Statistical Newsletter Published: 3 October 2008

Third Quarter, 2008

ESCAP participation in the Socio-Economic Assessment of the Impact of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and lessons learned

Trade indicators for evidence-based policy making

Voices of the Region - Interview with Mr Davender Kumar Sikri, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India

Special announcements

o Asia-Pacific intergovernmental body on statistics to meet 15-17 December 2008 o 88th Anniversary of the Statistical System of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Capacity building

o Statistics Division meetings/workshops: o UNSD/ESCAP Workshop for Developing Countries on the Revision of the

International Recommendations for International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS), Bangkok, 9-12 September 2008

UNSD/ESCAP Regional Workshop on Census Data Processing: Contemporary technologies for data capture, methodology and practice of data editing, documentation and archiving, Bangkok, 15-19 September 2008

o SIAP meetings/workshops:

Fourth Group Training Course in Application of Information and Communications Technology to Production and Dissemination of Official Statistics, Chiba, Japan, 12 May –11 July 2008

Second Regional Course on Integrated Economic Accounts, Metro Manila, Philippines, 26 May – 13 June 2008

Research-based Training Programme: Seventh Research-based Regional Course, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 30 June – 8 August 2008

Fourth Group Training Course on Analysis, Interpretation and Dissemination of

Official Statistics, Chiba, Japan, 14 July –12 September 2008 Area-Focused Training Course in Collection and Analysis of Official Economic

Statistics for Central Asian and Caucasus Countries, Chiba, Japan, 22 July –22 September 2008

o Calendar of forthcoming meetings: Meetings and training courses of ESCAP Statistics Division and SIAP Other forthcoming statistical meetings in the ESCAP region

Missions by ESCAP Statistics Division

Recent additions to the Statistics Division team

Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division (3rd Quarter 2008)

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ESCAP participation in the Socio-Economic Assessment of the Impact of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and lessons learnedThe category 3 Cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, made landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division, approximately 250 km southwest of Yangon, accompanied by a tidal surge. Cyclone Nargis affected more than 50 townships in the Yangon and Ayeyarwady Divisions, including Yangon , the country's largest city. Myanmar had no prior experience of dealing with a natural disaster of such a magnitude. Nargis was also the most devastating cyclone to strike Asia since 1991. Cyclone Nargis left in its wake catastrophic destruction and more than 2.4 million people in urgent need of assistance.

The Post Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) was a comprehensive, rapid, joint effort designed to provide the basis for humanitarian and recovery programmes. It was led jointly by the Government of Myanmar , ASEAN (with the support of the ADB and the World Bank), and the UN, with technical support from a range of humanitarian and development partners, including many NGOs. The PONJA team included staff members from 18 ministries of the Government of Myanmar whose support was vital in field visits and in providing data and its interpretation.

PONJA aimed to assess:

  (a) The current vulnerabilities of the population living in the most affected areas;

  (b) The damage done to assets (for example, destroyed or damaged houses, sunken fishing boats) in all the areas affected by the cyclone;

  (c) The loss of income caused by the cyclone that the economy of Myanmar and households would experience until assets and livelihoods could be restored to pre-cyclone levels.

The assessment consisted of two components - the Village Tract Assessment (VTA) focusing on humanitarian needs at the household and village level, and the estimation of damage assessment and loss assessment (DaLa), a

methodology to estimate the effects and impact of natural hazards.

The VTA involved the collection of primary data through a survey of households, key informants (for example, teachers, village leaders), and focus groups in the worst affected townships. The survey included questions on health, food and nutrition, education, women and children, water and sanitation, agriculture, livelihood, temporary settlements, and emergency shelter.

As part of the PONJA team of around 250 people, ESCAP Statistics Division staff members were directly responsible for the statistical analysis of all the VTA data, in particular selecting key indicators to be estimated, developing the estimation methodology, calculating the VTA estimates and providing technical advice on data interpretation and presentation. Together with geographic information system specialists, the ESCAP staff members also produced all data presentations (graphs, maps and charts) and participated in drafting chapters of the PONJA report. Further to ESCAP's participation in PONJA, ASEAN has requested ESCAP to continue contributing the technical expertise of its statisticians in periodic reviews covering a wide geographical area of the Delta, building upon its VTA work.

Figure 1: Severely Damaged Shelters; Source: PONJA report (p. 15)

With heavy rains and winds up to 200 km/h, severe destruction was inevitable. Close to 60 per cent of all households surveyed through the VTA reported that their houses were totally damaged (Figure 1). The loss and severe damage of houses was closely linked to the destruction of food stocks. Villages directly in the path of Nargis were the most severely affected.

Below are some key results.

Overall VTA survey results indicate that 42 percent of households lost all their food stocks during the cyclone, with another 33 percent having lost most or some of their stocks. Villages in the townships of Labutta, Bogale, Pyapone, Dedaye and Kyaiklat were the worst affected. In Labutta 87 per cent of households reported to have lost all or most of their food stocks, closely followed by Kyaiklat where 82 per cent reported to have no food stocks left immediately after the cyclone.

Figure 2: Main income sources; Source: PONJA report (p. 23)

Of particular concern was the disastrous effect on people's livelihoods. The people of the Delta area are primarily farmers, fishermen and labourers. Destruction brought by the cyclone left large parts of arable land flooded and many farmers without draught animals for the next paddy planting season which was imminent at the time that PONJA was conducted.. Around 50 percent of water-buffalos and 20 percent of all cattle had died in the worst-affected townships. Before Nargis, 27 per cent of all households in the affected areas had reported that agriculture was their main source of income and close to 30 percent had worked as labourers mainly in paddy planting (Figure 2). However, after Nargis, only 18 per cent reported agriculture as their main source of income, with the townships of Bogale, Labutta and Dedaye being the most severely affected.

According to VTA estimates, close to half of all village leaders perceived the recovery of their livelihoods to be their most difficult challenge. When asked to rank the areas where villages would require support after Nargis, 40 per cent of all villages identified 'assistance for immediate repair' and 'access to small grants and credit to restart businesses' as priority areas, far ahead of assistance for health care and the restocking of livestock.

Fisheries in the costal areas also suffered heavily in terms of the number of boats lost or damaged. According to VTA data, half of all small boats were lost, as was 70 percent of fishing gear. The massive loss of small multi-purpose boats not only had a serious impact on fishing as a main source of income, but also on the livelihoods of many small villages along the Delta which used to depend on those boats to reach larger communities for provisions.

