Statistical Newsletter Published: 5 July 2011

Second Quarter, 2011

Announcement

o Application for Young Professionals Programme  from 11 July to 10 September 2011

Feature: Growing interest and demand for statistics on water availability

Intergovernmental & expert dialogue

o 67th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific o Technical Advisory Group on Social Statistics

o Steering Group for the Regional Programme on Economic Statistics

o EGM on Opportunities and advantages of enhanced collaboration on statistical information management in Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, 20-22 June 2011

o Assessments of the capacity of the national statistical systems of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Lao People's Democratic Republic to produce economic statistics

o Assessment of the capacity of Indonesia to produce gender statistics

o Assessing Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems in the Asia-Pacific region ,Bangkok, 28-31 March 2011

o “Vital Registration Assessment: Final Stakeholder Meeting” , Maldives, 24 April2011

Training

o SIAP awarded for its contribution to JAXA

o Regional Training Course on the System of National Accounts 2008 , Daejeon,Republic of Korea, 13-17 June 2011

o Training Course on Survey Methodology for the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics ,Chiba, Japan, 30 May–3 June 2011

o Distance-learning training course on “Introduction to STATA” , 19 April 2011

o ESCAP taps SRTC for Capacity Building Training for Central Bureau of Statistics - Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 23 May-16 June 2011

o ESCAP/UNFPA Sub regional Training/Workshop on Dissemination of Census data in support of monitoring MDG indicators for policy and decision making, Ulaanbaatar, 12-14

April 2011

Collaboration

o Strengthening Health Information Systems

o Harmonisation as a Means to Increasing Data Quality and Utility of Time-Use Data

o International Workshop on Measuring GDP by Final Demand Approach , Shenzhen, China

o UNFPA-NESDB symposium

Upcoming releases

o Regional MDG Report

o Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, 2011

Calendar of forthcoming statistical meetings in Asia and the Pacific region

New faces

Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division

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Announcement

Application for Young Professionals Programme from 11 July to 10 September 2011

In a new recruitment initiative called the Young Professionals Programme (YPP), the United Nations is looking for highly qualified individuals who are ready to launch a professional career as an international civil servant. This programme builds upon the national competitive recruitment examination (NCRE) which was held for the last time in 2010. Information on eligibility, application procedures and examinations is available at: https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=NCE

 

Feature: Growing interest and demand for statistics on water availability

 

Globally, there is more than 8,000 cubic metres of water available per year per person; however, water resources are not evenly distributed. The Asia and the Pacific region has the lowest available water per capita at just over 5,000 cubic metres per year; and India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan all have less than 2,000. Additionally, within countries, access to water is not uniformly distributed.

Water security is a growing concern for the Asia-Pacific region and for the world. To focus and prioritize national and regional strategies and policies; reliable, timely disaggregated water statistics are vital. Unfortunately, many countries face challenges in identifying data sources and compiling water statistics. Additionally, a framework (such as the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts for Water - SEEAW) to bring water statistics together to present a complete picture of water security is not available in most countries.

In response to the growing concern of water security, interest in water statistics is growing in the international statistical community as is evidenced by an increase in water statistics meetings and the revision of the SEEAW. At the International Statistics Institute (ISI) conference in Dublin, Ireland, the 24 th of August has been dedicated as “Water Theme Day”; additionally, a special issue of the ISI publication will be dedicated to water statistics.

For more information on statistics as related to economic, social and environmental issues in Asia and the Pacific, see the ESCAP Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific (to be released in September 2011).

 

Intergovernmental and expert dialogue

 

67th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

 

Government leaders and representatives from 48 countries convened in Bangkok from 19-25 May 2011 for the 67th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The Commission discussed and made decisions on social, economic and environmental issues in pursuit of sustainable and inclusive development in the region. The Commission recognized the importance of statistics in providing hard evidence for policy development and monitoring and adopted 4 resolutions directly related to statistics: (1) strengthening statistical capacity in the region, (2) the improvement of civil

registration and vital statistics, (3) the improvement of economic statistics, and (4) the organization of the Governing Council of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP).

During the session, the Commission expressed appreciation for the achievements of the ESCAP Committee on Statistics. The Commission fully endorsed the decisions and recommendations made by the Committee at its second session held in December 2010, including the long-term strategic goals of the Committee which aims to ensure that all countries in the ESCAP region by 2020 have the capability to provide an agreed basic range of population, economic, social and environmental statistics, and to create a more adaptive and cost-effective information management system for national statistical offices through stronger regional collaboration.

The Commission supported the establishment of a steering group on economic statistics; a technical advisory group on social statistics; a working group on the coordination of statistical training; and a steering group, in collaboration with FAO, for the development of a regional implementation plan for the improvement of agricultural and rural statistics. Several delegations at the Commission expressed their intention to actively support statistical development in the Asia-Pacific region through their participation in the groups established by the Committee, sharing of best practices regarding information management that is adaptive and cost-effective, and provision of technical expertise.

The Commission appreciated the contribution that ESCAP makes at the global level to the United Nations Statistical Commission, the information provided through regional MDG progress tracking, and the support extended to the development of official statistics in the region. The Commission recognized the important contribution of SIAP in supporting national statistical capacity building in the region through the provision of training on official statistics over the past four decades. The Commission also expressed strong appreciation to the Government of Japan for its contribution to statistical development in the region through its support for SIAP, which is continuing despite the severe constraints and challenges experienced following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The high-level of participation in both the ESCAP Commission and the Committee on Statistics demonstrates the strong desire of ESCAP members to work collaboratively for the betterment of the Asia-Pacific region. As stated by Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP in her closing statement, “Together we are shaping a new economic and social order to ensure a better and more secure future for the peoples of the Asia-Pacific region.”

