
The workshop provided specialized training to national implementing partners, on victimization surveys (sampling techniques,
selection and training of interviewers, data entry and analysis) and an opportunity to discuss and agree on a common survey
methodology and comparable survey instruments among implementing countries.
Training
Regional Training Course on System of National Accounts 2008, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 21-25
May 2012
The Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), in collaboration with Statistics Korea, conducted a Regional Training Course on
the System of National Accounts 2008 from 21-25 May 2012 at the Korea National Statistical Office, Daejeon. The main objective of
the course was to strengthen the capacity of national statistical offices in implementing the recommendations of 2008 SNA and to
review the current compilation practices for improving the quality and coverage of national accounts statistics of the respective
countries.
Thirteen participants, mostly
middle-level national accounts
statisticians, from Azerbaijan;
Afghanistan; China; Fiji; Hong
Kong, China; Indonesia; Republic of
Korea and Singapore attended the
course. Mr Aloke Kar, SIAP lecturer
and Ms Chellam Palanyandy, lead
professional (statistics and
statistical capacity building) of the
Asian Development Bank were the resource persons for the course.
Through lectures and discussions, participants gained a comprehensive understanding of basic definitions and concepts as well as the
newly introduced concepts and recommendations made in the 2008 SNA, particularly those relating to the non-financial transactions.
Through the course, SIAP equipped the participants with the knowledge needed to identify the additional data needs for
implementation of the 2008 SNA and suggested areas for improving the quality and coverage of the national accounts statistics.
The course materials – lecture handouts, group discussion materials, pre-course reading materials and reference materials - were
assessed positively by the participants. Almost all the materials were found to be ‘useful’ by all and ‘very useful’ by about a half of the
participants. Majority assessed the course as pitched at the right level but over 60 % of the participants found the duration of the
course too short.
Two-months Course in Application of Information Management and Related ICT for Official
Statistics, Chiba, Japan, started 21 May 2012
The Third Group Training Course in Application of Information Management and Related ICT for Official Statistics (ICTM-3) started on
21 May with 20 training participants from 11 countries attending the opening ceremony at SIAP premises in Makuhari, Chiba, Japan.
Mr. Shuichi Watanabe, Deputy Director of SIAP; Mr Hisanao Noda, Deputy Director General, Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA), Tokyo International Center; and Mr Takao Itou, Director General for Policy
Planning (Statistical Standards), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
(MIC) welcomed the participants.
The course brings together government officials from statistical offices as well as
from ministries of communication and information technology, justice, education
and immigration and population from ESCAP member and associate member States
of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cook Islands, Georgia, Myanmar, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam and the African countries
of Ethiopia and Rwanda.
ICTM-3 is a two month training programme designed to improve knowledge and skills for the timely processing of census and survey
data and improving the quality and management practices of statistical datasets for effective use and dissemination. The main
subjects of the course include: information architecture of national statistical systems, data capture and processing, statistical
databases, data dissemination and micro data access, and data analysis techniques. The course also demonstrates the use of
various statistical software, including CSPRO, STATA, Microdata Management Toolkit, MS Access and DevInfo. Under the supervision