Finally the combination of damaged sanitary facilities, damaged health facilities and the wide-spread salination of ponds posed serious health risks, especially with respect to enteric diseases. In the static health facilities, health staff reported a considerable decline in health service provision, in particular for immunization (from 83 to 66 per cent) and communicable diseases (from 43 to 34 per cent). Of particular concern was the drop in health care services for birth delivery from 81 to 71 per cent. Access to medicines also worsened due to the cyclone, with a 10 per cent decline in health staff saying that their health facility had essential medicines, and a 21 per cent increase in those saying that the facility did not have them.

The proportion of households using pit latrines decreased from 77 to 60 per cent due to the cyclone, whereas it doubled from 23 to 40 per cent for unsanitary defaecation practices such as open defaecation, floating latrines and trenches. The increase in floating latrines from 3 to 7 per cent, in combination with the common use of river water as a source of drinking water, as well as the low usage of soaps posed health concerns.

The recent experience from Myanmar underscores the crucial importance of high-quality data for responding effectively to natural disasters and getting relief goods to the people who are in most need. Among the key statistical requirements are the following:

Ready availability of geo-referenced baseline data from administrative sources, censuses and surveys; The identification of social infrastructure and vulnerable groups at a highly-disaggregated level. The use of common codes, definitions and administrative boundaries and the easy linking of various

databases would help in providing the baseline data for cross-sectoral and in-depth assessments.

Apart from the more technical aspects, the national platform described in the Hyogo framework for Action 2005-2015 underlines the need for coordination among agencies. Such improvements would greatly increase the speed and effectiveness with which national and international agencies can respond to the needs of the people affected by natural disasters in the future.

The full PONJA report may be accessed at: http://ocha.unog.ch/humanitarianreform/Portals/1/cluster%20approach%20page/Myanmar/21_07_08_asean_nargis.pdf

 

Trade indicators for evidence-based policy making1/

Contributed by Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer, Trade and Investment Division, ESCAP.

An indicator is a quantitative (or qualitative) measure based on a series of observations that reflect on relative positions of a country or some other unit (of study) in a given area (cf. OECD, 2008). In the area of trade, an indicator is expected to describe and assess the state of trade flows and trade patterns of a particular economy or

economies, as well as the type and level of protection available to these countries.

Regular monitoring of trade indicators over time allows for identification of trends and discrepancies so it can help in setting policy priorities, benchmarking, or evaluation performance. Thus, the use of trade indicators is at the core of informed or evidence-based trade policymaking. This is broadly described as applying statistical and other techniques to obtain sound and transparent data for use in the consultative process between government and other stakeholders in any area of trade policymaking.

In practice, the use of indicators is more focused on tracking, monitoring and evaluation of the results of policies that are already being implemented, rather than for the purpose of policy choice and sequencing or to forecast developments. Nevertheless, the availability of indicators increases transparency and makes policymakers more accountable. Without doubt, evidence-based policymaking contributes towards good governance in policymaking, particularly in an area such as trade policy whose impact always leads to some income-distributional effects.

There is no need to be a statistical expert to use trade indicators, although some statistical background does help. This is particular so if one is not satisfied with the indicators available in the literature and wishes to develop different ones. Also, one has to distinguish between simple indicators and composite indicators.

Composite indicators are constructed by using simple, individual indicators in a single index on the basis of an underlying model and are typically used to measure multidimensional concepts. Examples of these composite indicators are competitiveness, single-market integration; sustainability (see more on this in OECD, 2008). It does not mean that simple indicators which have one or two dimensional potential are less valuable for policymaking and analysis of the implementation of policies. Below are five frequently used trade indicators, their precise formulae for calculation, and a note on some caveats with regard to their use and interpretation.

There are many online databases that offer free access to a number of trade indicators; one example is the World Trade Indicators of the World Bank.2/ More information on these sites is available in Mikic and Gilbert, op. cit., p.7.

Trade data can be obtained from the United Nations Commodity Trade database (COMTRADE), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Direction of Trade statistics, the World Trade Database (WTD) maintained by Statistics Canada, and the GTAP database from Purdue University. GDP data can be obtained from the World Development Indicators, the Penn World Tables, and national sources. Tariff data can be obtained from TRAINS database downloadable from World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS).

1. Growth rate of export / imports

The growth rate is one of the most common indicators used when assessing the progress of an economy in any area of economic activity. Often the rate is calculated at the level of product groups to identify 'dynamic sectors.' Comparison of such indicators over many countries might be of interest to producer or exporter associations, investors, policymakers and trade negotiators.

Definition: The annual compound percentage change in the value of exports between two periods.

Mathematical definition:

Where s is the set of countries in the source, w is the set of countries in the world, X0 is the bilateral total export flow in the start period, X1 is the bilateral total export flow in the end period, and n is the number of periods (not including the start).

Range of values: The growth rate is a percentage. It can take a value between -100 per cent (if trade ceases) and +∞. A value of zero indicates that the value of trade has remained constant.

Limitations: Does not explain the source of growth. When evaluating long periods, there is a need to be careful of changes in measurement and methods. Growth rates assessed on nominal trade figures may be distorted by exchange rate movements and other factors in the short run.

Notes: The compound growth rate is the annual growth rate required to generate a given level of total growth over a period of length n. If n is equal to 1, this is simply the percentage change in exports. The growth rate may also be calculated for a subset of destinations, or for a subset of products, with appropriate modification. The growth rate can also be calculated for imports and/or trade (imports plus exports).

2. Trade dependence (openness) index

This is probably the most frequently used indicator in the area of trade, in addition to growth rates of flows of trade. The trade dependence index is a measure of the importance of international trade in the overall economy. It can give an indication of the degree to which an economy is open to trade (subject to some serious limitations), and that is why it is also called the trade integration index.

Definition: The value of total trade (imports plus exports) as a percentage of GDP.

Mathematical definition:

Where d is the country under study, s is the set of all other countries, X is total bilateral exports, M is total bilateral imports and GDP is gross domestic product (of country d). In words, the numerator is total exports from d plus total imports to d, and the denominator is the GDP of d.

Range of values: Takes values between 0 and +∞.

Limitations: The openness of an economy is determined by a large number of factors, most importantly by trade restrictions like tariffs, non-tariff barriers, foreign exchange regimes, non-trade policies and the structure of national economies. The share of trade transactions in a country's value added is a result of all these factors. It is possible that an open and liberalized economy has a relatively small TDI, if a large proportion of its GDP is created by non-traded activities supported by the domestic market. Low trade dependence may indicate high trade restrictions either in that country or towards that country in overseas markets, or both.

