United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa
A Proposal for a Statistical Training Programme for
Africa
(2011-2013)
Prepared by
The African Centre for Statistics
October 2010
Table of Contents
Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... 1
1.
2.
3.
Background ........................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.
The importance of statistics for development ............................................................................... 3
1.2.
Role of Statistical Training Centres .............................................................................................. 4
1.3.
Role of the UN Economic Commission for Africa ......................................................................... 5
1.4.
Repositioning the UNECA to better support African countries meet their development
challenges ................................................................................................................................... 5
1.5.
Statistical coordination at the regional level ................................................................................. 6
Problem analysis................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.
The challenges of statistical training in Africa ............................................................................... 7
2.2.
The statistical training programme of the ACS ........................................................................... 11
Objectives, expected accomplishments and other strategic elements ................................................ 12
3.1.
Overall objective ......................................................................................................................... 12
3.2.
Expected accomplishments ........................................................................................................ 12
3.3.
Indicators of achievements......................................................................................................... 12
3.4.
Activities ..................................................................................................................................... 13
4.
Monitoring and evaluation ................................................................................................................... 15
5.
External factors ................................................................................................................................... 15
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................... 16
Costing of the project for the period (2010-2012) ........................................................................................ 16
2
Executive summary
In recent past, African countries and development partners have increasingly recognized the need for
better statistics as a tool for evidence-based policy and decision making and for a better support to
policy implementation, monitoring progress and evaluation of outcomes and impacts of development
initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Poverty Reduction Strategies
(PRSs). This is in line with the commitment made by developing countries in the world (including those
in Africa), to the results agenda or managing for results.
As a result, demand for quality and timely statistics in Africa has seen unprecedented increase as policy
makers and other stakeholders seek information on national and international developments. This
increased demand is accompanied by a new culture championing rigorous monitoring and evaluation of
outcomes and evidence-based policy decisions. This has challenged already weak and vulnerable
National Statistical Systems (NSSs) and presented new opportunities for raising public awareness
about statistics and harnessing national and international resources for developing statistical capacities.
One of the main challenges facing African countries in producing quality statistical information is the
lack of human resources and up-to-date skills. There is, in fact, a broad consensus among African
countries and development partners about the need for better training of statisticians if countries have
to produce the needed quality statistics for evidence-based policy-making and planning and to better
support effort made by countries in their quest to meet nationally, regionally, and internationally agreed
upon development agendas such as those enshrined in the MDGs.
As a response to the challenges posed to African countries in the particular area of statistical training,
the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), contributed to the advancement of
statistical development through a number of statistical programmes including the Statistical Training
Programme for Africa (STPA) in the seventies and the eighties in collaboration with major partners such
as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Unfortunately a combination of events led to
the decline in the statistical function at the UNECA from 1997 to 2005 following major reforms of the UN
System. As part of these reforms, the Statistics Division was abolished and this impacted negatively on
the work of the UNECA as a knowledge centre and concomitant decline in the growth and development
of statistics in Africa as well as the ability of African countries to measure and monitor their
development and progress towards the MDGs.
In 2006, the UNECA was repositioned to serve Africa better and as part of this repositioning exercise,
knowledge management and statistics were identified as priority sub-programmes of the organization.
An African Centre for Statistics (ACS) with Division status was established in August 2006 to implement
the statistics programme of the UNECA. Following this repositioning, a business plan was designed
covering the period 2010-2012. This plan includes a statistical training programme component.
This project, which is in line with the business plan, is aimed at assisting African Statistical Training
Centres (STCs) and countries develop their human resources by transferring knowledge, and by
broadening and deepening strategic skills base, thereby enhancing the capacity of African countries to
produce quality information in support of their development agendas. This is expected to enhance the
capacity of countries to meet user needs for data to support national development processes and also
support UNECA divisions to enhance their capacity for programming and policy analysis. To realize the
project objectives, related activities will be carried out over a three-year period (2010 to 2012) with a
total budget of US$11,887,405.
The project will be implemented by the ACS with the collaboration of major regional partners including
the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Capacity
1
Building Foundation (ACBF) as well as other regional and sub regional organizations under the
umbrella of the African Group on Statistical Training and Human Resources (AGROST) of the
Statistical Commission for Africa (StatCom-Africa) in order to ensure that duplication is avoided and
synergy is built among the African stakeholders.
2
1.
1.1.
Background
The importance of statistics for development
There is increasing consensus internationally that development in many countries, especially the
poorest, has faltered in the past because development efforts did not focus on results. However, in
recent past, many developing countries in the world (including those in Africa), have committed
themselves to the results agenda or managing for results, which includes Poverty Reduction Strategies
(PRSs), sectoral and other national development initiatives and the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). The results agenda involves measurement, monitoring and reporting on progress i.e.
achievement of outputs, outcomes and results or impact, and in particular, tracking and reporting on
progress towards sectoral, national, regional and international development goals. The results agenda
emanated from a series of conferences organized under the auspices of the United Nations. The first
one held in Monterrey, Mexico in 2002 on Financing for Development recognized that to be successful,
development has to be country-driven, country-owned, and country-specific and that good results
require good policies and institutions that constitute the conditions to make development assistance
highly effective. The second conference, held in Marrakech, Morocco in 2004 focused on Managing for
Development Results called for clear and systematic measurement and reporting on achievement of
outputs, outcomes, and the impact of development policies and programs using better statistics.