of SIAP faculty members, participants will apply their newly acquired and improved knowledge and skills to design and develop a data
processing system for a household survey.
The programme also aims to enhance appreciation of Japanese society and culture and understanding of the Japanese statistical
system and includes field study trips to a local government statistical office and a retail shop that is a sample outlet for data collection
of the Japanese Retail Price Survey.
Regional Training Workshop on the 2010 round of Population and Housing Censuses and Evidence
Based Policy Making, Chiba, Japan, 7-11 May 2012
The twenty statisticians, national and local planners and UNFPA programme officers from Fiji, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines,
Solomon Islands, Thailand and Timor-Leste who participated in the Regional Workshop on the 2010 round of Population and Housing
Censuses and Evidence Based Policy Making discussed a range of strategies on how governments can aim for better use of census
data through better dissemination and communication of census results.
The workshop presentations and discussions were designed and facilitated by Dr
Siu-Ming Tam and Mr Robert Letheby of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
and with Mr Aloke Kar and Mr Gamini de Silva of SIAP as course convenors. The
workshop was designed to increase understanding of s tatisticians on the policy
process and getting evidence, especially census data, into policy and to increase
understanding of policy makers on how census data is produced, communicated and
made accessible to users.
As the culminating activity of the workshop, each country team prepared a plan of action for improving the use of census data for
policy purposes. Country-specific challenges were highlighted and several common actions were identified, including legislating
through a statistical law; strengthening of coordination among data producers and more dialogue between users and producers; and
capacity building through training on more and better policy uses of statistical data.
This regional workshop is the first in a series of four SIAP 2012 capacity-building activities focusing on increasing knowledge and
improving requisite skills of statisticians and key data users, particularly development planners and policy-makers, on the use of the
2010 round of population and housing census results in national and sub-national planning and evidence-based policy and
decision-making. A web-based course based on training materials from this workshop will also be developed by SIAP. The training
courses/workshops are funded by the Asia-Pacific Regional Office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA-APRO).
Collaboration
Sharing knowledge to improve MDG monitoring and reporting: inter-regional MDG Indicators
Meeting, Santiago, 15-17 May 2012
The inter-regional MDG indicators meeting was organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
in Santigo, Chile. The focus of the meeting was to exchange good practices in the production, monitoring and reporting of MDG
indicators in addition to addressing various statistical aspects. Representatives from the regional commissions had the opportunity to
share information on their regional MDG statistical programmes and lessons learned from the implementation and monitoring of the
MDG framework. Three countries in each region were invited to present their experiences, particularly those where the work of
monitoring the MDGs has improved the quality of statistical production, expanded dissemination, improved coordination of the
National Statistical System and promoted effective use of statistics by national policy makers.
The countries representing the Asia-Pacific region during this meeting were Vanuatu and the Philippines. The representative from
Vanuatu highlighted the implementation of national coordination mechanisms aimed at improving the monitoring and reporting of
MDG indicators, while the representative from the Philippines presented on the political commitment and effective use of data for
policy analysis and advocacy.
The meeting helped identify common challenges across regions such as the need to:

