1. Caribbean Community Secretariat
How can PARIS21 help?
Presentation by
PARIS21 Secretariat
Caribbean Community Secretariat
2nd meeting of the Advisory Group on Statistics, San Ignacio, 25 June 2008

2. PARIS21 Secretariat works through:
NSDS support
Advocacy: developing and deploying messages and materials internationally and in countries - START
Building and maintaining effective communications and cooperation, including strengthening in-country partnerships
Reporting on NSDS progress and donor support
Developing and sharing knowledge: guidelines, advice, web site, knowledge base
Satellite programmes: ADP, IHSN

3. 1. NSDS support Shift support from NSDS design to NSDS implementation
Intensify country-level work across range of PARIS21 activities: advocacy, partnership building events, meetings, etc
Facilitate funding requests, e.g. to TFSCB
Coherence, synergy with other programmes
Peer reviews and NSDS Essentials check list
Regionally-based PARIS21 consultants

4. 2. Advocacy – key messages
Better use of better national statistics leads to better policies, better aid effectiveness and better development outcomes
Good statistics improve transparency and accountability of Governments decisions
Investment in statistics will pay for itself many times over by improving resource allocation
Statistics are needed for “upstream” policy development; as well as for “downstream” processes such as monitoring and evaluation 4

5. Advocacy works!
Increased recognition among policy makers of value of statistics, e.g., Hanoi MfDR (2007)
Greater awareness among statisticians of new data challenges
More strategic plans being produced and ready for implementation
“Scaling Up” efforts to help countries fund their statistical capacity
Since 1999, PARIS21 partners have succeeded in raising the profile of statistics with increased recognition among policy makers of the need for statistics both to influence and to monitor development outcomes. Also statisticians are now more aware of the new data challenges placed upon them by policies to reduce poverty and to accelerate development progress in the poorest countries. Many countries are developing strategic plans for statistics (NSDSs or similar), with support from development partners.
As a result of the strong advocacy push leading up to and at the Hanoi Roundtable, consideration was given to how to scale-up support to improve statistical capacity in developing countries. This led to the SRF and a consensus that the focus of additional resources for statistics should be on helping more to countries implement NSDSs. 5

6. Advocacy: some recent examples
“Counting Down Poverty” booklet
“Better Statistics, Better Policies, Better Development Outcomes” leaflet
“Why does country X need good statistics?”, based on experiences with assisting Malawi NSO.
“La Statistique au Service du Développement ” video 6

7. Statistical Advocacy Resource Toolkit (START)
Advocacy most relevant at country level
Help statisticians to advocate to policy makers and funders, including donor country offices
Make best use of available materials
Tailored materials
National events
Work with the wider partnership
Also advocacy to donor countries and institutions 7

8. 3. Strengthening partnerships
Strengthening in-country partnerships, through e.g. producer-user-donor meetings, NSDS launch events
Providing countries with tools to improve partnerships, e.g. advice on country meetings
Building and maintaining cooperation with regional partners; and with other international networks, e.g. HMN
Funding participation in international and PARIS21 meetings, e.g. P21 Consortium meeting planned for November 2009

9. 4. Reporting on NSDS progress and donor support
Task team on reporting of donor support for statistical capacity building (PRESS)
Reporting on progress and status of NSDS and PRS processes; successes, constraints, lessons learnt
Providing countries with tools to assist their own statistical reporting needs
Collation and sharing of information on countries and agencies

10. 5. Studies and knowledge development
Guidance on NSDS and statistical development : sharing existing information and new studies on:
Use of data; Statistics and M&E
Database of costs of core statistical activities
Reflection on how best can TA be provided to small island countries
Task teams:
PRESS
Mainstreaming sectoral statistics
Training

11. 6. Satellite programmes Accelerated Data Programme (ADP) - pilot
Aims to make information available from existing surveys: facilitating access and assessment of quality
International Household Survey Network (IHSN)
Aims to facilitate better use of existing data; and better quality of future surveys, through a survey catalogue, Microdata Management Toolkit, dissemination policy guidelines; anonymisation tools and guidelines; question bank; quality assessment framework

12. In closing…
Limited involvement so far of PARIS21 in the Caribbean compared with other regions, including Central America
This meeting could be the start of a more intensive relationship with regional partners, including CARICOM, OECS, I-ADB, ECLAC and countries
Your comments are invited on how we can work together 12