1. 2018 Updates to the NSDS guidelines

2. New NSDS Guidelines Reference Expert Group composition
Countries:Somalia, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Palestinian Authority, Lao PDR and Vanuatu
Regional organisations: UNECA, UNESCAP, UNESCWA, CARICOM and EUROSTAT
Global organisations/donors: World Bank and DFID
The objective of the Expert Reference Group is to provide guidance on the revision and updating of the NSDS Guidelines, to approve the major changes to the NSDS Guidelines, and to propose modifications and additions and to command further research on the Guidelines as needed.
The group meets once a year – usually a couple of months before PARIS21’s board meeting
It is composed on representatives of different regions with experience in the development, implementation or funding of NSDSs.

3. 4th NSDS Guidelines Reference Expert Group Meeting
Meeting took place 22 March 2018
All the proposed changes were approved by the members
The group proposed some additional minor adjustments which PARIS21 will upload to the website in the coming weeks
The group approved the proposed updates for next year

4. Main updates adopted for 2017
National statistical system (NSS) assessment
Updates on the NSDS process in SIDS
Latest developments on ADAPT
Budget, financing
NSS assessment: The new text provides guidance on how to select and conduct an assessment, as well as sample questions for a CD4.0-compliant evaluation.
SIDS: This section was updated to take into account the newly developed “NSDS Guidelines for SIDS 2018”, which adapt the NSDS process to the specific requirements of SIDS
ADAPT: This section was updated to integrate the latest development to the tool and further stress the phases of the NSDS process in which ADAPT can aid.
Budget: This section has been updated to provide guiding principles on how to prioritise activities from the NSDS action plan and use them for fund raising.

5. Main updates planned for 2018
E-NSDS as an ADAPT module
NSDS Lifecycle
Update RSDS Guidelines
Enhance the financing section based on CRESS
NSDS Guidelines website revamping
Develop an E-NSDS concept using ADAPT which is a digitialisation and monitoring tool for the implementation and costing of NSDSs.
Further develop the NSDS lifecycle checklist and use it as an interactive guide on the NSDS website. At a later stage use the checklist structure to overhaul the NSDS guidelines document.
Update RSDS (regional strategy for the development of Statistics) guidelines in particular following the CARICOM experience.
Further develop and revise the Financing section taking into account experiences drawn from the CRESS exercises and the Discussion Paper presented during the cross regional workshop on financing mechanisms in December.
Revamp the NSDS website to make it more interactive and user-friendly based on users feedback.