 

Technical Advisory Group on Social Statistics

 

In recognition of the importance of social statistics in informing decision-making for inclusive and sustainable development, the Committee on Statistics at its second session decided to establish a Technical Advisory Group on Social Statistics (TAG-SS) to advise the Committee on strategies for developing a regional programme to improve the work in this area in Asia and the Pacific.

The TAG-SS is to provide recommendations on the scope of social statistics that all countries in the region should be in a position to provide by 2020, taking into consideration the relevance of the statistics, policy priorities and the varying national statistical capacity of member States. The TAG-SS will also provide methodological and substantive guidelines on the formulation and implementation of a regional programme of national capacity development in social statistics, including through the development of a core set(s) of social statistics. Finally, the Technical Advisory Group will guide the long- and medium-term plans of implementing the regional programme of social statistics, including monitoring and evaluation.

On the basis of nominations by member States and development partners, the Bureau of the Committee on Statistics constituted the TAG-SS in June 2011 which consists of 15 members representing 10 countries and four development partners (including one alternate member for the Philippines). The members are:

1. Australia Ms Susan Linacre, Advisor, Strategic Projects, Australian Bureau of Statistics;

2. Azerbaijan Mr Yusif Yusifov, Head, Department of Industry, Transport and Communication Statistics

3. Bangladesh Mr Dipankar Roy, Deputy Director , Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

4. Bhutan Mr Phub Sangay, Chief Statistical Officer, Survey & Data Processing Division, National Statistics Bureau

5. India Mr V. Parmeshwaran, DDG, SSD, Central Statistics Office

6. Indonesia Mr Wynandin Imawan, Deputy Chief Statistician for Social Statistics, BPS – Statistics Indonesia

7. Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Ms Mahsa Saadati, Expert on R&D Statistics, Statistical Centre of Iran

8. Mongolia Ms D. Oyunchimeg, Director of Population and Social Statistics Department, National Statistical Office of Mongolia

9. Philippines Ms Paula Monina G. Collado, Deputy Administrator, Philippines ' National Statistics Office and Ms. Jessamyn O. Encarnacion, OIC-Director, Social Statistics Office, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

10. Singapore Mr Lee Eu-Fah Edmond , Deputy Director , Singapore Department of Statistics

11. ADB Mr Kaushal Joshi, Statistician, Asian Development Bank

12. SPC Mr Arthur Jorari, Demographer

13. UNESCO Mr Simon Ellis, UNESCO Institute for Statistics Asia Pacific Regional Advisor/ Head, AIMS Unit

14. UNODC Mr Enrico Bisogno, Statistician, Chief Statistics and Surveys Section

An inception meeting will be organized in September 2011 for the TAG-SS to develop its work plan and elect a Chair to guide the Group’s work. For specific tasks, TAG-SS may invite the participation of other national and international experts and/or form sub-groups. The TAG-SS will report on regular basis to the Bureau. The Committee at its third session in 2012 will review the work and decide on the possible continuation of the TAG-SS.

 

Steering Group for the Regional Programme on Economic Statistics

 

During its second session in December 2010 the ESCAP Committee on Statistics considered and endorsed the “Proposed regional programme for the improvement of economic statistics in Asia and the Pacific”. Considering its ambition, scale, complexity and timeframe, the Committee decided to transform the Technical Advisory Group on the Development of Economic Statistics (TAG) into a Steering Group for the Regional Programme on Economic Statistics (henceforth referred to as the “Steering Group”) to directly oversee the implementation of the Regional Programme.

On the basis of nominations from countries and organizations, the Steering Group was formed under the guidance of the Bureau of the Committee on Statistics in May 2011. The Steering Group comprises of 20 national and international economic statisticians. The members of the Steering Group are listed below:

1. Australia Mr Michael Smedes, Director, National Income and Production, Australian Bureau of Statistics

2. Azerbaijan MrYusif Yusifov, Head of the Industry, Transport and Communication Statistics Division, State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan Republic

3. Bangladesh Mr Ziauddin Ahmed, Deputy Director, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

4. Bhutan Mr Sonam Tenzin, Chief Statistical Officer, National Accounts & Price Division, National Statistics Bureau

5. India Mr G. C. Manna, DDG, ESD, Central Statistics Office

6. Indonesia Mr Sasmito Wibowo, Director for Price Statistics, BPS Statistics Indonesia

7. Iran (Islamic Republic of) Ms Bahareh Akhavan, Senior Expert on National Accounts (product approach), Statistical Centre of Iran / Economic Accounts Department

8. Japan Mr Seiji Takata, Senior Research Officer, Statistics Bureau of Japan

9. Philippines Ms Estela T. de Guzman, Director, the National Statistics Office (NSO) and Mr Raymundo J. Talento, Director, Economic Statistics Office, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

10. Mongolia Ms B. Badamtsetseg, Director of Macro Economics Department, National Statistical Office of Mongolia

11. New Zealand Mr Jeffrey Cope, Principal Economic Statistician, Statistics New Zealand

12. Russian Federation Mr Andrei Tatarinov, Director of National Accounts Department, Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat)