Critical to achievement of development results is the ability to measure and closely monitor it for “If you
can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”1. It is, therefore, the case that statistics are needed “to drive
the outcomes that policies are aiming to achieve and not just to measure progress towards those
outcomes”. The roundtable held in Washington in 2002 and the one held in Marrakech in 2004
recognized that good statistical information is crucial not only to support development policies but also
to measure the impact of interventions. They thus identified better statistics as a priority of the results
agenda and as part of the enabling environment for democracy and development. Specifically, statistics
are needed:
 To inform policy analysis and development, and to assess programme options aimed at improving
the well being of the population e.g. building roads, providing clean water, building schools,
providing relief in case of disaster, etc;
 For designing, management, monitoring and evaluation of national policy frameworks e.g. PRS,
MDGs, etc
 For governance and administration such as deciding on grants to give to different administrative
units, demarcating constituencies for electoral purposes, etc;
 To identify vulnerable groups in society (e.g. the poor, children and socially disadvantaged) for
whom it designs special intervention programmes usually multi-sectoral in nature;
 To manage for transparency, accountability and delivery of public services;
 For managing for results which governments have adopted to achieve better development
outcomes
However, for statistics to play this important role, they need to:
 be comprehensive (covering all sectors – health, education, agriculture, water, transport, etc);
 be produced in a sustainable manner, and on a scale and in a time frame that are relevant to policy
makers,
 be available to a broad range of the public and private users and be trusted as objective and
reliable,
1
The Strategy-focused Organization by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, Harvard Business School Press,
Massachusetts, 2001
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have a breadth and depth of coverage to meet all policy needs and to inform the public so that they
can evaluate the effectiveness of government policies, programmes and actions, and
have integrity and credibility, be free and be seen to be free from political manipulation.
In order to produce good statistics, countries need to enhance national statistical capacity to increase
data quantity and improve data quality and their use at national and sub-national levels especially for
PRS and MDG monitoring; and improve coordination within National Statistical Systems and between
national and international agencies to ensure consistency between national and international data. The
National Statistical Office (NSO) needs to play a central role in PRS and MDG monitoring. The NSO
should coordinate production of national data and should become a “focal point” for each country,
collecting and verifying development data from different sources in the country and acting as the main
source of data on the country. This will help not only to strengthen country level coordination and
development monitoring but also contribute towards improving coordination between national and
international statistical systems. However, this requires that the NSO builds ample capacity to collect,
collate, harmonize and integrate data from different sources (mainly key line ministries of health,
education, agriculture, water, transport, etc); develops and manages an accessible and user-friendly
national database with development data and indicators; and makes data available to users in a format
that makes them understandable and usable. One of the main challenges facing African countries in
doing so is the lack of human resources and up-to-date skills. There is, in fact, broad consensus among
African countries and development partners about the need for better training of statisticians and other
data producers if countries have to produce the needed quality statistics for evidence-based policymaking and planning and to better support efforts made by countries in their quest to meet nationally,
regionally, and internationally agreed development goals such as those enshrined in the MDGs.
1.2.
Role of Statistical Training Centres
There are a number of institutions in Africa whose role is to provide statistical training services on a
regular basis. Some of them have a regional character - Regional Statistical Training Centres (RSTCs);
others have a national character such as Departments of Statistics at national Universities. The main
regional statistical training centres in Africa include: École Nationale Supérieure de Statistiques et
d’Economie Appliquée (ENSEA, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire), École Nationale de la Statistique et de
l'Analyse Economique (ENSAE, Dakar, Sénégal), Institut Supérieur de la Statistique et d’Économie
Appliquée (ISSEA, Yaoundé, Camerooon), Department of Statistics at the University of Ibadan
(Nigeria), Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (ISAE) at Makerere University (Uganda),
Eastern Africa Statistical Training Centre (EASTC, Tanzania), Institut de Formation et Recherche
Démographique (IFORD, Yaoundé, Cameroon) and the Cairo Demographic Center (Cairo, Egypt)2.
The current programmes at training centres have tended to be theoretical. In addition, they have not
been opened up to other domains and subjects such as law, history, political science, etc. Computer is
part of the training programme at all training centres. However, some aspects of computer applications
do not seem to be emphasised. A case in point is building databases. Training centres are facing a
number of problems. Key among them are shortages of teaching staff both in terms of numbers and
experience, limited fellowships which has made it difficult for the RSTCs to get many trainees from
outside the host countries, scholastic materials (mainly books and computers), less than adequate
budgetary support from host Governments, space problems, etc. Also the linkages between training
centres and the national statistical systems are generally weak and not formalized. This is unhealthy as
Evaluation Report of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s, UNECA, October
2000.
2
4
it affects the relevance of the training programmes to the national social and economic challenges. It
also does not render “live data” readily available for use in practical courses at the training centres.
Fellowships for specialized study abroad have become more and more difficult to obtain. In most cases
fellowship support has come from various donor-funded projects and this has in some cases distorted
priorities for human resources development.
Clearly these training centres have played a significant role in the development of human skills in
Africa. They have also been assisted over the years by individual development partners. There is now
an apparent need to give them support using broader STPA approach.
1.3.
Role of the UN Economic Commission for Africa
The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is one of five regional commissions under the
administrative direction of United Nations (UN) headquarters. It is the main regional institution of the UN
in Africa; it is an Africa led and driven organization of the UN and as the regional arm of the UN in
Africa, it is mandated to:
 Support the economic and social development of its 53 member States, foster regional
integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development, and
 Promote the development of statistics to enhance national capacities in support of the
economic and social development of Africa.
The core functions of the UNECA in the area of statistics were defined in the Secretary-General's
Bulletin referenced ST/SGB/2005/123 on the organization of the UNECA. These can be summarized as
follows:
 Research on methods and standard setting including harmonization so as to produce a
consolidated set of statistics for Africa;
 Developing and implementing regional programmes that are well coordinated across African
countries;
 Development of survey systems;
 Data compilation with respect to the African region particularly statistics to support regional
integration and development frameworks;
 Strengthening data processing capability in African National Statistical System (NSS);
 Database development; and
 Providing advisory services to the member States towards building their statistical
infrastructure.
1.4.