3. Trade share

The trade share tells us how important a particular trade partner is in terms of the overall trade profile of an economy. Changes in the trade share over time may indicate that the economies in question are becoming more integrated. In the case of intra-regional shares, increases in the value over time are sometimes interpreted as an indicator of the significance of a regional trading bloc if one exists, or as a measure of potential, if one is proposed.

Definition: The trade share is the percentage of the trade (imports plus exports) of the region under study with another region of interest, in the total trade of the region under study.

Mathematical definition:

Where s is the set of countries in the source, d is the destination, w is the set of countries in the world, X is the bilateral flow of exports from the source and M is the bilateral import flow to the source. Note the reversal of the usual notation on the import side - we want imports to and exports from the same region when we calculate total trade.

Range of values: Takes a value between 0 and 100 per cent, with higher values indicating greater importance of selected trading partner.

Limitations: The intra-regional trade share is increasing in the size of the bloc considered by definition, so comparing the shares across different blocs may be misleading. High or low shares and changes over time may reflect numerous factors other than trade policy.

Note: The trade share is a weighted average of the import and export shares, with the weights being the share of total imports in total trade and the share of total exports in total trade. It must therefore lie between the values for the export and import shares.

4. Export concentration index (Hirschmann Index)

The sectoral Hirschmann index is a measure of the sectoral concentration of a region's exports. It tells us the degree to which a region's or country's exports are dispersed across different economic activities. High

concentration levels are sometimes interpreted as an indication of vulnerability to economic changes in a small number of product markets. Over time, decreases in the index may be used to indicate a broadening of the export base. An alternative measure is the export diversification index.

Definition: The sectoral Hirschmann index is defined as the square root of the sum of the squared shares of exports of each industry in total exports for the region under study.

Mathematical definition

Where s is the country of interest, d is the set of all countries in the world, i is the sectors of interest, x is the commodity export flow and X is the total export flow. Each of the bracketed terms is the share of good I in the exports of country s.

Range of values: Takes a value between 0 and 1.3/ Higher values indicate that exports are concentrated in fewer sectors.

Limitations: The Hirschmann index is subject to an aggregation bias.

Notes: A Hirschmann index can also be calculated using import or trade shares, if one is interested in import or overall trade dependence issues. The Hirschmann index is sometimes called the Hirschmann-Herfindahl index (HHI), and is used in many other contexts (see the regional version in Mikic and Gilbert, ibid., p. 48). It is also calculated in several variants. It may be seen without the final square root operation, or using percentages instead of fractions. It may also be normalized using the number of destinations. The latter adjustment turns the index into a measure of the 'evenness' in the sectoral export share pattern.

5. Weighted average tariff

Like the (simple) average, the weighted average tariff tells us how much protection is applied by an economy or region, on average. Higher values indicate a more protected economy, lower values a less protected economy.

The difference is that the weighted average tariff takes into account the volume of imports in each product category.

Mathematical definition

Where d is the importing country, s (k) is the set of source countries, i is the set of products of interest, t is the tariff of interest (e.g., bound or applied) defined as a percentage, m is the product level imports, and M is total imports by category. In words, we take each bilateral tariff and multiply it by the share of the corresponding bilateral import flow in total imports. We then sum the weighted tariffs across all sources /product categories.4/

Definition: The sum of the tariffs in a country's or a region's tariff schedule (or part of the schedule) multiplied by a weighting factor representing the product's importance in that country's or region's trade.

Range of values: The tariff is defined as a percentage, so the weighted average can range from 0 to +∞ (import ban).

Limitations: As with the simple average, this index may mask tariff peaks. It has a tendency to understate the level of protection because very heavily protected products are imported less (because of the high tariff), and therefore receive a small weight.

In summary, as shown from the examples used, to be helpful for analysis indicators must be simple, measurable, consistent and comparable. Their coverage may vary from the sectoral and country to regional or global level. Databases that aim to provide trade indicators for use by policymakers should meet these criteria:

  (1) Ability to present a simplified but reliable view of the country, region or whatever the subject of the database would be;

  (2) Contribute to shared knowledge among users;

  (3) Be useful in making policymaking more transparent and more accountable.

References:

Mikic, M. and Gilbert, J., 2007. Trade Statistics in Policymaking - A Handbook of Commonly Used Trade Indices and Indicators, Bangkok : ESCAP and APTIAD athttp://www.unescap.org/tid/publication/tipub2491.asp

OECD, 2008. Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators, Methodology and User Guide, Paris : OECD

World Bank, 2008. World Trade Indicators, accessed athttp://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/TRADE/0,,contentMDK:21393040~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:239071,00.html

______________________1/ Based on "Trade Statistics in Policymaking- A Handbook of Commonly Used Trade Indices and Indicators" by Mia Mikic and John Gilbert (ESCAP and APTIAD, 2007)

2/ http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/TRADE/0,,contentMDK:21393040~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:239071,00.html

3/ Strictly, the lower bound is 1/n where n is the number of countries to which the economy under study exports. This will be close to zero in most applications.

4/ As with the simple average, the elements of the summation and division must be adjusted accordingly, if the group of interest is not the full bilateral tariff schedule.______________________

 

Voices of the Region - Interview with Mr Davender Kumar Sikri, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India 

Mr Davender Kumar Sikri, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, is the Head of the Census Organization of India. We interviewed him when he was in Bangkok recently to attend the UNSD/ESCAP Regional Workshop on Census Data Processing, 15-19 September 2008.

Q: What are the major challenges that you have faced in your current position?

I took over as Registrar General of India in October 2004. At that time, there were two major challenges for me: the first one was to prepare and disseminate the results of the 2001 Census; and the second challenge was to undertake implementation of the pilot project on national identity cards. I am happy to tell you that by December 2007 we had completed the tabulation and dissemination of the Census results. We completed the implementation of the pilot project on the national ID cards in March 2008. Both the tasks have been carried out very successfully and we have already started the preparations for the next Census. The release of census results was followed by publication of some special monographs, for example, monographs on marital status, working population, migration trends. These will be followed by a study on urbanization.

We held a technology conference in December 2007 to decide on appropriate technology for the next census. We have also held consultations with the data users in April 2008. Based on that, we have finalized the questionnaire for the next census. We have also finalized the schedule for the National Population Register and right now we are pilot testing in the field the schedule for the National Population Register.