13. Singapore Mr Neo Poh Cheem, Deputy Director, Singapore Department of Statistics

14. Tonga Mr Ata'ata M. Finau, Government Statistician

15. ADB Ms Chellam Palanyandy, Lead Professional (Statistics & Statistical Capacity Building ), Economics and Research Department

16. ASEAN Secretariat Mr Agus Sutanto, Macroeconomic, Finance and Surveillance Office

17. Eurostat Mr James Whitworth, Head of Unit, International Statistical Cooperation

18. FAO– Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Mr Jairo Castano, Senior Statistician, Economic, Social and Policy Assistance Group (ESP)

19. IMF Mr Kimberly (Kim) Zieschang, Chief, Real Sector Division, Statistics Department

20. SPC Mr Alick Nyasulu, Economic Statistician, Secretariat of the Pacific Community

The Steering Group will direct the development of the implementation plan for the Regional Programme including: in consultation with the secretariat, identifying the short-term and long-term priorities and establishing milestones for the implementation of the Regional Programme; providing strategic and technical advice to the secretariat on its day-to-day management; and monitoring progress in its implementation and proposing adjustments as required. The Steering Group will also provide guidance, to the Subgroup on Agricultural Statistics, which the Committee decided to establish to support the integration of a regional implementation plan for the global strategy for the improvement of the agricultural and rural statistics into the Regional Programme.

The group has already started its work and as one of its first decisions, unanimously elected Ms Estela T. de Guzman, Director, the National Statistics Office, Philippines and Mr Michael Smedes, Director, National Income and Production, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia as its co-chairs. The Steering Group members are currently in the process of discussing its work plan.

The Statistics Division of ESCAP serves as the secretariat of the Steering Group, supporting the Steering Group in carrying out its functions.

More information about the Steering Group for the Regional Programme on Economic Statistics can be accessed from: http://www.unescap.org/stat/econ/steering-group-econ-stat.asp.

 

EGM on Opportunities and advantages of enhanced collaboration on statistical information management in Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, 20-22 June 2011

 

National Statistical Institutions face significant challenges and opportunities in a rapidly evolving information environment. The ease and speed with which information is available are creating new expectations from the clients of National Statistical Institutions (NSIs), while new technologies are expanding the opportunities for NSIs to meeting those expectations.

It was in this context that, at the second session of the ESCAP Committee on Statistics (the Committee), held in December 2010, heads of NSIs committed to two overarching strategic goals towards 2020 for the development of national statistical systems in Asia and the Pacific, including “[C] reating a more adaptive and cost-effective information management environment for NSIs through stronger collaboration. ”

At the side event, entitled “Modernization of Statistical Information Systems,” organized during the second session of the Committee, discussions covered a variety of issues related to statistical information management, the transformation of business processes within national statistical systems and the future role of official statistics. Participants stressed the urgent need for the statistical community to work together to develop common solutions, recognizing that the quality and cost-effectiveness of their respective transformation processes would greatly benefit from joint development of related concepts, standards, tools and capacity development programmes. It was suggested that a regional platform for discussion be established to further explore the issues and develop methods for working collectively.

The Expert Group Meeting was thus held to pave the way for strengthening regional cooperation on statistical information management.

The meeting was attended by experts from NSIs of Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vanuatu, and from a number of development organizations, including the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics (UNESCO/IUS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Accelerated Data Program / International Household Survey Network (ADP/IHSN), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), the Statistical Economic and

Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), and the DevInfo Support Group.

On the basis of country presentations and group discussions, the meeting identified a number of common issues regarding the changing information technology environment. On users' expectations, the participants identified the increasing expectation of quickly available data; the demand for more complex and interlinked datasets combining data from different subject- matters; and the demand for more detailed statistical information, for example data disaggregated at a low level of geographic and administrative units. Common challenges were also seen in the need to address a wider range of users than in the past.

Participants recognized the potential of the new sources of information for statistical purposes created by the uptake of information technology by all sectors of society, whether such information is generated and maintained by the commercial sector, by the governmental sector, or other actors. The meeting agreed that that although some NSIs currently enjoy a monopoly status regarding the provision of official statistics, they need to look forward in order to maintain their relevance in the longer term.

The discussions highlighted the need for strong coordination mechanisms within national statistical systems and within national statistical organizations, to streamline statistical concepts, documentation and metadata standards, and quality criteria. The meeting also recognized the important role of standards and concepts developed to describe and systematize the description of statistical business process (GSBPM) as well as metadata standards (DDI) and data and metadata exchange standards (SDMX).

While reviewing existing cooperation mechanisms on issues related to the management of statistical information systems, notably the MSIS, METIS and HLG-BAS, the meeting made a number of recommendations. It recommended NSIs to facilitate the use of standards for statistical information management through incorporation of statistical business processes and IT strategies into national statistical development strategies. It also recommended enhancing regional collaboration and sharing through the establishment by ESCAP of a regional forum to promote the modernization of statistical information systems and support collaboration, knowledge exchanges and sharing within and beyond the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting further recommended ESCAP to maintain a focus on the modernization of statistical information systems through keeping collaboration on the agenda of the ESCAP Committee on Statistics and organizing activities on the emerging use of standards.

Further information, including meeting documents, is available at http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/egm-Jun2011/.

 

Assessments of the capacity of the national statistical systems of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Lao People's Democratic Republic to produce economic statistics

 

In December, 2010 the Committee on Statistics recognized the urgent need for the improvement of economic statistics. This need was confirmed and supported at the highest government level in May 2011 when the ESCAP Commission passed a resolution on a core set of economic statistics in the Asia-Pacific.