improve coordination between the data producers and data users

improve statistical capacity and production of high quality data at the subnational level

improve metadata

improve dissemination systems such as websites

maintain sustainability of the statistical systems

coordinate activities which will help fill in data gaps
Sixth meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics, 25-26 March 2012; and
fourth Global Forum on Gender Statistics, 27–29 March 2012, Dead Sea, Jordan
The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the Department of Statistics of Jordan, in collaboration with the United Nations
Economic Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UN-Women, and the World Bank,
organized a three-day Global Forum on Gender Statistics at Dead Sea, Jordan. The sixth meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert
Group on Gender Statistics (IAEG-GS) was held in conjunction with the Global Forum. These meetings were attended by
representatives from national statistical systems, national mechanisms for the advancement of women, international agencies and
the United Nations Regional Commissions.
The Global Forum on Gender Statistics, which is organized biennially, is part of the Global Gender Statistics Programme promoted by
the IAEG-GS with the purpose of enhancing the capacity of countries to collect, disseminate and use quality gender statistics. The
focus of the 2012 Global Forum was on women’s empowerment, including economic empowerment, autonomy and physical
empowerment, adolescent girls, and knowledge empowerment. The Forum provided an important opportunity to review and discuss
new initiatives and data collection tools for the improvement of gender statistics. Representatives of national statistical systems
presented national experiences and best practices on how to collect gender empowerment statistics and their uses in policy making.
International agencies and the United Nations Regional Commissions shared information on initiatives being undertaken to assist
countries in the production and analysis of gender statistics.
The sixth meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics (IAEG-GS) reviewed the work and work modalities of
its three advisory groups on: gender statistics training activities and curricula; emerging issues; and global gender statistics and
indicators databases. The availability of training materials, manuals and handbooks for use by national statisticians has been a key
concern in developing and improving gender statistics. The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in consultation with the
IAEG-GS, is in the process of developing a Gender Statistics Manual with the primary objective of encouraging gender mainstreaming
in the production of official statistics. A set of Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women (VAW) are also being
developed by UNSD, which will provide detailed methodological advice on special features of VAW surveys, what and how to measure,
and other relevant issues that national statistical organizations should take into consideration in designing and conducting statistical
surveys on VAW.
The meeting also reviewed the minimum set of gender indicators developed by the IAEG-GS following recommendations by the United
Nations Statistical Commission. The minimum set of gender indicators provides a basis to promote the production and compilation of
gender statistics at the national level and is also a basis for international data compilation. The list includes indicators addressing key
issues in gender equality and women’s empowerment that are common across countries and regions. Indicators specific to regional
and national contexts will be added by regional and national entities. Data production, compilation, methodological work on the
indicators will be facilitated by international agencies and the United Nations Regional Commissions.
As part of the follow-up actions to decisions made by the 42nd Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission, a Global Review
of Gender Statistics was coordinated by UNSD in collaboration with the United Nations Regional Commissions earlier this year,
through a questionnaire developed by a sub-group of the IAEG-GS. The objectives of the survey were to review gender statistics in
national statistical systems; obtain information on how gender perspectives are mainstreamed into national statistical systems; and
to gather information to help identify good practices and challenges to integrate gender into the production and use of statistics.
The preliminary results of the Global Review, presented by the United Nations Regional Commissions at this meeting, indicated that
there are wide variations among countries in each of the regions, implying different levels of progress in gender statistics. Though the
overall importance of gender statistics was appreciated by most countries that responded to the survey, challenges exist on issues
such as institutional structures and national coordination mechanisms for gender statistics. It was emphasized that
institutionalization, development and implementation of legal frameworks, and a high level commitment would be key for
mainstreaming gender statistics in statistical systems. The results of the Global Review will be submitted to the 2013 session of the
United Nations Statistical Commission. The results will also be used by the United Nations Regional Commissions in the development
of their respective regional programmes and capacity building initiatives related to gender statistics.