Repositioning the UNECA to better support African countries meet their development
challenges
As part of the UNECA repositioning exercise in 2006, knowledge management and statistics were
identified as special programme priorities for the organization. This strategic decision led to the
revamping of statistical activities at the UNECA and the establishment of the African Centre for
Statistics (ACS) in September 2006. This has created a lot of expectations among Africa member
states and development partners as well as the UNECA itself about improving national and regional
statistics.
3
Excerpt from the Secretary-General's Bulletin ST/SGB/2005/12 on the organization of ECA, 29th April 2005
5
Taking cognisance of these core functions as handed down through the UN Secretary General's
Bulletin, the UNECA work programme could be categorized into the following elements which have
taken due account of the work programmes of various stakeholders in statistical development in Africa,
ensuring that duplication is avoided and synergy is built among the said stakeholders, namely:
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1.5.
Promotion, coordination of, and advocacy for statistics and statistical activities in Africa plus
monitoring progress of statistical capacity building;
Building a database at the UNECA for the provision of development data and information on Africa;
Re-engineering African Household Surveys;
Improving the capacity to compile basic economic statistics towards implementing the System of
National Accounts (SNA);
Establishing and implementing a regional Programme for Population and Housing Censuses;
Supporting Statistical Training Programmes;
Providing Technical Assistance to African Countries; and
Coordinating the peer review process of NSSs.
Statistical coordination at the regional level
To overcome the shortcomings of past uncoordinated efforts aimed at enhancing statistical capacity in
Africa, the major sponsors of the Forum on African Statistical Development (FASDEV)4, namely the
African Development Bank (AfDB), the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21 st Century
(PARIS21) and the World Bank, sponsored the development of the Reference Regional Strategic
Framework for Statistical Capacity Building in Africa (RRSF) under the leadership of the UNECA. This
framework is expected to create synergies, avoid duplication of effort and lead to sustainable capacity
for statistical development in Africa. The RRSF is a broad framework rather than a specific set of
activities and policy prescriptions, recognizing that most actions will need to take place at national level
and that countries face different problems and have different priorities. The RRSF was endorsed by the
Heads of NSOs in Africa and stakeholders of the FASDEV in February 2006 and the Conference of
African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (CoM) in April 2007. The primary
responsibility for implementing the framework lies with National Statistical Systems (NSSs), with the key
drivers being NSOs. The RRSF identified roles for the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and
regional organizations. The African Union Commission (AUC) was tasked to provide leadership in
statistical advocacy at the highest level of government. It has since and with assistance of other
regional institutions developed an African Charter on Statistics, which is expected to be adopted by
Heads of State and Governments in 2009. The implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on
the RRSF are jointly undertaken by the AfDB and the UNECA.
Following the establishment of the ACS, the April 2007 Conference of African Ministers of Finance,
Planning and Economic Development endorsed the establishment of the Statistical Commission for
Africa (StatCom-Africa) as the apex inter-governmental body in charge of statistics and statistical
development in Africa. Membership of StatCom-Africa comprises Heads of NSOs with other
stakeholders in statistical development in Africa as observers. The ACS provides the Secretariat to
StatCom-Africa. The inaugural meeting of StatCom-Africa in January 2008 established five working
groups.
The Forum on African Statistical Development (FASDEV) is a forum of national, sub-regional, regional, and international
organizations that seek to strengthen cooperation for statistical development in Africa.
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6
Following a meeting of the representatives of the AUC, the AfDB, the UNECA, and the ACBF held in
Tunis, Tunisia, in September, 2007 to discuss the coordination of statistical capacity building work in
Africa, it was decided that an African Statistical Coordination Committee (ASCC) be established with
the objective to coordinate and facilitate better delivery of statistical programmes and technical services
aimed at promoting statistical capacity building and development in Africa. The ASCC, which reports to
StatCom-Africa, set up a number of working groups including one on statistical training. During the
2010 session of the StatCom-Africa, the AGROST mandated ACS to Coordinate the Secretariat of the
Group.
This programme proposal is based on the training component of the ACS programme of work and the
ASCC working group on statistical training. It is aimed at assisting countries develop their human
resources by transferring knowledge, and by broadening and deepening strategic skills base, thereby
enhancing the capacity of African countries to produce quality statistical information in support of their
development agendas. Unlike the previous STPA, this proposed programme is broader in scope,
revolutionary in outlook and takes on board new innovations in training and in statistical capacity
building.
2.
2.1.
Problem analysis
The challenges of statistical training in Africa
One of the main statistical development challenges facing African countries is lack of appropriate
human resources and up-to-date skills. Accordingly, several fora have advocated for seriously
addressing the training challenge facing African countries including the former Committee on
Development Information (CODI)5, the former Advisory Board on Statistics in Africa (ABSA)6, the
FASDEV, and the Africa Symposia in Statistical Development (ASSD)7. Recent assessments of African
NSSs made in the process of the preparation of the RRSF in 2006, the implementation of the
International Comparison Programme for Africa (ICP-Africa) and lately, in the design of the National
Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) in Africa have confirmed that statistical training
remains a major challenge in statistical development in the continent. In fact, all key initiatives on
statistical development in Africa have identified statistical training as one of the strategies to address
the challenges facing statistical development on the continent. A meeting on statistical training in Africa
organised within the framework of the PARIS21 Task Team on Statistical Training and Human
Resources took place in Kampala, Uganda from 12 to 13 March 2007. The meeting assessed the state
The Committee on Development Information (CODI) was the former subsidiary body of the UNECA in charge of statistics.
It was one of the seven technical committees established by UNECA. Its terms of reference included advising on measures
to improve statistical development of UNECA member states. It was replaced by the Statistical Commission for Africa
(StatCom-Africa) in April 2007.
5
The Advisory Board on Statistics in Africa (ABSA) is a Board aimed at providing advices to the UNECA secretariat on
emerging issues relating to statistical development in Africa, as well as the direction and content of its work programme.