As part of the secretariat's work to support capacity development in member States to produce economic statistics and formulate an implementation plan for the Regional programme for the improvement of economic statistics in Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP during January-April 2011 conducted jointly with the national statistical offices of Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Lao People's

Democratic Republic, assessments of their national statistical systems. The objective of the assessments was to assess the capacity of systems to produce the core set of economic statistics and their capacity development needs in this regard.

Each assessment consisted of 4 components: pre-mission analysis; in-country interviews; a national consultative meeting; and research and reporting. The assessments aimed to cover all aspects of statistical systems involved in the production of the core set of economic statistics; including collection and processing; compilation, analysis and dissemination; statistical infrastructure (classifications, standards, frameworks, registers, IT infrastructure); human resources; and relationships between data providers and producers.

In this regard, Ms Margarita Guerrero, Mr Artur Andrysiak, and Ms Jillian Campbell from the ESCAP secretariat visited Bangladesh (7-11 January 2011), Bhutan (28-31 March 2011) and Lao People's Democratic Republic (5-8 April 2011) to interview and conduct national consultative meetings with staff of the respective national statistical systems. In-country interviews were held with staff involved in the compilation and dissemination of economic statistics included in the core set, whereas the national consultative meetings also included main data providers and users of economic statistics.

The assessments found that the national statistical systems had highly capable and dedicated staff, and that the systems had varying capacity regarding different economic statistics within the core set. The assessments also found that the three statistical systems face similar capacity constraints, including a lack of data sources, business registers, and quality assurance frameworks; limited human resources; and out-dated statistical information systems.

In addition to supporting, focusing and coordinating capacity building efforts in the three countries, the assessments have provided the ESCAP secretariat, the ESCAP Committee on Statistics (and its Bureau), the ESCAP Steering Group on Economic Statistics, and other international and regional partners with valuable insight for the further development of the implementation plan for the regional programme on economic statistics.

 

Assessment of the capacity of Indonesia to produce gender statistics

 

The need for gender statistics

The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, marked an important step in the development of gender statistics. In its outcome document, the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), a wide representation of stakeholders representing governments, civil society and development partners laid out 12 priority areas where data on women and men should be made available. Governments agreed to “generate and disseminate gender-disaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation”.

Fifteen years after the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted, the need and demand for gender statistics continues to grow at the national, regional and international levels, and remain unmet. Progress assessment on various gender equity goals and targets, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has highlighted the lack of data in key areas, such as maternal mortality, time-use and unpaid work, violence against women, women and disability, and women in the informal sector. In

addition, even where data are produced, such as through censuses, population surveys and administrative records on health, employment and income, these have not been fully utilized to generate gender statistics, nor have they been adequately analyzed, used and disseminated.

A reminder of such persisting issues emerged in the Asia-Pacific regional review of the Beijing Platform for Action, which was held in Bangkok in November 2009. In the Bangkok Declaration on Beijing + 15, attention was drawn to the need “to intensify support for statistical capacity-building efforts on the generation of gender statistics and to provide timely, reliable and disaggregated data by sex, ethnicity, age and location and the development of methodologies for the collection and processing of these gender statistics; and to ensure that gender statistics inform policy and programme decisions and effectively monitor and assess gender gains and gaps”.

The ESCAP secretariat's current programme of work mainstreams gender aspects in all its statistical activities. However, in order to strengthen the gender component of the work programme, the secretariat is undertaking a series of consultations and surveys involving statistical systems, women's machineries and national development planning institutions. The aim is to review the status of gender statistics in the region and to identify strategic priorities and needs for capacity-building to improve the availability of gender statistics in support of national policy development and progress assessment, including the progress made towards achieving the MDGs.

In-country needs assessment on the status of gender statistics and the capacity of the National Statistical System in Indonesia to produce gender statistics

A needs assessment was conducted in Indonesia by Ms Margarita Guerrero and Ms Sharita Serrao of the Statistics Division in April 2011 to better understand country needs for capacity development in gender statistics. In specific, the needs assessment was designed to better understand statistical processes within the National Statistical System (NSS) of Indonesia in the collection, processing, compilation, analysis and dissemination of gender statistics; to assess statistical infrastructure including legislation, standards, frameworks, etc. in the context of gender statistics; as well as to facilitate dialogue between national producers and users of gender statistics in Indonesia.

The needs assessment included interviews with various directorates/sections within BPS-Statistics Indonesia and with the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (MoWECP); meeting with the United Nations inter-agency Gender Thematic Working Group; and a National Consultative Forum on the Status of Gender Statistics in Indonesia.

BPS-Statistics Indonesia is the main statistical arm of the country and the major producer of gender statistics, while the MoWECP is the institution responsible for gender issues and a major user of gender statistics. Several other Ministries, civil society partners and members of academia are producers and/or users of gender statistics in Indonesia.

The assessment brought to light some key challenges and needs for gender statistics in the Indonesian NSS as a whole, including issues related to awareness and understanding of gender issues beyond sex-disaggregated data. Through the exchange of ideas during the needs assessment interviews as well as the National Consultative Forum, it was recognized by various stakeholders in the NSS that an important first step in tackling the constraints and challenges related to improving gender statistics in Indonesia would be to work towards integrating gender statistics into organizational mandates, structures and business processes. Need was expressed for a national framework on gender statistics and standard operating procedures in collecting, compiling and disseminating data. In addition, integrated and improved coordination between producers and users of gender statistics could

contribute to making best use of available resources and would encourage the systematic identification of priority gender issues and indicators for the country and the development of new/improved data collection/compilation methodologies to meet persisting data gaps.