The recruitment and training of new human resources has always been a challenge; a very large proportion of the human resources would be retiring by 2011. We have made all arrangements for recruitment of new staff members; the majority of these people will be joining us by the end of this year. The Government has given us special permission to recruit in advance replacements of those who will be retiring in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Right now, we are training the new recruits. We have already trained the senior people and we are currently training those at the lower levels. So this will be a major challenge which we will attempt to meet in the next few months, so that everybody is ready when the pilot testing is undertaken in April 2009.

We are also planning to launch a major survey for the Ministry of Health which is called the Annual Health Survey. The idea of this Survey which will cover about a population of 20 million in the country in nine States, is to generate the fertility and mortality data at the district level. This is a programme which has

been given to the Office of the Registrar General of India, because as an agency we already have a lot of experience doing the Sample Registration Survey covering a population of 7 million. So the government has decided that the Offices of the Registrar General will do this special survey to generate the fertility and mortality data. It's a lot of work. We have done the planning, and as soon as we get the approval for the staff, we will start the operations. Complete planning for the Annual Survey, starting from conceptualization to actual planning, has taken place in the last four years, along with the other work.

Q: Why are the functions of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India merged? What are the synergies of combining the two functions?

This has been historically the case. Both of the functions are performed by the same authority. The Registrar General is also the Census Commissioner in India. The advantage of this is that we use the fertility and mortality data which comes out of the civil registration system for validating the census data in regard to fertility and other important parameters. So we find that there is a lot of synergy between the two.

Presently, our civil registration system does not cover every person. We are working towards covering every person. When this is done, we will be able to make projections of fertility and mortality rates at the district level.

Right now we are making population projections up to the state level, but once the system is perfected and we have complete registration of births and deaths then we can have the district rates of fertility and mortality, and project population at the district level. So, I think there is a strong synergy between these two operations.

Later, when the national population register is created in the country, the updating will be taking place through the system of births and deaths registration. Then, we shall see a lot of synergy in the future, as we move towards register-based population census. Although today we are using the registrations more for validation of the census data but in future integration of the two activities will be possible and this will facilitate generation of the population figures at any point in time.

Q: Could you tell us a bit more about your next census, what is changing?

The next census of India will be the 2011 Census. We have a history of uninterrupted censuses since independence and they are conducted once every ten years. Every census of India has been a challenge in its own way. But the 2011 Census is poised to be different from the previous censuses. The methodology of the Census is undergoing a slight change. Along with collecting information on the extended de facto method, which we have been employing since the beginning, we are also experimenting with collecting information on a de jure basis. We are going to test this first through a pilot which we intend to do in April 2009 and thereafter if it is successful we will do it in the 2011 Census.

On the operations side, we are making a few changes in the 2011 Census; one major change that we are

planning is outsourcing the complete distribution and printing of the census schedule. The second change that we are going to introduce is adding bar codes to the census schedule in the next census. The third change that we are going to introduce is geo-referenced digitized enumeration areas in some of the cities for enumeration purposes. We are preparing the digitized maps and we will geo-reference each enumeration area map in advance and give it to the enumerator to go and take count in that enumeration area. So that the enumerator doesn't need to go and prepare the map in the field. We are experimenting this in selected cities for the first time.

Q: You conducted the last census in 2001 and utilized ICR technology for data capture. In this context, what areas do you hope to improve on in the next census?

ICR technology has been utilized very successfully in India and most of the results have been generated on a 100 percent basis, except national industry classification and the national classification of occupation data which are on sample basis. We have already started our search for the improvements that have taken place in the ICR technology, in terms of better recognition, in terms of speed of scanners, noise removal, and printing of forms which was not very satisfactory in the last census. We will choose the right combination of scanners and ICR engine, which is more efficient and which helps us produce and process the data faster. Our teams are working on it already and we have the support of the National Informatic Centre (NIC), which is the technical arm of the government and which advises the various departments and ministries when they select technology.

Q: You mentioned earlier the National Population Register. What is the linkage to the Census?

The project is under planning. The Government will set up a separate authority to manage the database. The 2011 Census information will be used as a base, and later every person will have his/her photograph and finger biometrics attached to the data in the Register. The registration of births and deaths will improve significantly as every person will be required to have a unique national identity number, which will be very important for availing various government services and benefits under the Government schemes.

Q: What could the United Nations do to assist developing countries to improve their civil registration?

It is difficult to give you an answer which meets the requirements of all the countries because the system for registration varies from country to country. In our country for example, the Registrar General is responsible for the overall planning and unification of the registration system but the actual registration takes place in the respective State. It is the States' responsibility. We assist them and we had UNICEF as a partner and still have them as partner in the effort of improving the registration levels in the country. Along with the UNICEF, we assist the States for different activities like publicity, computerization support, at times mobility support for organizing campaigns. We involve UNICEF in many ways to give the extra support which is outside the State's budget so that they can undertake promotional campaigns, over and above their budgets. This has been really helpful. We have improved registration from 58% in 2004 and a 64% of overall in 2006/7. We have a few States which are not performing well, if you take out those States

then the level of registrations is around 86% in the country. We are focusing on these non-performing or poor performing States and UNICEF is giving us full support in respect of these States, because if registration goes up in these States, then overall registration in the country will improve dramatically.

Q: How do you estimate the inter-censal population in India?

We do make projections and we have made projections up to 2026 already. These projections are up to the State level and they are available on our website. We have used the Component Method for making projections. I chaired the group of eminent demographers and population scientists that decided on various factors which would go into the projections, made a realistic assessment and decided the most appropriate method for making projections. At this point of time, the group has already done its work and given the projections to the Government and those projections are also posted on our website.

Thank you very much for sharing your insights and plans with us.

Special announcements 

Asia-Pacific intergovernmental body on statistics to meet 15-17 December 2008At its sixty-fourth session in April 2008, the Commission as the highest intergovernmental body concerned with economic and social development and related environmental issues, adopted resolution 64/1 on the restructuring of the conference structure of the Commission. Commission resolution 64/1 established eight Committees, including the Committee on Statistics, as part of the subsidiary structure of the Commission. Through resolution 64/1, the Commission also provided generic terms of reference and assigned specific tasks to the Committee on Statistics.

The Committee on Statistics shall meet on its inaugural session during 15 to 17 December at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.

Member States are invited to designate Chief Statisticians (or the senior most statisticians) to head their national delegations to the Committee. Regional and international agencies with statistical programmes are also invited to attend the session.

It is expected that the Committee on Statistics shall, inter alia, review its terms of reference in its consideration of its functioning, including in between its biennial sessions, as well as major issues of pertinence to the advancement of statistics development in the Asian and Pacific region.