6
The Africa Symposia on Statistical Development (ASSD) is a country-led initiative aimed at providing a forum where
African countries discuss issues pertaining to their statistical development on a regionally coordinated basis. The Symposia
are organized in African countries on a rotational basis. They consider a number of aspects relating to developing
sustainable statistical systems, address the challenges of capacity building, and provide a platform for a comprehensive
exchange of experiences and best practices among African countries. The first ASSD took place in Cape Town, South Africa
in February 2006, the second in Kigali, Rwanda in January 2007 while the third was held in Accra, Ghana in December
2007. The fourth ASSD will take place in Luanda, Angola in February 2009.
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of statistical training in Africa, highlighted difficulties, and proposed concrete solutions to overcome
some of the problems. One of the major recommendations of the meeting was to formally establish an
“African sub-group” of the PARIS 21 Task Team on Statistical Training and Human Resources. In
addition, a meeting was organized by the ACBF in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in August 2008 to discuss the
needs assessment of regional statistical training centres.
In the seventies and the eighties, the UNECA contributed to the statistical development in Africa
through a number of statistical programmes including the Statistical Training Programme for Africa
(STPA). The STPA was implemented in close collaboration with major partners such as the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The STPA was part of a number of regional cooperation
programmes funded by some partners and the UNECA regular budget. These included the African
Census Programme (ACP), the African Household Survey Capability Programme (AHSCP) and the
National Accounts Capability Programme. The STPA became operational towards the end of 1979 with
funding from the UNDP. The main objective of the programme was to make the region self-sufficient in
statistical personnel. Sixteen statistical training centres in Africa participated in the programme. In
addition, overseas centres, namely the former CESD-Munich (the Munich Centre of Advanced Training
for Statisticians from Developing Countries) and the International Statistical Programmes Centre (ISPC)
of the United States Bureau of the Census were integrated into the programme as associate training
centres that would offer advanced and specialized training. The programme, which played an important
role in statistical training in Africa during the period 1978-1993, carried out many activities including the
following:
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Training of trainers for which fellowships were made available;
Organizing meetings of Heads of the training centres participating in the programme;
Developing standard training programmes for both high and middle-level statistical training;
Offering training support missions of short-duration; and
Providing advisory services in the area of statistical training;
Providing short-terms courses on specialised topics at STPA centres and In-service statistical
training programmes.
The programme ended in 1993 when funding from the UNPD ended. The end of the regional
programme notwithstanding, the UNECA was able to organize some workshops and to carry out a
number of technical assistance missions to countries albeit on a severely reduced scale.
Human resources development and enhancement entails designing and implementing explicit policies
and strategies for: ascertaining personnel needs (carrying out a thorough job analysis to determine the
level of skills/technical abilities, competencies, flexibility of the employee required, etc), standards and
procedures for the recruitment, deployment, induction, careers development, training for managerial
functions, appropriate performance management of staff; appraisal system; and staff motivation and
retention. The 2003 UN Handbook on Statistical Organization gives the following example of a set of
coherent objectives these elements are designed to help attain:
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Increase the proportion of professional staff by expanding the annual intake of young professionally
qualified staff;
Ensure that once recruited, qualified people are assigned suitable jobs and every one is treated
fairly,
Devise a proper mixture of deterrents and incentives, to be made explicit to the staff,
Administer sufficient training to staff members at key points in their careers, so as to maximize
versatility and motivation, and
8
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Ensure that key jobs are staffed and have a possible successor ready to step into an incumbent’s
shoes should the need arise.
There are a number of challenges in doing all these including building leadership skills, empowering
data producers with technical and other skills, and empowering data users (including policy and
decision-makers, and the media). Meeting these challenges requires a bold and comprehensive training
programme that addresses training needs at different levels using latest innovation in training such as
mentorship, e-learning, internships, etc.
a)
Building leadership and management skills
The issue of effective leadership and management is one of the most significant items on the agenda of
private and public organizations all over the world. Indeed, the success or failure of an organization
largely depends on the effectiveness of its leadership and management. Effective leadership and
management are the more important and assume a special dimension in developing countries where
statistical systems are fragile, vulnerable and lately over-taxed with demand for statistical information to
facilitate managing for development results. In addition to the challenges of meeting demand for
statistics, there are many complex challenges that require new types of leadership and management –
a leadership that leads and a management that manages. These challenges include globalisation, fastpaced technological change, rising expectations of citizens and customers, increasing diversity in
societies, need for performance focused organizations and the need for managing networked
organizations. It can be stated with some degree of confidence that if NSOs had better leaders and
managers, most of their problems would be over.
The problem is that NSOs are led and managed by technicians many of whom have not been
empowered to lead and manage. It is necessary to emphasize that there are no proper curricula for
training on statistical leadership and management. The only way to empower them with leadership and
management skills is to teach them in the early years of their career and before they become
managers. Rather than undertake high level and strategic leadership and management, many of them
engage in micro-management and spend disproportionate time “fire fighting”. We have seen some new
Heads of NSOs being thrown at the deep end and struggling to swim. Unfortunately, there is currently
no regional facility for inducting these new Heads of NSOs – Director Generals and Chair of Statistical
boards/councils. A survey of training programmes at many NSOs shows that this important element is
visibly missing in the programmes. The STPA will provide a facility called Induction-TutorageMentoring Facility initially for new managers and leaders of NSOs across Africa. This programme is
described below.
The STPA will work towards building management training into the training programmes at the
statistical training institutions, and the In-service training programme at the NSOs. Other areas of
concern include report writing, communication, data analysis, etc.
b)
Empowering data producers
To appreciate better the training needs of data producers, one must first understand that there are
three categories of data producers. There include professional statisticians (with University degrees),
middle-level statistical staff (with a diploma or equivalent) and data collectors (including
enumerators and supervisors at NSOs, and technicians who collect and manage data across
government ministries and departments).