Further information about the fourth Global Forum on Gender Statistics can be obtained
athttp://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/Jordan_Mar2012/Default_Jordan_2012.html
Preparatory Regional Meeting of Labour Statisticians in support of the 19th ICLS (Asia and Pacific),
Bangkok, 2-4 May 2012
The International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with ESCAP organized a Preparatory Regional Meeting of Labour
Statisticians for the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in Bangkok. The meeting informed participants
about the review process in preparation for the 19th ICLS and formed part of the activities that the ILO is organizing globally to
promote the review and update of the international standards of statistics of the economically active population, employment,
unemployment and underemployment. The main purpose of the meeting was to bring the technical discussions to countries in the
Asia-Pacific region. Similar consultations are being conducted in other regions of the world.
Current proposals for the review and update of the international standards were presented by ILO representatives at the meeting.
Participants were encouraged to provide feedback on the proposed draft revisions, and discussion was encouraged to generate new
ideas and further refinements.
The outcome of this review process, an updated draft statistical standard, will be presented for discussion and possible adoption at the
19th ICLS in 2013.
Improving agricultural and rural statistics for food security: Workshop on Developing Country Action
Plans, Manila, 2-4 May 2012
The Workshop on Developing Country Action Plans was organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Five pilots countries,
Bhutan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Thailand and Viet Nam, under ADB project “Regional Policy and Advisory
Technical Assistance 8029: Improving Agricultural and Rural Statistics for Food Security” participated in the workshop.
The workshop was organized to discuss processes that will be undertaken in developing a country action plan for improving
agricultural and rural statistics for food security; to understand how the Global Strategy for Improving Agricultural and Rural Statistics
can be applied in developing the national objectives and approach; to learn about various resources that are available for improving
agricultural and rural statistics; and to contribute towards the development of the regional implementation plan.
Implementation of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural Statistics: Meeting of the Drafting
Committee, Bangkok, 24-25 May 2012
The Drafting Committee, which is a subset of the Steering Group for Agricultural Statistics (SGAS), met on 24-25 May 2012 in
Bangkok. The meeting was jointly organized by the Food and Agricultural organization (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
and ESCAP, and funded by ADB. SGAS members from Bhutan, India, Japan, Philippines and Viet Nam participated in the meeting.
The objective of the meeting was to develop a logical framework for the implementation (in Asia-Pacific) of the Global Strategy to
Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics. The meeting also discussed and agreed on stakeholders who should be involved in the
implementation.
The logical framework, which is now being finalized together with the regional implementation plan, focuses on results (impact,
outcome, outputs) on all three components of the regional implementation plan, namely technical assistance, training, and research.
Reviewing the 2010 census round and integrating agricultural questions with the 2020 round: Pacific
Population and Housing Census Workshops, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Noumea, 21
May-1 June 2012
Population and housing censuses are a vital source of information for evidenced-based policy making. In the Pacific, the importance
of the population and housing census is amplified by the fact that many countries do not have household surveys that cover some of
their remote populations and thus, the census serves as the only reliable source of information on these people. All but one Pacific
island developing country participated in the 2010 census round.
The 2012 UNFPA-SPC Regional Workshop Reviewing the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses in the Pacific held from
21-25 May 2012 in Noumea brought together census managers and heads of Pacific national statistical offices to discuss good
practices and lessons learned from the 2010 census round. The workshop highlighted the need for early census planning and how
sharing knowledge across countries (South-South cooperation) can improve the quality and efficiency of census operations.
Immediately following the census review, representatives from the Pacific Ministries of Agriculture joined the national statistical office
representatives at the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)/ The Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century
(PARIS21)/ United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)/ SPC Regional Workshop on Integrating Agricultural Questions with 2020 Round
of Population and Housing Censuses held from 28 May 28 – 1 June 2012 in Noumea. The practice of coordinating population and
housing with agriculture censuses has been recommended by the FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2010 (WCA
2010) and by the UNFPA in line with the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses for the 2010 round.