The assessment exercise was useful to better understand the strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities related to producing and disseminating gender statistics in Indonesia. This opportunity for systematic review of the status of gender statistics in Indonesia not only provided the NSS with guidance and inputs towards the development of a national strategy to improve gender statistics, but given Indonesia's diverse challenges as a country, including its experiences in advocating for gender-responsive policies, the needs assessment also significantly contributed to further understanding some of the challenges that a regional programme on gender statistics would need to address.

 

Assessing Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems in the Asia-Pacific region, Bangkok, 28-31 March 2011

 

As part of its work to strengthen Asia and the Pacific countries' capacity to improve their civil registration and vital statistics systems, ESCAP and WHO, in close collaboration with ADB and UNDP organized a workshop on ‘Assessing Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems in the Asia-Pacific region' in Bangkok, Thailand. The objective of the meeting which was attended by senior representatives from health ministries, registrars-general offices and national statistical offices, was to familiarize participants with the instruments required to assess their civil registration and vital statistics systems and discuss how to move from an assessment to a national action plan for the improvement of these systems. The workshop also served the purpose of identifying countries' needs for support in conducting detailed assessments.

The meeting, attended by representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Thailand, Turkey and Viet Nam provided senior government officials from the region with tools and knowledge to undertake a detailed assessment of their civil registration and vital statistics systems. The workshop also increased awareness and recognition about

the need to strengthen countries' civil registration and vital statistics systems to provide legal identification to citizens, secure basic human rights such as access to health and education services, and equip government officials with better information to effectively allocate resources and map out the delivery of services.

As a follow up to this regional meeting, ESCAP will field fact finding missions to countries interested in conducting the assessment to plan national workshops where health ministries, registrars-general offices and national statistical offices discuss the implementation of such an assessment. The results of the assessment will be presented to policy-makers, development partners and agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, with the purpose of raising awareness and gain national support for the improvement of civil registration and vital statistics systems.

The work of ESCAP follows the mandate outlined in the Resolution on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the Asia and the Pacific region that was endorsed during the Sixty-Seventh Commission Session of ESCAP. The activities undertaken as part of the Regional Programme for the Improvement of Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific and in the context of the ADB/ESCAP/UNDP ‘Supporting the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific (Phase III)' project, are conducted in close collaboration with several development partners and agencies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the National Statistics Offices of the Philippines, WHO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, ADB, the Health Metrics Network, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Health Information Systems Hub of the University of Queensland.

For more information visit: www.unescap.org/stat/vital-stat/

 

“Vital Registration Assessment: Final Stakeholder Meeting”, Maldives, 24 April 2011

 

The meeting brought together representatives from different government agencies involved in civil registration and vital statistics in the Maldives as well as development partners to review the findings from the assessment and discuss the strategic plan. In a presentation on the regional programme to improve civil registration and vital statistics and subsequent discussions, Yanhong Zhang highlighted the role that ESCAP could play to support the Maldives in this area of work, including facilitating the sharing of experiences and good practices with other countries in the region, advocating for the importance of civil registration and vital statistics as well as training.

 

Training

 

SIAP awarded for its contribution to JAXA

 

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), awarded SIAP for its contribution to its space communication project using WINDS, an internet based high speed communication satellite. The awarding ceremony was held at JAXA Space Center in Tsukuba, a city to the northeast of Tokyo, on Wednesday 22 June 2011.

Picture1: Reward is presented by Dr. Tachikawa, JAXA president, to Ms Davaasuren, SIAP director

Ms Davaasuren Chultemjamts, the Director of SIAP, received the Letter of Thanks from Dr. Keiji Tachikawa, the JAXA president, at a ceremony, where more than 30 organizations including IT companies, universities, research institutes/observatories, broadcasting companies etc. from Japan and other Asian countries were rewarded.

The awardees were grouped into three categories based on area of contribution: 1) development of the WIND satellite and other related facilities, 2) operation of the satellite communication system, and 3) use of the communication network. SIAP's award fell in the third category, based on its conduct of two satellite-based trainings: one to Thailand in October 2010 and the other to Mongolia in February 2011.

The WINDS satellite was launched in February 2008, and a phase of basic experimentation was completed this February, after three years of operation. During the experimentation phase, a variety of experiments were successfully implemented; these included remote education, remote medical services, elimination of the digital divide, communication in emergency situations, and ocean communication. The project is now moving into the stage of practical utilization. SIAP will continue to work with JAXA and other partners in this field to further apply this cutting-edge technology to provision of statistical training.

Picture2: Dr. Tachikawa on the right and Ms Davaasuren

 

Regional Training Course on the System of National Accounts 2008, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 13-17 June 2011

 

The Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), in collaboration with Statistics Korea and the ESCAP Sub-Regional office for East and North-East Asia, conducted a Regional Training Course on the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) during 13-17 June 2011 at the Korea National Statistical Office, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.

The objective of the course was to strengthen the capacity of national statistical offices in implementing the recommendations of the 2008 SNA and reviewing current compilation practices for improving the quality and coverage of national accounts statistics of the respective countries.