Below is the provisional agenda for the session:

PROVISIONAL AGENDA OF THE COMMITTEE ON STATISTICS

Bangkok, 15-17 December 2008

1. Opening of the session:

(a) Opening addresses;

(b) Election of officers;

(c) Adoption of the agenda.2. The terms of reference and functioning of the Committee on Statistics.3. Statistical development in Asia and the Pacific.4. Regional technical cooperation in statistics.5. Improving gender statistics: measuring violence against women.6. Towards an action plan for the development of economic statistics in the Asia-Pacific region.7. Producing population estimates on an annual basis: the central role of vital statistics systems.8. Measuring the progress of societies.9. Consideration of possible draft resolutions and decisions for submission to the Commission on its

sixty-fifth session.10. Other matters.11. Adoption of the report of the Committee on Statistics.

............

 

88th Anniversary of the Statistical System of the Republic of KazakhstanOn 8 November 2008, the Agency on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan will celebrate the 88th anniversary of the Statistical System of Kazakhstan.

On this occasion, the Agency would like to publish a celebration journal entitled "Economics and Statistics". For this, the Agency invites contributions in the form of articles from international organizations and Kazakhstan government bodies. The articles could cover instances of collaboration of international organizations with the Agency, as well as overall cooperation in the field of statistics. No word limit is specified for the articles and the format for publishing will be A4.

The United Nations ESCAP Statistics Division extends its congratulations and best wishes to the Agency on this happy occasion.

 

Capacity building 

Statistics Division meetings/workshops

September 2008 saw two consecutive workshops coorganized by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and ESCAP in Bangkok. The workshops engaged developing countries on major issues concerning the international statistics community: international merchandise trade statistics and contemporary technologies for census data processing. Below are reports on both workshops. 

UNSD/ESCAP Workshop for Developing Countries on the Revision of the International Recommendations for International Merchandise Trade Statistics

, Bangkok, 9-12 September 2008

 

The

Statistical Commission on its thirty-ninth session (26 - 29 February 2008) endorsed the UNSD initiative and strategy to revise the existing recommendations for international merchandise trade statistics. The revision is necessitated by changes in user needs and in related statistical frameworks, in particular the 1993 System of National Accounts and Balance of Payments Manual. The current revision will ensure that recommendations reflect changing practices and patterns of how trade is conducted since the last recommendations were issued in 1998.

One key element of the UNSD revision strategy is a world-wide consultation process with national trade statistics compilers. In this context UNSD, in cooperation with ESCAP, organized the Workshop for Developing Countries on the Revision of the Recommendations for International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) in Bangkok from 9 to 12 September 2008. The workshop was part of a special UNSD-ESCAP collaborative endeavour to inform developing countries on the revision process and engage

them in providing feedback. Nineteen participants from 14 countries in three regions (ECA, ESCAP and ESCWA regions) attended the Workshop. The workshop discussions contributed to ensuring that the perspectives of developing countries are incorporated in the revised recommendations.

 

UNSD/ESCAP Regional Workshop on Census Data Processing: Contemporary technologies for data capture, methodology and practice of data editing, documentation and archiving, Bangkok, 15-19 September 2008

 Is there an optimal mode of collecting data? With the wide range of choices on new technology, how should national statistical systems be guided in deciding which to choose?

Issues and options concerning data capture, methodology and practice of data editing, documentation and archiving were discussed in depth at a workshop on contemporary technologies for census data processing. In support of developing countries in the lead up to the 2010 census round, the UNSD - UNESCAP Regional Workshop was held in Bangkok during 15 - 19 September 2008. The Workshop was attended by 30 participants from 18 countries. Participants shared insights, practices and concerns, as they debated the pros and cons of diverse methods of data capture, including optical mark recognition (OMR), optical character recognition (OCR) / intelligent character recognition (ICR), use of PDAs and hand-held devices, Internet use and manual data entry.

Workshop outcomes included the following:

Agreement that there is no one optimal mode of data collection. Decisions on the use of new technology should be based on national needs and not be influenced solely by

current trends. The census data capture process should have a complete quality assurance plan, regardless of the

technique used. The different parts of the process should be monitored using a few reliable indicators. In that regard, specific attention should be paid to the proportion of false positive, namely, the proportion of characters recognized wrongly.

Statistical offices should increase the value, quality and usability of the population and housing censuses to be conducted by documenting the respective data sets from the beginning, in accordance with international standards and good practices, and by ensuring that the documented data sets are archived properly. The Microdata Management Toolkit provides a suitable framework for this purpose and ESCAP and other development agencies are requested to provide further assistance in their use in population and housing

censuses.

 

SIAP meetings/workshops

This issue of the Statistical Newsletter covers five SIAP training events and provides information on the 2008 SIAP calendar of training events, as well as regional meetings attended by SIAP staff. Three of the training events were held on SIAP premises in Chiba, Japan. Spanning the period from mid-May to mid-September 2008, the three courses covered ICT use with regard to official statistics; analysis, interpretation and dissemination of official statistics; and collection and analysis of official economic statistics for Central Asian and Caucasus countries.

In addition, there were two SIAP courses held in Metro Manila, Philippines, and in Daejon, Republic of Korea. The Metro Manila course on integrated economic accounts was conducted in collaboration with the Government of the Philippines through its Statistical Research and Training Centre, and with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Daejon course, focusing on developing skills in undertaking research studies that involve statistical methods for analysis, was conducted in collaboration with the Korea National Statistical Office through its Statistical Training Institute. 

Fourth Group Training Course in Application of Information and Communications Technology to Production and Dissemination of Official Statistics, Chiba, Japan, 12 May -11 July 2008

 

The Fourth Group Training Course in Application of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to Production and Dissemination of Official Statistics was conducted as a Tokyo-based regular programme jointly organized by the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Fourteen participants from 10 countries participated in this two-month long course.

The course aimed to equip participants with knowledge of different aspects of ICT, and its use in increasing productivity in the operations of national statistical organizations (NSO) and with regard to official statistics. The course covered ICT production, dissemination and possible implications and consequences of applying ICT in a statistical organization.

The participants were trained on the principles of electronic data processing, management and dissemination, and the technologies available, including the use of some statistical software, such as the Census and Survey Processing System (CS Pro), STATA, Front Page and Macro data management tool kit of International Household Survey Network (IHSN) tool kit.

An important component of the course was to train trainers. Participants were trained in designing and organizing training courses, including the preparation of training materials. Participants learned to develop skills in training

other staff members in their organization after the completion of the course. They also learned how to effectively present and convey statistical information to the public.