9
Professional statisticians are trained either at Universities e.g. Department of Statistics at University of
Ibadan (Nigeria), Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics, Makerere University (Uganda) or at
specialized statistical training centres such as ENSEA in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). Training in statistics at
Universities has been faltered for being theoretical and for teaching statistics basically from the supply
side. In fact, Statistics Departments at many Universities do not even teach “Official Statistics”. In
addition, many Statistics Departments are not well equipped with teaching materials – books, journals,
computers, etc. And the training programmes of many of them have remained the same in spite of everchanging data needs. There is, therefore, a need for reviewing current teaching programmes at
Universities with a view to aligning them with current demand for data, ensuring that teaching of
statistics is done from the demand rather than supply side (making trainees understand national and
international development agenda, development indicators and data implications for the development
agendas), for advocating for the teaching of official statistics at Universities and for supporting
Universities and other training centres with scholastic materials, etc. There is also a need to equip data
producers with enhanced specialised skills in data analysis (e.g. using GIS tools and more advanced
analysis software) given the patently poor quality of data analysis that is usually undertaken by data
producers. In addition to hard skills, data producers need to be empowered with soft skills –
communication, writing, presentation, etc. – the sort of skills, which mainstream training, centres and
Universities do not give to trainees,
There is also a need to:
 ensure that outcomes of meetings/conferences are conveyed to statisticians on the ground and
translated into teaching materials to update/enhance existing training materials,
 empower professional statisticians so that they can effectively contribute to international meetings
and working groups where key recommendations are made for further application by countries’
NSOs.
The STPA will assist countries to resolve these issues.
The point must be made that most of the data required for monitoring development including MDGs
comes from sectors – education, health, agriculture, water, environment, labour, police, immigration,
etc. In many countries, the people who collect these data are not trained in data collection and
handling. Where they have been trained, the training was one off or ad hoc and was not done in an
efficient manner as part of a coordinated national strategy to enhance statistical capacity. The
assessments of sectors being undertaken as part of the process of designing NSDSs have revealed
that some sectors lack minimum competence in data collection and management. As a matter of fact
this constitutes the greatest need when it comes to statistical training. In South Africa where the
President directed all government departments to have an M & E Unit, it is estimated that between 50,
000 and 200,000 personnel will need to be trained to effectively man these units. So the numbers to be
trained are big indeed.
It was for these reasons that the RRSF recommended that every NSO in Africa should establish an Inservice Training Centre to build minimum competence in data collection and management across
government. Where such Centres already exist, they are weak and lack training materials – books,
computers, etc – and their programmes are not formalized or accredited. As a result, qualifications
obtained in these centres are usually not recognized by the national Civil Service and other relevant
bodies. The STPA will assist countries to establish or strengthen their In-Service Training Centres,
develop and improve training courses and syllabi and link these courses to those of statistical training
centres to enable the trainees who succeed in the in-service training courses proceed for further
training at the statistical training centres.
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c)
Empowering data users
Various assessments of NSSs in Africa have shown that while there are many data gaps, yet not all
existing data are being used optimally – an irony! Reasons for limited data use have been identified to
include, inter alia, lack of information about available data series and lack of empowerment and knowledge
of how to effectively use the data once accessed.
In order to promote the use of data, key data users need to be empowered in the first place to appreciate
data and secondly to access and effectively use data from sectoral databases and the national socioeconomic databank (where it is in place). Use of data can also be promoted through adoption of aggressive
dissemination techniques, improving quality of data through provision of metadata and use of produceruser dialogue.
The STPA will help countries design appropriate training materials and programmes for key data users in
the countries.
2.2.
The statistical training programme of the ACS
Given the importance of training in the production of quality statistics in African countries, the ACS’s
programme of work includes a training programme. Considering the tremendous contribution of the
STPA in the development of statistics, the ACS in collaboration with major partners including the AfDB,
the ACBF, and the AUC, is working towards the re-establishment of a three-year STPA (2009-2011)
with the following Objectives, expected accomplishments and other strategic elements:
The programme is expected to reach its objectives through, inter alia:
 The organization of key studies for the purpose of standardisation and harmonization of statistical
training systems in Africa;
 Development of teaching materials particularly in the areas of official statistics, strategic planning,
communication, management, etc. Consultants will be required to prepare these materials;
 Curricula development in collaboration with training centres and other partners in statistical training;
 Organization of joint researches between STCs;
 Development of methodological guides and standards;
 Study tours for lecturers to improve their skills in other languages;
 Students exchange programme;
 Building capacity of STCs’ libraries;
 Provision of fellowships. To enable the STPA have impact, fellowships will be offered for short-term
duration and will be restricted to cover specialized courses only that will enable statistical offices to
perform better.
 On-the-job training at NSOs to maximize technical assistance usually given in different areas of
statistics;
 Facilitating effective interaction between Directors of NSOs and Directors of training centres;
 Twinning arrangements;
 Assist young statisticians;
 Study tours for countries to learn from each other’s successes. The countries embarking on inservice statistical training programmes should visit countries that have succeeded in running inservice training courses such as Niger, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria;
 Assist countries with e-learning/distance learning;
 The organization of meetings of heads of training institutions to discuss emerging issues related to
training, financing, curricula etc as well as the challenges they are facing;
11



The organization of workshops for:
 training of trainers;
 training communications officers at NSOs focusing on communicating statistics;
 training Heads of Coordination Units at NSOs;
Empowering statisticians to contribute to international meetings, and to convert outcomes of these
meetings into training materials; and
Advisory services to training centres and NSOs.
As it can be observed, this programme and the former STPA have almost the same components. In
fact, the challenges facing African countries in this domain have not changed much, hence the
necessity of revamping the STPA with the collaboration of previous and new players in statistical
development on the continent.
3.
3.1.