This workshop provided practical guidance on best practices for carrying out coordinated and linked censuses. Linked censuses have
many advantages including a wider range of analysis for policy-making, cost effective censuses and improved bases for statistical
data collections.
These initiatives in the Pacific are relevant for and link up with the ongoing ADB-FAO-ESCAP collaborative initiative to improve
agricultural statistics in Asia and the Pacific, in accordance with the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics. One
of the major recommendations of the strategy is to integrate agricultural statistical systems into national statistical systems through,
among others, coordinating population and housing with agriculture censuses.
More detailed information on the Pacific workshops can be found on the SPC Statistics Development Programme
website: http://www.spc.int/sdp/
Developing a strategy to improve social statistics in Asia and the Pacific: Meeting of the Technical
Advisory Group, Bangkok, 13-15 June 2012
Members of the Technical Advisory Group on Social Statistics (TAG-SS) met in Bangkok to review a draft core set of social statistics
that member States can aspire to have the capacity to produce by 2020.
Aside from providing concrete inputs to further refine a draft core set of social statistics that was produced following the first
meeting of the TAG in September 2011, national and international expert members of the TAG also discussed and agreed on a phased
approach to take the work forward. In the first phase (short-term or from now to the third session of the Committee on Statistics),
the TAG will develop guidelines for country and international consultations and carry out consultations in countries on the relevance
of the draft core set. The TAG will also carry out consultations with international organizations on the coverage of the core set. The
draft core set that will have reflected the results of these consultations will be submitted for endorsement by the Committee on
Statistics at its third session in December 2012.
In the second phase (medium-term, or the period between and third and fourth sessions of the Committee on Statistics), the core set
will be used as a guide to understand the status of social statistics in the region and gaps in national capacity across member States.
This understanding will form the basis for developing and implementing a strategy to address the capacity gaps and improve social
statistics in the region.
Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM), Second SPRINT meeting, Daejeon, Republic of Korea,
23-27 April 2012
The Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM) is a reference framework of information objects, which enables generic descriptions
of the definition, management, and use of data and metadata throughout the statistical production process.
The development of such a reference framework was selected as a high priority by the High-Level Group for Strategic Developments
in Business Architecture in Statistics (HLG-BAS) overseeing the work of the international statistical community on the modernization
of official statistics. To accelerate the development of the framework, HLG-BAS is organizing a series of intensive two-week meetings
(named sprint meetings).
This second sprint session in April 2012, following on a first meeting in Ljubljana in February 2012, gathered methodologists, IT and
metadata specialists mostly from a number of national statistical offices from European countries. Working through small-group
discussions to identify and define components of the framework, the meeting developed an intermediate version of the model
(version 0.4). The work from the meeting and a roadmap to finalize a first publishable version of GSIM was presented through
teleconference to the HLG-BAS on the last day of the meeting. One or two additional sprint meetings will be organized in 2012 with
the aim of publishing a first final version (GSIM version 1.0) of the framework by the end of the year.
Data dissemination and communication: UNSD Regional Workshop, Manila, 20-22 June 2012
The workshop was organized by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) in collaboration with the National Statistical
Coordination Board of the Philippines (NSCB) as part of a global series of workshops on the topic of data dissemination and
communication. These workshops aim at providing a forum for sharing national practices and experiences in the dissemination of
statistical data and metadata as well as reviewing emerging trends and innovative approaches in that area.
The workshop brought together information technology specialists as well as customer services/information centers from national
statistical offices from Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lao PDR, Malaysia,
Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam. A few selected countries from outside the Asia-Pacific
region also took part in the meeting. The discussions focused largely on web dissemination as the internet became the main channel
for national statistical offices to disseminate their data products. The workshop offered the occasion to discover a number of
innovative data visualization tools. Importantly a number of countries noted the changing user demand brought by the internet.
Notably there is a widening range of data users of official statistics and increasing demand for detailed (metadata rich) datasets that