Project work was another important component of the course. Participants successfully demonstrated the use of software for collecting, processing, analysing and disseminating statistical information.

Participants visited the Statistics Bureau in Tokyo and attended presentations on data capturing and processing of Census 2005 data and price data collection. They observed demonstrations in the use of hand-held data collection equipment. They learned about the new Statistical Act of Japan. They also undertook visits to NTT Data Inforium and Hitachi Cyber Government Square to see how ICT could be used for data collection and decision-making. A visit to the Regional Statistical Office in Nara Prefecture was also part of their field work on learning how the Regional Statistical Office supported and contributed to the production of official statistics at the national level.

In addition to SIAP faculty members, experts who contributed to the course included those from the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the Ministries of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Finance, as well as Fujitsu Japan, and Meisei University Japan.

The end-of-course evaluation indicated that most participants found the course useful and relevant for their national statistical offices and they were confident of their ability to apply the new knowledge and skills acquired to their work.

Further details are available on the SIAP website www.unsiap.or.jp

 

Second Regional Course on Integrated Economic Accounts, Metro Manila, Philippines, 26 May - 13 June 2008

 

The United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) in collaboration with the Government of the Philippines through its Statistical Research and Training Centre, and with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), conducted the second Regional Course on Integrated Economic Accounts. The course was held from 26 May to 13 June 2008 at the Statistical Research and Training Centre, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

The course, the second in the series, addressed the need of national statistical offices in the region for overall development of integrated economic accounts. There were 25 participants from 21 countries in the region, including five participants from the host country, the Philippines.

The course was primarily designed for participants to learn the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA). The content of the course included: the theory, practice and recommendations of the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA), supply and use table of products by industry, input-output tables, current and accumulation accounts, balance sheets, the three main approaches to GDP estimates, constant price estimates and quarterly national

accounts. The course also included SNA associated systems - government finance statistics (GFS), monetary and financial statistics (MFS), balance of payments (BOP) and environmental and tourism satellite accounts. An important course subject was an introduction to analysis of national accounts and updates of the 1993 SNA.

Workshop exercises were organized during the course in order for participants to acquire an understanding of the recommendations of the SNA. A one-day programme included field visits to the following: the Philippines Statistical System at the National Statistical Coordination Board, National Statistical Office, Department of Statistics on Agriculture and the Asian Development Bank for its statistical activities. Participants also witnessed the official release of the quarterly estimates of GDP for the Philippines.

All 25 participants successfully completed the training course requirements. The conduct of this course brought to light the urgent need for national capacity building on the 1993 SNA recommendations and its compilation along with associated economic accounts.

The course was designed and directed by SIAP and conducted with the support of two IMF experts who delivered lectures as well as practical sessions on GFS, MFS and BOP. In addition, IMF provided fellowships for some participants from least developed and landlocked countries in the region.

 

Research-based Training Programme: Seventh Research-based Regional Course, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 30 June - 8 August 2008

 

The Research-based Training Programme (RbTP) is a short training programme conducted by the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) and designed for middle or senior level official statisticians from the region to improve their skills in undertaking research studies that involve statistical methods for analysis. The Regional Research-based Training Course was conducted in collaboration with the Korea National Statistical Office (KNSO) through its statistical training institute. The KNSO, in collaboration with its statistical training institute, provided the necessary support, including computers, lecture room facilities, as well as administrative and logistical support as an in-kind contribution to the course. A total of 14 participants from 14 countries benefited from the training course.

The main objectives of the course were to strengthen participants' understanding concerning the following:

The stages of undertaking research studies in social science; Literature search and literature review; How to develop research proposals and the conceptual framework for a study; The theory behind the methods of statistical analysis; How to conduct a small-scale research study and apply statistical methods for data analysis; Completing a research study within a specified time-frame.

During the first week of the course (30 June - 4 July 2008), participants attended an in-class training course entitled "Basics of research principles and methods". This course was conducted through lectures and practical exercises. The course covered topics such as concepts of research, contents of a research paper, writing an abstract and executive summary, introduction to basic skills for literature review, introduction to "Reference Manager", statistical methods of data analysis, such as descriptive statistics, ANOVA, correlation and simple linear regression, logistic regression model, time series analysis, and oral presentation skills.

During the next five weeks (7 July - 8 August 2008), participants worked on improving and finalizing the research proposals that they had submitted during the application process. They carried out their respective research studies and prepared draft research papers. These activities were performed under the supervision of prominent research advisers assigned by KNSO to each participant.

Participants were expected to finalize and submit their research papers for approval by their advisers within a month after the course. When approved, the research advisers would forward the research papers to KNSO for transmission to SIAP.

All participants indicated that the course was relevant to their work in their respective countries.

 

Fourth Group Training Course on Analysis, Interpretation and Dissemination of Official Statistics, Chiba, Japan, 14 July -12 September 2008

 

The Fourth Group Training Course on Analysis, Interpretation and Dissemination of Official Statistics was held from 14 July to 12 September 2008 in Chiba, Japan. This was part of the Tokyo-based regular programme jointly organized by the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Twenty-two participants from 20 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America participated in the two-month long course.

The course was designed principally to train statisticians mid-way in their professional careers on the application of statistical methods and techniques for analyzing, interpreting and disseminating official statistics. The course addressed the growing need of government policy makers for statistics provided by national statistical offices to be reinforced by more data analysis and interpretation, as well as to be more efficiently disseminated. The availability of expertise for such analysis and dissemination would facilitate the building of socio-economic indicator databases for the implementation and monitoring of programmes on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The major thrust of the course was on developing skills in data analysis and improving interpretation, writing and presentation of the outcomes of analysis. Subjects covered included the social statistics framework and many other important topics in social statistics relating to poverty, labour force, gender, education, health, disability and the MDGs. The statistical analytical techniques ranged from descriptive statistics to regression, multivariate analysis and time series analysis. Basic training on technology for statistical processes covered modern database

management systems and electronic publishing of official statistical data. STATA software was provided for training and analysis of data. Participants also gained experience in training techniques, so that they would be able to train other staff members in their organizations upon completion of the training.

In addition to the subject matter, each participant undertook project work on social statistics under the guidance of a supervisor. Participants selected a variety of topics such as gender inequality, and population migration which would make the project useful for their organization and relevant to their country. Each participant presented the completed project task at the end of the course.

At the closing ceremony, course participants had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Yoshiaki Kano, Director-General, JICA TIC, Mr Akihiro Kimoto, Director for International Statistical Affairs, Office of Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Standards), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, and many other distinguished officials representing the Government of Japan and JICA. On that occasion, Mr Ilpo Survo represented the ESCAP Statistics Division.