A total of 18 participants from China, Fiji, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Tajikistan and Viet Nam attended the course.

Most participants were middle-level government statisticians with long experience in compilation of national accounts. These included officials directing or actually compiling national or regional

(sub-national) accounts, who attended to improve their understanding of the concepts of the 2008 SNA. Some participants were however new to the field of national accounts.

The course is expected to have enabled participants to identify additional data needs for the implementation of the 2008 SNA and suggest areas for improving the quality and coverage of national accounts statistics.

 

Training Course on Survey Methodology for the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Chiba, Japan, 30 May–3 June 2011

 

The Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), in collaboration with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, conducted a Country Training Course on Survey Methodology for Industrial Statistics from 30 th May to 3 rd June 2011 at the SIAP premises in Japan. The objective of the course was to strengthen the

capacity of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) for improving its Industrial Statistics.

The course provided a comprehensive view of the issues and topics related to the collection of data on the manufacturing sector through surveys, processing of establishment survey data and their use for official statistics. Besides a comprehensive view of the standard practices and international recommendations on Industrial Statistics, the participants were also informed of the system for collection and compilation of industrial statistics in Japan.

A total of 9 participants from different units of BBS Headquarters as well as its Regional Offices participated in the training course. It was a mixed group of experienced and freshly-recruited officials engaged in various stages of survey sampling for Industrial Statistic in Bangladesh.

The discussions and the issues raised during these sessions indicate that all participants gained a fairly comprehensive understanding of (i) the framework for economic statistics (2008 SNA), (ii) the scope of industrial statistics, (iii) possible strategies for collection of industrial statistics, (iv) appropriate sample designs and (v) issues relating to processing of manufacturing survey data.

 

Distance-learning training course on “Introduction to STATA” , 19 April 2011

 

The Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) conducted a distance-learning training course on 19 April 2011 for three countries – India, Thailand and Uzbekistan - with assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The training was organised jointly by SIAP, JICA and the NSOs of the three countries.

The main objectives of the training were: a) to increase the capability of trainees in the use of STATA software; b) to provide trainees with skills to inspect statistical data and carry out descriptive analysis using STATA and c) to prepare trainees for further statistical training courses.

The training was preparatory to the Second Group Training Course in Application of Information Management and Related ICT for Official Statistics, which will be conducted jointly by SIAP and JICA from 11 May to 16 July 2011 at SIAP with the objective to strengthening the statistical capability of developing countries in the ESCAP region. Of the 20 participants, 6 are expected to also attend the Second Group Training Course in Application of Information Management and Related ICT for Official Statistics.

 

ESCAP taps SRTC for Capacity Building Training for Central Bureau of Statistics - Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 23 May-16 June 2011

 

The Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) of the Philippines, in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), conducted a training course on Improving Statistical Capability for Assessing Progress in Achieving the MDGs for 15 officials of the Central Bureau of Statistics of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during 23 May to 16 June 2011. The training aimed to increase understanding of the DPRK statisticians on the use of statistics in the assessment of progress in achieving the MDGs as well as enhance and update knowledge on statistical standards, frameworks, methods and data sources for producing, analyzing and disseminating MDG indicators. Resource persons were Dr Margarita Guerrero of ESCAP, Mr Ramon Paul Falcon of the National Economic and Development (NEDA) Central Office, Mr Donald James Gawe of NEDA Region IV-A office, and Ms Vivian Ilarina of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). Aside from lectures, discussions, and workshop activities, the 19-day training also included field visits to the statistical offices of the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) and local government offices where participants were afforded an in-depth understanding of good practices in assessing MDG progress. In addition, the DPRK delegation got to visit several good places in Metro Manila and engaged in friendly sports activities with some SRTC staff.

 

ESCAP/UNFPA Sub regional Training/Workshop on Dissemination of Census data in support of monitoring MDG indicators for policy and decision making, Ulaanbaatar, 12-14 April 2011

 

SIAP conducted the Sub regional Training/Workshop on Dissemination of Census data in support of monitoring MDG indicators for policy and decision making in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in collaboration with the ESCAP Statistics Division, UNFPA, and the National Statistics Office of the government of Mongolia (MNSO). The workshop was conducted as a component of the United Nations Development Account Project on “Supporting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)-based Developing strategies through integrated regional action”.

The workshop brought together 14 participants from National Statistical Organizations (NSO) and line ministry officials of Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Mongolia, and Nepal. Participants were invited to share experiences and best practices in census dissemination, and MDG data production and utilization through effective communication.

The workshop covered the following topics:

Issues and challenges on MDG assessments in policy dialogues and formulation at global and regional levels: User perspectives

Identifying and learning from good practices

How should an appropriate tabulation plan be formulated to cater to different user needs?

Analytical methods

Strategies and Use of appropriate tools for Dissemination of Disaggregated Census results

Small Area Estimation (SAE) for Monitoring the MDGs at the Sub national Level

Master Samples (MS) for household surveys

 

Collaboration

 

Strengthening Health Information Systems

 

The Asia Pacific Leadership Forum on Health Information Systems, held in Manila, the Philippines from June 13-16, 2011, brought together multi-ministerial teams from nine countries ( Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Philippines, Viet Nam ) to strengthen national health information systems. The Forum was hosted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) of the World Health Organization (WHO), and by the Philippines Department of Health, in cooperation with other regional and global partners, including ESCAP who was represented by Margarita F Guerrero, Regional Adviser on Statistics.