Objectives, expected accomplishments and other strategic elements
Overall objective
The overall objective of the programme is to assist African countries develop their human resources by
transferring knowledge, and by broadening and deepening strategic skills base, thereby enhancing the
capacity of African countries to produce quality statistical information in support of their development
agendas.
3.2.
Expected accomplishments
EA 1.1: Improved curricula covering all training of data producers and users
EA 1.2: Enhanced knowledge in various areas of statistics including new areas
EA 1.3: Better interaction and exchange of experiences among Heads of statistical training centres
EA 1.4: Reference materials and equipments available for users
EA 1.5: Fellowships offered
EA 1.6: Well documented libraries
EA 1.7: A core of better trainers built
EA 1.8: Internship programmes in place
EA 1.9: In-Service Training Centres in place in NSOs
EA 2.1: Inducted Director Generals and Chairs of Statistical Boards/ Councils
EA 2.2: Study tours organized
EA 2.3: Exchange programmes in place
EA 2.4: Twinning arrangements in place
EA 2.5: Training material in official statistics subjects developed.
3.3.
Indicators of achievements
Indicator 1.1: Number of module syllabuses developed and type
Indicator 1.2: Number of statistical areas where methodological improvements were recorded
Indicator 1.3: Number of trainers trained
Indicator 1.4: Number of materials/equipments supplied
Indicator 1.5: Number of libraries online accessible
Indicator 1.6: Number of fellowships offered
Indicator 1.7: Number of meetings of Heads of training centres held
Indicator 1.8: Number of users, suppliers and the media trained
Indicator 1.9: Number of inducted Director Generals and Chairs of Statistical Boards/ Councils
12
Indicator 2.1: Number of trainees going through internship programmes
Indicator 2.2: Number of In-Service Training Centres in place in NSOs
Indicator 2.3: Number of study tours undertaken
Indicator 2.4: Number of staff in exchange programme
Indicator 2.5: Number of twinning arrangements
3.4.
Activities
The proposed STPA will aim at enhancing human resources development in statistics and related
areas. Taking cognisance of existing efforts deployed by various partners and the overall objective of
African Group on Statistical Training and Human Resources (AGROST) of the Statistical Commission
for Africa (StatCom-Africa), the programme will be built on the three following pillars:
 Support to STCs
 Induction-Tutorage-Mentoring Facility; and
 Training for data producers;
(a)
Support to Statistical Training Centres (STCs)
This part of the programme will consist of:
 promoting partnerships and networking among African STCs and other centres of excellence
teaching statistics within and outside Africa;
 reviewing curricula to:
 effectively accommodate official statistics,
 include training on new reflections and recommendations on international systems,
 include new and emerging issues and to starting teaching statistics from demand side;
 standardise and harmonise curricula;
 developing training materials and supplying equipment in form of computers, photocopiers,
books etc. in support of lectures in STCs;
 promoting relationships between statistical training centres by organizing joint researches,
exchange of programmes and students, conducting e-learning sessions on specifics subjects;
 improving capacity of STCs’ libraries;
 providing short term experts to African STCs in specialized areas;
 setting up a Fellowships Programme for trainers and trainees to participate in short-term
courses, and advisory services programme for the benefit of African countries;
 providing technical advice regarding training materials and content;
 Participation in advisory Boards/Councils of statistical training centres to guide policy direction.
(b)
Induction-Tutorage-Mentoring Facility
Every year, upwards of ten new Director Generals of NSOs are appointed. We are also witnessing an
increasing trend in establishment of national Statistical Boards/Councils. Many times, the people
appointed to these important positions have high technical skills but usually no management skills. So
this pillar of the programme will focus on:

Conducting induction sessions for newly appointed Director Generals (DGs) and Chairs of
Statistical Boards/ Councils or on a selective basis, those DGs who have been in post for some
time but badly need this kind of training. The sessions will be undertaken at ACS in Addis,
Ethiopia. The more experienced DGs of African NSOs with best practices and other staff from
relevant divisions of UNECA will be invited to participate in the induction and tutoring sessions.
13



(c)
The sessions will be held twice a year and it is expected that there will be about 10-15
participants in each session. The session will cover such areas as:
 advent of information societies, managing for development results (meaning and
statistical implications), challenge of data demand and supply in Africa;
 deeper meaning of the NSS, pre-requisites for an effective NSS, pathways to
strengthening the NSS including statistical advocacy and reforms, concept of
mainstreaming statistics in policy processes, statistical capacity building and retention,
management of staff resources, broadening and deepening statistical coordination;
 role of national and international statistical associations, inter-governmental processes,
sub-regional and regional organizations, development partners, leadership and
management;
 statistical value chain; improving and integrating data sources;
 planning and managing statistical activities under statistical convergence frameworks
(SNA, PRSPs, etc),
 improving data management, dissemination and application;
 planning for statistical development (NSDS processes and implementation)
 management training courses
The induction sessions will be followed by a week-long study tour of selected African NSOs
with best practices so that the inductees can learn from their peers;
The inductees will then undertake a week-long study tour of advanced NSOs in the north
(France, Denmark/Norway/Canada) learn from an advanced statistical systems;
When the inductees return home, the ACS will follow them up to continue mentoring them. For
this same purpose, efforts will also be made to link them with DGs of other African NSOs with
best practices.
Training for data producers
Training for data producers will have two distinct parts. Part one will be to assist countries establish or
strengthen the In-Service Training Centres and part two, will be to support Regional Statistical Training
Centres.