 

Area-Focused Training Course in Collection and Analysis of Official Economic Statistics for Central Asian and Caucasus Countries, Chiba, Japan, 22 July -22 September 2008

 The Area-Focused Training Course in Collection and Analysis of Official Economic Statistics for Central Asian Countries 2007 was conducted from 22 July to 22 September in Chiba, Japan. The Course was organized jointly by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP). It was designed with emphasis on economic statistics for mid-career statisticians from transition economies in order to improve and strengthen their capability in collection, compilation, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of official economic statistics in the government statistical services of their national statistical offices. Five participants from four Central Asian countries joined the course.  

The main objectives of the course were to increase understanding of the following: (a) the role and importance of economic statistics in the market economy; (b) an integrated framework for compilation and analysis of basic macroeconomic indicators; (c) the collection and analysis methods of economic statistical information, including data necessary for the System of National Accounts (SNA). Another major objective of the course was to ensure that participants developed action plans for wider dissemination of knowledge and skills that they acquired during the training course.

The programme included economic statistics covering enterprise statistics, the 1993 SNA, survey methodology, such as sampling, questionnaire design, field operation, editing, data management, analysis and dissemination, and statistical methods covering regression analysis, time series, STATA and MS ACCESS.

Mr Yoshiaki Kano, Director-General, JICA TIC, and Mr Akihiro Kimoto, Director for International Statistical Affairs,

Office of Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Standards), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication and many other distinguished officials representing the Government of Japan and JICA attended the opening ceremony.

 

Calendar of forthcoming meetings 

Meetings and training courses of ESCAP Statistics Division and SIAP

 

The list of future events is provided for coordination purposes only. The list may be updated and events, dates and venues may change. If you wish to use any item on the list, please confirm the latest update with the ESCAP Statistics Division (SD) or SIAP, as appropriate. Please note that not all meetings are intended for all countries.

Date Organizer Meeting Venue

2008

29 September - 13 March

SIAP Fourth Group Training Course in Modules on Fundamental Official Statistics, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Chiba, Japan

1 - 3 October

SD, SDD (Social Development Division)

Expert Group Meeting on the use of Violence Against Women indicators in support of the CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action

Bangkok

13 - 15 October

SIAP Seventh Management Seminar for the Heads of NSOs in Asia and the Pacific, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Shanghai, China

27 October - 14 November

SIAP Fourth Sub-regional Course on Statistics for the Pacific Island Developing Countries, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Nadi, Fiji

29 - 31 October

SD, CDC, Philippines NSCB and NSO

Eighth Meeting of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics Manila

11 - 12 November

SIAP Fourth session of Governing Council, http://www.unsiap.or.jp Chiba, Japan

15 - 19 November

SIAP SIAP/UNECE Sub-regional Training Course on New Challenges in Economic Statistics, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Tehran

17 - 21 November

SIAP, ADB SIAP/ADB Country Training Workshop on MDGs and Use of Administrative Data Systems for Statistical Purposes,http://www.unsiap.or.jp, http://www.adb.org

Koror, Palau

24-27 November

UNSD, SD United Nations Workshop on International Economic and Social Classifications

Bangkok

24 November - 5 December

SIAP Country Course on National Accounts, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Colombo

10 - 12 December

SD, UNSD Workshop on MDG Monitoring, http://www.unescap.org/stat/,http://unstats.un.org

Bangkok

15 - 17 December

SD Committee on Statistics, First session Bangkok

20 - 24 December

SIAP Country course on environment statistics, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Tehran

2009

3 days in January

SD Pre-pilot study regional workshop on disability statistics,http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

February SIAP SIAP/OECD Training course on measuring the progress of societies (tentative), http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Chiba, Japan

March SD, SIAP Workshop for project countries on national accounts estimation of informal sector activities, http://www.unescap.org/stat/,http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Bangkok

March SIAP Fourth regional course/workshop on statistical quality management and fundamental principles of official statistics,http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Daejeon, Republic of Korea

31 March - 1 April

SD Inter-agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services, http://www.unescap.org/stat/

Bangkok

September SD, SIAP Conference on measuring the informal sector and informal employment: methods and experiences from Asia and the Pacific,http://www.unescap.org/stat/, http://www.unsiap.or.jp

Bangkok

 

Other forthcoming statistical meetings in the ESCAP region

 

The following list of future events has been compiled, for coordination purposes only, on the basis of information available to the Statistics Division as of 30 September. Readers are strongly advised to verify the correctness with the indicated organizers. Events, dates and venues may change. Please do not republish or disseminate the list. The calendar of statistical meetings in Asia and the Pacific is maintained on ESCAP web site http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/events_Asia_Pacific.asp

PARIS21 is maintaining event calendars for Africa and Asia at http://www.paris21.org/pages/events/all-events/list/

Date Organizer Meeting Venue

2008

13 - 16 October

UNESCO Benchmarking Impact and Progress - Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation on a New Framework for Culture Statistics,http://www.unescobkk.org/culture

Bangkok

14 - 16 October

IAOS IAOS Conference on Smart Data, Innovative Uses - Reshaping Official Statistics,http://www.stats.govt.nz/iaos/home.htm

Shanghai, China

16 - 17 October

USAID and ASEAN

Regional Workshop on the ASEAN Catch-up Programme on the System of National Accounts (SNA),http://www.usaid.gov/, http://www.aseansec.org/

Manila

26-28 October

ECO High Level Expert Group Meeting on the Economic Cooperation Organizations' Framework of Cooperation and Plan of Action on Statistics, http://www.ecosecretariat.org/

Tehran

13 - 15 November

Statistics Bureau, Japan

Twelfth East Asian Statistical Conference,http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index.htm

Tokyo

29 - 31 December

Department of Statistics and O.R., Aligarh Muslim University, India

VI International Symposium on Optimization and Statistics,http://www.amu.ac.in/shared.sublinkimages/isos2008.pdf

India

2009

25 - 27 East West 24th Population Census Conference,http://www.eastwestcenter.org/ Hong

March Centre Kong, China

30 March - 2 April

UNWTO The 5th UNWTO International Conference on TourismStatistics - Toursims: An Engine for employmnetcreation, http://www.unwto.org/index.php

Bali, Indonesia

 

Missions by ESCAP Statistics DivisionStatistics Division team members undertook four missions in the period June - September 2008. 

