2. Objectives and Strategies of RRSF The RRSF has been prepared with an overall objective and four specific objectives to overcome the identified problems and constraints and meet the challenges. The objectives will be met by adopting a number of strategies.

3. Objectives Overall Objective is: To contribute to improved development outcomes and good governance by strengthening national statistical systems in Africa Specific Objectives include: 1. Raising Societal Awareness of the Role of Statistical Information 2. Increasing User Satisfaction by Enhancing the Quality and Usability of Statistical Information 3. Promoting Greater Use of Statistical Information 4. Achieving Synergy, Cost-Effectiveness, and Sustainability in National Statistical Systems

4. Strategies The framework objectives will be achieved through a number of strategies. The overall strategy supports all of the objectives. Some of the specific strategies support more than one objective. Some of these strategies build on existing statistical frameworks and initiatives. The specific strategies are not in order of priority. Countries are urged to prioritize them themselves, depending on the state of their statistical development.

5. Overall Strategy The overall strategy is to develop statistical systems in Africa based on the principles of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS). The Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics (MAPS) calls for all low- income countries to have NSDSs by 2006 and to have started to implement them by 2007. Ownership of the national strategy by key stakeholders is critical. The stakeholders including national governments, national statistical agencies, and bilateral and international donors, should commit to fully fund and implement these strategies within the scheduled timeframes.

6. NSDS The national strategy for development of statistics should: Be integrated into development and national poverty reduction policies and strategies (such as the PRSP). Take into account all sub-national, national, sub-regional, regional, and international data needs. Encompass the production, analysis, and use of data and address related issues. Involve all statistical production units and serve as a framework for various sectors. Address the contribution of national statistical training institutes. Contd..

7. NSDS Include activities that raise statistical literacy. Serve as a coherent framework for international and bilateral assistance. Integrate existing activities, and draw on experiences of other countries. Incorporate lessons learned about inclusive and participatory development processes. Conform to international standards, including those related to data quality. Build on best practice in statistical planning and capacity building. Follow best practice in organizational development and management.

8. Specific Strategies The specific strategies to be used to achieve the framework objectives are to: 1. Invigorate statistical advocacy - by making the general case for statistics as necessary part of the enabling environment for improving development outcomes and demonstrating the use of statistical data for decisionmaking (Supports objectives 1&3) 2. Mainstream statistics as a cross-cutting sector in the development process/agenda, and give it priority in the national budget. (Supports objectives 1&3) 3.Update the legal and regulatory framework, and bring it in line with the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. (Supports objectives 2&4) 4.Assess and prioritize user needs by developing strong rapport between key users and producers of data and reflect these needs in the NSDS (Supports objectives 2&4) Contd...

9. Specific Strategies 5.Undertake data development, striking a balance between administrative records, censuses, and sample surveys; maximizing the use of administrative records; and innovating to make censuses and surveys cost-effective; and mainstreaming gender issues in various data collection programs.(Supports objectives 3&4) 6.Foster coordination, collaboration, and partnerships among stakeholders at every level, and ensure that comparable data are produced, the respondent burden is reduced, and connectivity is established between sectoral databases. (Supports objectives 2&4) 7.Enhance the statistical infrastructure by developing scientific methods and applying them to measure social and economic processes, preparing codes, and creating and maintaining national sampling frames. (Supports objective 2) 8.Harness information and communication technology to improve statistical operations, data dissemination, access and sharing, and development of accessible databases. (Supports objective 2) Contd...

10. Specific Strategies 9. Develop human capital by increasing knowledge, broadening skills, and increasing staff motivation. (Supports objective 2) 10.Improve data analysis. In particular, conduct more detailed analysis to illuminate developmental issues, inform policy design and program development, and form a basis for advocacy including on gender issues. (Supports objectives 1&2) 11.Improve data dissemination by establishing and ensuring compliance with a dissemination policy, compliance with the General Data Dissemination System standards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and use of electronic means for disseminating data. (Supports objectives 1&2) 12. Improve the funding and sustainability of statistical activities by ensuring counterpart funding for statistical activities originally funded by donor funding and securing government support for at least a medium-term (five-year) national strategy for the development of statistics. (Supports objective 4)

11. Recommendations from the strategies Each of the strategies is further elaborated in Section 4 of the framework and the recommendations arising therefrom and the agencies responsible for their implementation are listed in Section 6. My colleague Mr. Richard Roberts will present these recommendations.

12. Thanks for your attention