The Forum built on ongoing initiatives to use quality, timely, accessible health data to improve the delivery of health services and to accelerate this process through multi-sectoral advocacy. Country delegates discussed options and strategies for improving multi-sectoral collaboration within their own countries and developed preliminary action plans to promote stakeholder engagement and commitment to the strengthening of HIS. Donor/partners highlighted available resources and plans related to strengthening of HIS. ESCAP shared information on the work on improving vital statistics and civil registration and the forthcoming advocacy-related ministerial-level meeting on vital statistics.

 

Harmonisation as a Means to Increasing Data Quality and Utility of Time-Use Data

 

The Center for Development Alternatives, Time Use Research Cell, of the International Working Group on Gender and Macroeconomics, in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India and UN WOMEN, organized a 3-day international workshop in New Delhi, India on Harmonization of Time Use Surveys (TUS) at the Global Level with Special Reference to Developing Countries from 6-8 April 2011.

Despite the increasing awareness among researchers, analysts and development practitioners of the critical importance of time use data in understanding multiple dimensions of gender inequalities and related development issues, the level of appreciation of the utility of time use data by policy makers and the level of the quality of time use data remain disappointingly low. The main objective of the conference was to promote harmonization of concepts and methods of conducting TUS and analysis of time use

statistics, and to promote TUS as a major tool to understand comprehensively, measure quantitatively and address specifically the multiple dimensions of gender inequality.

Over 50 experts from the academe, research institutions, NGOs and international development partners, including ESCAP, ECLAC, ECA and UNSD, discussed a wide range of issues and experiences relating to harmonization, and reflected on options and possibilities for strengthening and collaborating on future work on time use. Margarita Guerrero, Regional Adviser on Statistics presented a paper on “Issues in analysis of time use statistics in developing countries” and discussed three papers for a technical session on “Classification of time-use activities: Efforts made towards harmonization”.

 

International Workshop on Measuring GDP by Final Demand Approach, Shenzhen, China

 

Compiling GDP by final demand (or expenditure) provides policy makers with detailed information related to economic development. Through producing timely, reliable data on final consumption expenditures of households, government and non-profit institutions serving households; gross capital formation; and imports and exports of goods and services, policy makers are better able to develop targeted policies.

During 25-27 April 2011, more than 80 participants from National Statistical Offices throughout Asia, international organizations and the China Bureau of Statistics met in Shenzhen China to discuss experiences – good practices and lessons learned – in compiling GDP by the final demand approach. The goal of the 3-day workshop was to improve the knowledge base of statisticians working in GDP by final demand; and to help national statisticians build an international network of resource persons for future collaboration. Representing ESCAP, Jillian Campbell served as a resource person for this workshop.

 

UNFPA-NESDB symposium

 

A symposium entitled The Impact of Demographic Change in Thailand was organized jointly by UNFPA and the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) of Thailand during 27-28 April 2011.

The symposium was attended by policy makers, policy analysts and technical experts in the fields of population, health, economics and social sciences from government agencies, the private sector, the United Nations and other international agencies. The around 160 participants were from Thailand and other countries in the region including Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. Among the participants were 2 staff members of the ESCAP Statistics Division, Habibur Rahman Khan and Panpaka Supakalin.

The symposium was designed to focus on Thailand 's declining fertility rate and ageing, and its future impact on age structure, workforce, public health, etc. The participation and sharing of experiences by experts from a number of other countries in the Asia-Pacific region placed the discussions in a regional context. Issues discussed and debated included:

Demographic changes in countries in Asia-Pacific and their implications for all aspects of human life and wellbeing.

The debate covered “population-responsive” policies that take into account the implications of such demographic trends and attempt to strengthen the positive outcomes of these changes and counter any adverse consequences; and “population–influencing” policies that seek to modify the projected demographic changes in the interests of avoiding outcomes that are judged to be unfortunate.

Policy guidance for Thailand based on empirical data and lessons learned from countries that have experienced ultra-low fertility and rapid population ageing.

Participants from China and Japan exchanged lessons learned from facing rapid fertility decline and an ageing population. Researchers from Austria, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan and Thailand made presentations on demographic changes as well as methods of measuring population dynamics. One resource person presented his method of measuring ageing based on country-specific life expectancy rather than a rigid, universal cut-off for old age. He showed how Europe 's population is actually getting younger according to his method as opposed to the convention. A resource person from Japan expressed that micro-level pro-natal policies aimed at individuals are needed to increase the ultra-low fertility in countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. A researcher from the Islamic Republic of Iran introduced the audience to the cultural and behavioural factors that drive population changes in Islamic countries.

Researchers and government representatives from Thailand shed light on the impact of population changes and ageing in Thailand on the economy, education, workforce, health, social security etc. The need for population-influencing and population-responsive policies was expressed to counter the negative impacts of population change and make the best use of the opportunities it also represents.

Country representatives from China, Indonesia, Mongolia and Viet Nam made presentations on their population-related challenges and opportunities. With rapid ageing and the resulting shrinking labour force in some developing Asian countries, concern was voiced that some countries may grow ‘old' before they grow ‘wealthy'. Indonesia presented a plan to decrease the fertility rate below the replacement level to decrease overall population size; and to change policies at appropriate times to increase fertility to optimize and stabilize population size.

 

Upcoming releases 

Regional MDG Report

 

The Asia-Pacific MDG Report 2011/12 takes a closer look at the disparity in MDG achievement in Asia and the Pacific, particularly on health outcomes, where the performance of most countries in the region has been insufficient to reach the target by 2015.