In-Service Training Centres
As was mentioned above, the in-service training centres will be established at NSOs or strengthened if
they already exist. Their primary objective will be broadened to include establishment of minimum
competencies for data collection and management in support of M & E across government. In
particular, the STPA will:
 establish which countries do not have or discontinued in-service training centres and which
ones have them but they are weak ,
 assist countries identify training officers at the NSO or training institutions in each country,
 assist countries with designing training programmes and courses including addressing issues
of certification of the courses while they were designing their NSDS,
 assist NSOs to restructure their activities around and towards statistical convergence
frameworks (SNA, PRSPs, etc),
 assist countries with study tours to countries which are running in-service statistical training
programmes,
 assist with training materials – books, manuals, photocopiers, computers, etc,
 assist countries to contract with STCs for training their staffs;
 organize training workshops for training officers,
14


creating a “community of practice” for the training officers,
assist regional organizations, sub-regional organizations and countries to rationalize the
preparation, conduct, attendance/participation and evaluation of workshops/seminars.
The other objectives of the STPA/AGROST will be to maximize the benefits that accrue to technical
assistance with a special focus on the on-the-job training, and to undertake, from time to time, short
courses, occasional seminars and workshops to meet specific needs of the NSO staff and other data
producers. These courses and seminars could be conducted on such areas as survey sampling,
questionnaire design, data analysis, data interpretation, report writing, use of computer packages, GIS,
poverty mapping, GDP estimation on a quarterly basis, new areas in statistics (e.g. energy,
environment, gender, governance, poverty), management especially for line managers, etc. The ACS
will keep the countries updated on new areas of statistical development and through the STPA assist
countries to undertake the said seminars and workshops.
In addition, study tours will be organized for staff of NSOs and other data producing institutions to
countries where innovative activities are taking place in a relevant statistical area, or where a "best
practice" has been established. Attempts will also be made to twin NSOs in Africa with those abroad.
Also a staff exchange programme among African countries will be facilitated whereby an expert from
one country will be supported to spend three or so months in an NSO with a deficit of certain skills.
The In-service Training Centre will also be responsible for the training data users. The training will deal
with such topics as: importance and value of data; statistical value chain, main sources of data; data
quality; and data use in policy analysis, planning, decision-making, monitoring, evaluation and forecasting;
etc.
4.
Monitoring and evaluation
A number of indicators will be used to measure achievement including the World Bank capacity building
scores as well as indicators that are being developed by the UNECA and regional partners (AfDB, AUC,
and ACBF) as part of the implementation framework of the RRSF. In addition, the following output
indicators will also be used:
 Reports of training of trainers;
 Proceedings of meetings of Heads of Training Centres;
 Developed modules/curricula;
 Fellows in place;
 Reports of the training workshops; and
 Terms of reference of the technical support/consultants.
5.
External factors
The ACS provision of adequate backing to member States is expected to achieve its objective and
expected accomplishments on the assumption that (i) member States and their NSSs secure adequate
human and financial resources for statistical operations, including census undertaking, surveys and
national accounts and, countries senior officials are supportive of the NSDSs; (ii) partners, including the
AfDB, the AUC, RECs, regional and sub regional organizations extend full cooperation to the
harmonization and coordination of statistical activities and are supportive of the UNECA leadership in
the implementation of the RRSF.
15
Appendix
Costing of the project for the period (2010-2013)
Item
Amount (US$)
Remarks
1. Studies
Update list of African statistical training centers (Institutes and University Departments) and programs by different
levels of initial training
a. Consultant
Honorarium
15,000
$7,500 x 2 w/months
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
DSA
1,400
$200 per day x 7 days
Travel
b. Other services
Translation
10,000
Printing
30,000
Dissemination
20,000
Sub total
77,900
Assessment Study on statistical training need and capacity
a. Consultant
Honorarium
22,500
$7,500 x 3 w/months
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
DSA
1,400
$200 per day x 7 days
Travel
b. Other services
Translation
10,000
Printing
30,000
Dissemination
20,000
Sub total
85,400
Analysis of the training components within existing NSDSs or NSDSs under development
a. Consultant
Honorarium
22,500
$7,500 x 3 w/months
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
DSA
1,400
$200 per day x 7 days
Travel
b. Other services
Translation
10,000
Printing
30,000
Dissemination
20,000
16
Sub total
85,400
Study on Harmonization of curricula and standardization of qualifications offered by different STCs
a. Consultant
Honorarium
30,000
$7,500 x 4 w/months
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
DSA
3,000
$200 per day x 15 days
Travel
b. Other services
Translation
10,000
Printing
30,000
Dissemination
20,000
Sub total
94,500
Sub total 1
343,200
2. Elaboration of training materials for both STCs and In-Service Training Centers and users
a. Consultant
Honorarium
30,000
$7,500 x 4 w/months
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
DSA
3,000
$200 per day x 15 days
Travel
b. Other services
Translation
10,000
Printing
30,000
Dissemination
20,000
Sub total
94,500
Sub total 2
1,890,000
20 sets of materials
30,000
$7,500 x 4 w/months
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
DSA
3,000
$200 per day x 15 days
Sub total
34,500
3. Curricula development
a. Consultant
Honorarium
Travel
Sub total 3
207,000
4. Sub regional workshops on the dissemination of developed materials