Andres Montes, Statistician, Statistics Development SectionChristian Stoff, Associate Statistician, Statistical Information Services Section 

Yangon, Myanmar, 15 June-4 July 2008:

Purpose: To support the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) established by the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations, in the preparation of the UN Humanitarian Appeal and the production of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report.

The ESCAP Statistics Division (SD) staff members supported the humanitarian efforts conducted by the United Nations and ASEAN in the aftermath of cyclone Nargis which affected a large part of the Ayeyarwady Delta and the southern Yangon Division. SD staff

members were responsible for the statistical analysis of all the Village Tract Assessment (VTA) data and provided technical advice in the preparation of the PONJA report. They also supported and oversaw the data entry and data cleaning process of the VTA; provided estimates for the different clusters involved in the VTA; liaised with different UN agencies, ASEAN and the World Bank; and helped in defining the structure and content of the final report.

The full PONJA report may be accessed at: http://ocha.unog.ch/humanitarianreform/Portals/1/cluster%20approach%20page/Myanmar/21_07_08_asean_nargis.pdf

 

Pietro Gennari, Director, Statistics Division

In July and September 2008, the Director, Statistics Division, ESCAP undertook three missions concerning data quality, national statistical systems and user-producer relations, and coordination of statistical activities. Below are highlights of the missions. 

Rome, 7-8 July 2008:

Purpose: To attend the Third Conference on Data Quality for International Organizations, jointly organized by the United Nations Statistics Division and Eurostat.

The Conference provided the heads of international agencies with a forum to share experiences regarding the various quality mechanisms developed for improving the collection and dissemination of international data. The Conference was attended by 40 participants from 15 international organizations.

The Conference sessions covered the following five main themes:

  (a) Quality assessment and the use of checklists and user surveys; collection of quality metadata; dissemination of quality information; training in quality management;

  (b) International cooperation on quality management - principles, harmonization of frameworks, peer reviews, support of countries;

  (c) Dissemination platforms to make data more accessible and interpretable;

  (d) Best practices in imputation and estimation;

  (e) The implications for data quality of making data internationally comparable - or respecting national, but not comparable sources. (roundtable).

Colombo, 21-25 July 2008:

Purpose: To attend the Workshop on Organization of National Statistical Systems and User-Producer Relations during 21-24 July 2008, organized by the United Nations Statistics Division, in collaboration with the Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka.

The Workshop was organized under the UN Development Account project on "Strengthening statistical capacity-building in support of progress towards the internationally agreed development goals in countries of South Asia ". The Workshop provided a forum for discussion on the role of the national statistical offices in providing relevant statistical information to key data users to inform the policy debate and promote evidenced-based policy-making.

Chief Statisticians and senior government statisticians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the Workshop. The First Steering Committee meeting, convened prior to the Workshop, identified the specific statistical domains in which the UNDA project would support the statistical capacity of countries in the region, including the initiatives currently under way in the context of SAARC Stat.

Tunis, 10-12 September 2008:

Purpose: To represent ESCAP at the 12th meeting of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) held in Tunis during 11-12 September 2008. The meeting was hosted by the African Development Bank and was attended by 24 agencies, including three Regional Commissions (ECA, ECE and ESCAP).

The Committee:

  (a) Approved by consensus the revised Terms of Reference of the CCSA.

  (b) Commended the report of the Task Team on Population Estimates.

  (c) Welcomed an increased role of the Regional Commissions in the validation of country data and of a larger geographic coverage of the estimates produced by the UN Population Division (UNPD).

  (d) Stressed, at the same time, the need for broader involvement of data users in the dissemination of the UN PD population estimates.

  (e) Invited the task team to work on the third part of its mandate (developing internationally agreed standards on annual population statistics) and to produce the final report by September 2009.

  (f) Welcomed the report of the Task Team on Reporting Mechanism on Statistical Capacity-building (SCB) Activities, and requested the Team to present a finalized inventory of SCB activities at the February 2009 meeting of the CCSA, together with a note on how to ensure that all the major players providing support to statistical development would respond to the PRESS questionnaire.

  (g) Agreed to form a new task team on exploring good practices with respect to data sharing among international organizations. Eurostat, OECD, World Bank and the World Tourism Organization volunteered to be part of the task team, which would be led by the European Central Bank. 

 

Recent additions to the Statistics Division team 

Sharita Serrao joined the Statistics Division in May 2008 as Statistics Assistant. Previously, she worked for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, ESE Asia Regional Office in Bangkok. Sharita graduated with a Masters in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and with a Bachelor of Science in Economics, Mathematics and Political Science from the University of Calcutta, India.

San Yuenwah joined the Statistics Division in mid-July 2008 as Statistical Analyses and Publications Coordinator. Prior to that she served as Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary-cum-Secretary to the Commission (October 2005 - January 2008) and as Secretary to the Commission (February - mid-July 2008). Much of her nearly 25 years with the secretariat was devoted to advocacy, research and training on social issues, particularly with regard to youth development, as well as initiation of secretariat work on life-long preparation for old age and the development dimensions of health. Yuenwah's key contributions to secretariat achievements include promoting the inclusion of persons with diverse disabilities in the development process.

Marisa Limawongpranee joined the Statistics Division as Statistical Information Systems Assistant in August 2008. Marisa has a background in information technology, with a focus on application development. Previously, Marisa worked as Assistant Manager of Application Development in the IT Division of KPMG Phoomchai Holdings Co, Ltd. Thailand. Marisa has an MA in English for Careers from Thammasat University, Thailand, and a BSc in Computer Science from Mahidol University, Thailand.

 

Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division (3rd Quarter 2008) Mr Ding Tongbing, Assistant to the Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to United

Nations ESCAP, Embassy of China, Bangkok Ms Pu Xiaojun, Assistant to the Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to United

Nations ESCAP, Embassy of China, Bangkok Mr James Lang, Gender Advisor, UNDP Regional Centre, Bangkok Ms Anita Dwyer, Regional Programme Officer, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), Bangkok Mr John J. Curry, Gender Research Officer, Gender, Equality and Rural Employment Division, Economic and

Social Development Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy Mr Sengkham Inthiratvongsy, GIS/Data Management Specialist, Basin Development Plan, Planning Division,

Mekong River Commission, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic Mr Jairo Castano, Senior Statistician, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok Mr Arild Hauge, Chief of the Inspection and Evaluation Division, OIOS, United Nations, New York Ms Jessica Xiaojie Guo, Inspection and Evaluation Officer, OIOS, United Nations, New York Ms Theresa Wong, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, USA

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