PARIS21 Secretariat (Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21 st Century) Millicent Gay Tejada 12 June th SAARCSTAT Meeting, Kathmandu, Nepal

2 Statistics development in South Asia: some insights How PARIS21 can contribute to stronger statistics cooperation and development in the region? The concept of National and Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics RSDS/NSDS

3 Statistics development in South Asia: some insights Statistics situation in South Asia 1/ 1.Subscription to GDDS/SDDS: 100% 2.CRVS Coverage over 90%: 25% 3.Population census in the last 5 years: 75% (6 out of 8 countries) 4.Agriculture census in the last 5 years: 75% of countries 5.Industrial data: no latest data in the last 5 years 6.Trade data: 87.5% of countries with latest data in the last 5 years 1/ The information contained in the statistics situation in the region is sourced from publicly available information on the structure, activities and outputs of statistical systems (from websites of international agencies and national statistics office websites).

4 Statistics development in South Asia: some insights Statistics situation in South Asia 1/ (cont’d) 7.Consumer Price Index base year from within last 10 years: 50% 8.SNA 2008 or chained-weighted GDP data: 50% 9.MDG: 75% of countries have one-tenth of MDG data as country data 10.Ave. number of accessible micro data sets per country: 24.9 Sources of data (accessed through the PARIS21 Metabase) 1.International Monetary Fund 2.United Nations Statistics Division 3-6. World Bank 7-8. International Monetary Fund 9.United Nations 10.International Household Survey Network

5 How PARIS21 can contribute to stronger statistics cooperation and development in the region? PARIS21 Mission 1.Improve the provision and availability of data to users 2.Increase transparency and accountability 3.Reduce poverty through contributing to the achievement of national and international development goals

6 How PARIS21 can contribute to stronger statistics cooperation and development in the region? PARIS21 collaboration in South Asia 1.Assistance in NSDS roadmap design and preparation of funding proposal for NSDS formulation – Bangladesh (2009), Nepal (2013) 2.Review of the draft NSDS – Pakistan (2011) 3.Assistance on statistical advocacy and communication (advocacy material) – Sri Lanka (2010) 4.Data management & dissemination – Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka

7 Strategic areas of support:  NSS Development National strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) Establishing dialogue mechanisms for effective NSS coordination Peer review of NSS Technical advisory services (statistics law, capacity building, etc.) User-producer engagement How PARIS21 can contribute to stronger statistics cooperation and development in the region?

8 Strategic areas of support:  Resource mobilization Partner report on support to statistics (PRESS) Country report on support to statistics (CRESS) How PARIS21 can contribute to stronger statistics cooperation and development in the region?

9 Strategic areas of support:  Statistical advocacy Country advocacy Regional advocacy Area or sector-specific  Data management and dissemination  Regional strategies for the development of statistics (RSDS) How PARIS21 can contribute to stronger statistics cooperation and development in the region?

10 The concept of National and Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics NSDS/RSDS RSDS (Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics)  Essential in regional integration/cooperation processes as it responds to statistical needs of a regional agenda  Ensure comparable statistical indicators and harmonised methodologies across countries  Build efficient regional statistical system  Action plan to meet regional integration/cooperation policies (with consensus among member countries)

11 The concept of National and Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics NSDS/RSDS Why an RSDS?  Produces data with strict regional dimension addressing regional policy-making needs  Coordinates national and regional statistical programmes aimed at producing regional data (including surveys, census programs) synchronized  Harmonises conceptual frameworks and methods for comparability  Promotes statistical regulations to comply with international standards

12 The concept of National and Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics NSDS/RSDS Why an RSDS?  Provides for regional representation to external partner organizations (adoption of joint positions in major meetings of the global statistical system)  Establishes venue for exchange of best practices (in coordination, statistical capacity building)

13 The concept of National and Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics NSDS/RSDS RSDS Design and Implementation Process*  Strong political will and validation by authorities  Establishment of an overall process  Participatory methodology  Stage-based organization * Similar to NSDS Process

14 The concept of National and Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics NSDS/RSDS NSDS (National Strategy for the Development of Statistics)  Allows the strategic planning of statistical activities, capacity development, and infrastructure improvements in the NSS  Facilitates stakeholder coordination between NSS actors (line ministries, central bank, NSO) and between development partners and other data users  Assists in building reliable statistical system that produce data for designing, implementing and monitoring national development policies and programmes

15 The concept of National and Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics NSDS/RSDS New (updated) NSDS Guidelines  Defines the permanent steps; the various phases in designing NSDS; and implementation principles  Adapted to changing context to take into account country experiences  More user-friendly and flexible tool  Allows for sharing of best practices and country experiences  Responds to specific issues (i.e., regional approach; sectoral statistics; fragile/post-conflict states; federal states; small island states)

16 PARIS21 Recommendations for Support to SAARC  Formulation of an RSDS for the region  Informing the Data Revolution Project (cross-country; in- depth country analysis)  Forum on the Post-2015 Development Goals  Country support on NSDS formulation  Support for data development (policy, quality, dissemination)  Support for regional or country level advocacies on statistics

17 For more information Visit us at For Asia-Pacific region, contact FOLLOW US ON