17
6 curricula (STCs and NSO TCs)
Travel
Participants
Air ticket
45,000
30 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
30,000
30 participants x $200 x 5 days
Air ticket
4,500
3 staff x $1,500 per trip
DSA
4,200
3 staff x $200 x 7 days
Secretariat
Interpretation
30,000
Conference facilities
15,000
Translation
10,000
Sundries
5,000
Subtotal
143,700
Sub total 4
862,200
6 workshops
Air ticket
60,000
40 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
40,000
40 participants x $200 x 5 days
Air ticket
4,500
3 staff x $1,500 per trip
DSA
4,200
3 staff x $200 x 7 days
5. Meetings of Heads of STCs
Travel
Participants
Secretariat
Interpretation
12,000
Conference facilities
15,000
Translation
10,000
Sundries
5,000
Subtotal
150,700
Sub total 5
452,100
3 Meetings
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to STC at $1,500
DSA
2,000
$1,000 per month for 2 months
Subtotal
3,500
6. Joint researches
Travel
Participants
Sub total 6
105,000
18
30 researches
7. Study tours for lecturers for improving language skill
Travel
Participants
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to STC at $1,500
DSA
4,000
$2,000 per month for 2 months
Subtotal
5,500
Sub total 7
110,000
20 lecturers
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to STC at $1,500
DSA
2,000
$1,000 per month for 2 months
Subtotal
3,500
8. Students exchange programmes
Travel
Participants
Sub total 8
105,000
30 students
9. Libraries
Networking libraries
60,000
Workshop for librarians
Travel
Participants
Air ticket
45,000
30 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
30,000
30 participants x $200 x 5 days
Air ticket
4,500
3 staff x $1,500 per trip
DSA
4,200
3 staff x $200 x 7 days
Secretariat
Interpretation
12,000
Conference facilities
15,000
Translation
10,000
Sundries
5,000
Subtotal
125,700
Sub total workshop
251,400
Sub total 9
311,400
10. Young statisticians
19
2 workshops
Pré-ASSD on building capacity in elaboration of researches
Travel
Participants
Air ticket
15,000
10 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
14,000
10 participants x $200 x 7 days
Subtotal
29,000
Sub total
87,000
3 ASSD
Air ticket
15,000
10 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
14,000
10 participants x $200 x 7 days
Subtotal
29,000
Sub total
29,000
Pré-StatCom-Africa on building capacity in elaboration of
researches
Travel
Participants
Sub total 10
1 StatCom-Africa
116,000
11. Short term expertise to STCs and NSOs in specialized areas incl. provision of materials
a. Consultant/staff
Honorarium
15,000
$5,000 (Excl. DSA) x 3 months
1,500
Round trip to STC or NSO at $1,500
12,000
$200 per day x 60 days
b. Materials
30,000
Books, software etc.
c. Equipments
50,000
Computers, projectors etc.
Travel
Air ticket
DSA
Sub total
108,500
Sub total 11
3,255,000
30 organizations (STCs and NSOs)
12. Study tours, exchange programmes, and twinning arrangements across NSOs
a. NSO staff
Travel
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to NSO at $1,500
DSA
12,000
$200 per day x 60 days
Sub total
13,500
Sub total 12
405,000
20
30 NSOs staff
13. Induction-Tutorage-Mentoring Facility for Heads of NSOs/Statistical Boards
Travel to ACS
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
DSA
1,400
$200 per day x 7 days
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to an African country at $1,500
DSA
1,400
$200 per day x 7 days
Air ticket
3,000
Round trip to a developed country at $3,000
DSA
2,100
$300 per day x 7 days
Sub total
10,900
Sub total
65,400
6 countries
Air ticket
15,000
10 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
14,000
10 participants x $200 x 7 days
Material
10,000
Travel to an NSO
Travel to a developed country
Heads of NSOs with best
practice
Travel
Miscellaneous
5,000
Sub total
44,000
Sub total
264,000
Sub total 13
329,400
6 sessions
14. Fellowships
Travel to ECA
Fellowship at ACS
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to UNECA at $1,500
Lump sum
3,000
$1,500 per month x 2 months
Sub total
4,500
Sub total
27,000
6 fellows (2010-2012)
1,500
Round trip to STC at $1,500
36,000
$1,000 per month x 36 months (3 year pgm)
Travel to STCs or universities
Air ticket
Lump sum
Sub total
37,500
Sub total
375,000
For 10 students (2010-2012)
Sub total 14
402,000
For 6 fellows at ACS and 10 students at
STCs/universities
15. Regional workshops for training of trainers
Travel
21
Participants
Air ticket
75,000
50 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
50,000
50 participants x $200 x 5 days
Air ticket
4,500
3 staff x $1,500 per trip
DSA
4,200
3 staff x $200 x 7 days
Secretariat
Interpretation
12,000
Conference facilities
15,000
Translation
10,000
Sundries
5,000
Subtotal
175,700
Sub total 15
527,100
3 workshops
15,000
$7,500 x 2 w/months
16. E-learning
a. Consultant
Honorarium
b. Other services
Translation
10,000
Printing
30,000
Dissemination
20,000
Sub total
75,000
Sub total 16
450,000
6 modules
17. Regional workshops for training of Communications Officers at NSOs (communicating statistics)
Travel
Participants
Air ticket
75,000
50 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
50,000
50 participants x $200 x 5 days
Air ticket
4,500
3 staff x $1,500 per trip
DSA
3,150
3 staff x $200 x 7 days
Secretariat
Interpretation
4,200
Conference facilities
15,000
Translation
10,000
Sundries
5,000
Subtotal
166,850
Sub total 17
500,550
22
3 workshops
18. Regional workshops for training of Heads of Coordination Units at NSOs
Travel
Participants
Air ticket
75,000
50 participants x $1,500 per trip
DSA
50,000
50 participants x $200 x 5 days
Air ticket
4,500
3 staff x $1,500 per trip
DSA
4,200
3 staff x $200 x 7 days
Secretariat
Interpretation
12,000
Conference facilities
15,000
Translation
10,000
Sundries
5,000
Subtotal
175,700
Sub total 18
527,100
3 workshops
19. Statistical training adviser (L4)
Salary, allowances and benefits
265,785
Travel for missions
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to country or STC at $1,500
DSA
2,000
$200 per day x 10 days per mission
Sub total
3,500
Sub total missions
35,000
10 missions per year
Sub total
300,785
Missions and salary per year
Sub total 19
902,355
3 year (2010-2012)
Air ticket
1,500
Round trip to country or STC at $1,500
DSA
1,400
$200 per day x 7 days per mission
Sub total
2,900
20. Missions of the Secretariat
Travel for missions
Sub total 20
Total
87,000
11,887,405
23
10 missions per year