The report addresses issues related to between-country and within-country disparities in MDG achievement, highlighting the variations in health-related indicators among countries and across sub-populations. Good practices and success stories from the implementation of disparity-reducing policies are discussed as examples for policy makers to address similar challenges to achieving health-related MDGs in their own context.

The release of the joint ADB, ESCAP & UNDP report is tentatively scheduled for September 2011.

 

Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, 2011

 

The Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, 2011, comprising a publication as well as two online products,the region @ your

fingertips and an online database of indicators, provides decision-makers, researchers and the general public with a snapshot of the Asia-Pacific region: how many people are there; how many are born, educated, working; how many have access to healthcare, sanitation, water; what is the state of the economy; where is there inequality; are environmental resources diminishing; in the new ‘global economy' are more or less people migrating, trading, travelling, communicating; what are the trends in population, the economy, migration, trade, the environment; as well as other important questions. Data are presented for the 58 regional ESCAP member States, together with world, regional, sub-regional and economic aggregates.

The Yearbook presents current trends and emerging topics in the Asia-Pacific, grouped around the themes of people, the environment, the economy and connectivity, and prepared by experts from a number of international organizations. The Yearbook provides the international and regional community with key indicators, objective analyses of the current trends and emerging issues, along with data and charts. To maximize comparability across countries, subregions and regions, Yearbook data is sourced exclusively from international agencies that adhere to the official global statistical standards.

The Yearbook is planned for release in September 2011.

 

Calendar of forthcoming statistical meetings 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 Venue

2011

25 - 29 July SIAP Sub-regional Training Course on Population and Housing Census Data Dissemination and Its Utilizationhttp://www.unsiap.or.jp/

Suva

25 - 29 July SIAP Regional Training Course/Workshop on Dissemination and Use of Population and Housing Census Results with Gender Concernhttp://www.unsiap.or.jp/

Chiba, Japan

1 - 19 August SIAP SIAP/JICA Country Course for Iraq in Production of Official Statistics to Monitor Achievements of MDGshttp://www.unsiap.or.jp/

Chiba, Japan

22 August - 22 December

SIAP SIAP/JICA 2nd Group Training Course in Production and Development of Official Statistics in support for National Development including the Achievement of MDGshttp://www.unsiap.or.jp/

Chiba, Japan

9 September ESCAP/SD Second Meeting of Partners for Statistics Development in Asia-Pacifichttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

Eurostat, Luxembourg

20 - 22 September

ESCAP/SD Concepts and methods for producing disaggregated statistics using census datahttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

29 - 30 September

ESCAP/SD Country consultation on the development of a regional strategy for improving social statistics in Asia-Pacifichttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

1 day in September

ESCAP/SD Consultative forum on gender statisticshttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

Nepal

4 - 6 October SIAP Workshop on Meeting the Statistical Information Needs for Policy Analysishttp://www.unsiap.or.jp/

Chiba, Japan

10 - 11 October ESCAP/SD Expert Group Meeting on the Improvement of Economic Statistics in the Asian and Pacific Regionhttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

12 - 14 October ESCAP/SD Seminar on the implementation of the 2008 SNA and supporting statistics in the ESCAP regionhttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

13-14 October ESCAP/SD Meeting of the Working Group to develop a strategy for the coordination New Delhi

of statistical training in Asia-Pacifichttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

24 - 26 October ESCAP/SD Effective use of statistical data for policy analysis and advocacy in Asia and the Pacific: Building on successhttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

2 - 4 November ESCAP/SD Meeting of the technical advisory group on gender statisticshttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

14 - 18 November

ESCAP/SD, UNSD

UNSD/ESCAP training on SDMXhttp://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm

22 - 25 November

ESCAP/SD Workshop to develop a regional implementation plan for the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statisticshttp://www.unescap.org/stat/

29 November - 1 December

OECD Fourth High Level Forum: The Path to Effective Development

7 - 8 December SIAP 10th Management Seminar for the Heads of National Statistical Offices in Asia and the Pacific http://www.unsiap.or.jp/

8 - 9 December SIAP 7th session of the Governing Council of SIAP http://www.unsiap.or.jp/

December SIAP Sub-regional Training Course on Gender-focused Population and Housing Census Data Analysishttp://www.unsiap.or.jp/

December SIAP 5th Workshop on Forging Partnerships in Statistical Training in Asia and the Pacifichttp://www.unsiap.or.jp/

 

New faces

 

Ms Yalda Jafari joined Statistics Division as an intern on June 1, 2011. Yalda Jafari has been working on the ESCAP-UNDP-ADB tripartite regional MDG project under the supervision of Mr Yanhong Zhang.

Yalda Jafari is undertaking graduate studies in Epidemiology in McGill University, Canada. She has a strong interest in statistical analysis and research and has experience with working on epidemiologic studies and projects, from concept development, project design to implementation. She is eager to learn new statistical methods and techniques and enhance her skills in statistical computing.

 

Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division

Mr Claes Johansson, Global Administrator, DevInfo

Mr Peter Leth, DevInfo

Mr Yide Qiao, China

Mr Apichai Sunchindah, Senior Policy Officer, German Technical Cooperation (GIZ)

Mr Ko-Chih Tung, Former UNESCO Regional Director

Mr Greg Ah-Fenne, Student from ISB

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