can be coherently combined by data users to generate their own derived statistical information. One session was also dedicated to the
emerging issue of integrating statistical and geospatial information as a way to better communicate to data users the geographical
dimension in statistical datasets.
The workshop requested UNSD to prepare guidelines on the dissemination and communication of statistical data and to evaluate the
possibility to create a working group (city group) under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission to work in that area.
Calendar of forthcoming statistical meetings in Asia and the Pacific region
The calendar of all international meetings related to official statistics in Asia and the Pacific is maintained
athttp://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/events_Asia_Pacific.asp.
Date
Organizer
Meeting
UNSD, ESCAP/MPDD,
Workshop on MDG Indicators Methodology
ESCAP/SD
http://www.unescap.org/stat/
Venue
2012
9 - 13 July
10 - 11 July
UNSD, ESCAP/SD
16 - 18 July
SIAP, ESCAP/SD
18 - 20 July
1 August - 30
September
7 - 10 August
ESCAP/SD
SIAP
Technical Meeting on Economic Statistics
http://www.unescap.org/stat/econ/
Bangkok
Bangkok
Second Meeting of Working Group on the Regional Coordination of
Daejeon,
Statistical Training
Republic of
http://www.unescap.org/stat/WG-stat-training
Korea
Second Meeting of the Steering Group for Agricultural Statistics
http://www.unescap.org/stat/agri-stat
Bangkok
e-Learning Course on Introduction to System of National Account
Chiba,
(2008 SNA)
Japan
WHO WIPRO,
Asia e-Health Information (AeHIN) Workshop
ESCAP/SD
http://www.unescap.org/stat/
Bangkok
20 August - 21
December
SIAP/JICA 3rd Group Training Course in Production and
SIAP
Development of Official Statistics in support for National
Development including the Achievement of MDGs
Chiba,
Japan
Second Meeting of the Steering Group for the Regional Programme
22 - 24 August
UNSD, ESCAP/SD
on Economic Statistics
Bangkok
http://www.unescap.org/stat/econ/
3-7
September
SIAP
Regional Training/ Workshop on Production and Use of Vital
Daejeon,
Statistics
Republic of
http://www.unsiap.or.jp/
Korea
Regional Training Course on the System of National Accounts
11 - 15
SIAP, Bank of Korea
September
(BOK)
18-19
SIAP, Bank of
International Seminar on the Implementation of the
September
Korea (BOK)
2008 SNA in Asia and the Pacific Region and Its
(2008 SNA)
Seoul
http://www.unsiap.or.jp/
Seoul
Challenges (Click here for more information)
ESCAP/SD,
17 - 20
ESCAP/SDD, United
September
Nations Population
Division (UNPD)
Training Workshop on the preparation and use of National Transfer
Account (NTAs)
Bangkok
http://www.unescap.org/stat/
Fifth Regional Course/Workshop on Statistical Quality
30 September 3 October
SIAP
Management and Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics:
National Quality Assurance Frameworks
Tehran
http://www.unsiap.or.jp/
Towards Inclusive Growth: Development Planning for Achieving
10 - 12 October
ADB, ESCAP/SD
Equal Results for Women and Men
Bangkok
http://www.unescap.org/stat/
16 - 19 October
OECD, ESCAP/SD
23 - 25 October
ESCAP/SD
4th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policies:
Measuring Well-Being and Fostering the Progress of Societies
Twelfth Meeting of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics
New Delhi
Bangkok
Eleventh Management Seminar for the Heads of NSOs in Asia and
October
SIAP
the Pacific
http://www.unsiap.or.jp/
1 November 31 December
e-Learning course on Using Population and Housing Census for
SIAP
Planners
http://www.unsiap.or.jp/
Chiba,
Japan
26 - 30
UNSD, ESCAP/SD,
Workshop on MDG data discrepancies in the Pacific
November
SPC, EPO
http://www.unescap.org/stat/
Noumea
The Eighth session of the Governing Council of Statistical Institute
6 - 7 December
SIAP, ESCAP/SD
for Asia and the Pacific
Bangkok
http://www.unsiap.or.jp/
Fourth Meeting of Partners for Statistics Development in
7 December
ESCAP/SD
Asia-Pacific
Bangkok
http://www.unescap.org/stat/partnership
10 - 11
December
12 - 14
December
ESCAP/SD
ESCAP/SD
High-level Meeting on the Improvement of Civil Registration and
Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific
Committee on Statistics, Third session
http://www.unescap.org/stat/
Bangkok
Bangkok
Staff movement
Mr Artur Andrysiak joins the Asian Development Bank
Artur Andrysiak left the Statistics Division at the beginning of May 2012 to join the Economics and Research
Department of the Asian Development Bank.
Artur joined the Statistics Division as a Statistician in November 2008. He was instrumental in the
development of the Regional Programme for the improvement of Economic Statistics in Asia and the Pacific
and contributed to the formulation of the Core Set of Economic Statistics. He supported the work of the
Technical Advisory Group on the Development of Economic Statistics, Steering Group for the Regional
Programme on Economic Statistics, and Steering Group for Agricultural Statistics.
Among his many other responsibilities, Artur made invaluable contributions as the Secretary of the Committee on Statistics and its
Bureau, and played an important role in planning and organizing the first and second sessions of the Committee on Statistics in 2009
and 2010 respectively.
Prior to joining the Statistics Division, Artur worked as a statistician from 2005-2008 for the Statistics Division of the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe, where he worked in the areas of short-term economic statistics and seasonal adjustment. Artur
worked for the Australian Bureau of Statistics before joining the United Nations...
The Statistics Division team congratulates Artur on his new position with ADB and wishes him all the very best.
Ms Jillian Campbell moves to ESCAP Pacific Office
Jillian Campbell left the Statistics Division in April 2012 to join ESCAP Pacific Office in Fiji.
Ms Campbell joined the ESCAP Statistics Division in Bangkok as a Statistician in the Statistical Information
Services Section in November 2010. Since then, she has been involved in various initiatives in the Division and
has made invaluable contributions in the production of Statistical Yearbook, the Division’s work on Economic
Statistics and the development of a monitoring framework for statistical capacity, to name a few.
Prior to joining ESCAP, Jillian worked for the United Nations Statistics Division in New York. She has also
worked for a statistical consulting firm and for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Ms Campbell holds a
masters degree in statistics from the University of Missouri, USA.
Mr Daniel Clarke returns to ESCAP Statistics Division
Daniel Clarke joined ESCAP as a Statistician in June, 2012. Daniel began his career with the
United Nations at ESCAP more than 6 years ago. Later he moved to the United Nations
Statistics Division in New York, where he worked primarily on development of methodologies
for environment statistics and environmental-economic accounting. He has now returned to
work once again in the Asia-Pacific region. Daniel will coordinate the Division's capacity
development work on economic and environment statistics.
Daniel has completed post-graduate studies in Ecological Economics from the University of
Vermont. He also holds a Masters degree in International Economics from Chulalongkorn
University and a Bachelors degree in Business and Economics from Seattle University.
New faces in Statistics Division
Ms Isabel Pereira Rodrigues
Isabel Pereira Rodrigues joined the Statistics Division on a short-term assignment, as a Statistician, in
June 2012. Prior to this assignment, she was developing a post-doctoral project on innovation,
entrepreneurship and development at the Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics
of the Universidade de Évora, in Portugal.
Formerly, Isabel worked as a policy specialist at the research unit of the Human Development Report
Office (HDRO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where she contributed to the
research, writing, production and outreach of the global HDRs of 2007/08 on climate change, 2009 on
migration, and the 20th anniversary edition in 2010. Before joining UNDP, Isabel worked in academia, as a lecturer and researcher,
primarily in the field of industrial organization. She holds a PhD in Economics from the Universitat Autónoma of Barcelona.
Ms Ermina Sokou
Ermina Sokou joined the Statistics Division on a short-term assignment, as a Statistician, in June 2012.
She has been contributing to the Division’s work on civil registration and vital statistics.
Before joining the Statistics Division, Ermina worked in the Environment and Development Division at
ESCAP, where she was responsible for analysis and projects on access to water, sanitation and energy
services. Ermina has also worked at the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Beirut and
at BP Plc, in London. She holds a master's degree in Economics from Tufts University and a master's
degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
Mr Clement Gaillard
Clement Gaillard joined the Statistics Division in April 2012 as an intern. He is a graduate student at IESEG
School of Management, Paris. Mr Gaillard is assisting with the formulation of the regional implementation
plans for both Economic and Agricultural Statistics and is also providing assistance in the area of gender
statistics.
Clement is very interested in economics and financial studies, and believes in the use of quantitative
methods to assist policy decisions and promote sustainable development and growth.
Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division

Mr Sjef Broekhaar, Head, Technical Coooperation & border Management Asia and Pacific Region, International Organization
for Migration (IOM)

Ms Pramaporn Mongkolthavorn, Regional IBM Assistant, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Mr Sato Masatoshi, Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative to ESCAP, Embassy of Japan

Mr Thomas Vargas, Head, Regional Protection Hub for the Asia-Pacific, Regional Office in Thailand, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Mr Nicholas Oakeshott, Regional Office in Thailand, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Mr Jörgen Schönning, Counsellor (Development), SIDA Sweden

Mr Bengt Ekman, Minister and SIDA Country Manager Myanmar, SIDA Sweden

Ms Silvia Facchinrllo, Attache' ( Cooperation), Programme Officer for Myanmar, Europian Union

Mr Frederick Baker, Consultant, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Mr Neil Dourmashkin, Consultant, Europian Union

Ms Heike Alefsen, OHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR), Bangkok

Ms Marcia V.J. Kran, Director, Research and Right to Development Division, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva

Mr Mohamed Abdel-Ahad, Representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Myanmar

Mr Christophe Lefranc, Technical Adviser, Population and Development (Data and Census), UNFPA, Asia and the Pacific
Regional Office, Bangkok
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