13.1 Adherence (and non-adherence)#
Implementing and achieving adherence to the FPOS offers significant benefits for producing high-quality, reliable, and impartial official statistics:
Official statistics are recognized as part of a country’s (and region’s) knowledge infrastructure. They underpin decisions by governments, businesses, communities, citizens, and the international community, influence investment choices, monitor progress, inform policy development, and measure its success.
Official statistics are essential for effective governance and fulfilling citizens’ expectations of reliable and trustworthy information about their country. They play a crucial role in informing debates and decisions on national issues and monitoring the outcomes of those decisions.
Adherence to the UNFPOS is the most effective mechanism for securing the benefits of official statistics and managing non-adherence risks. The risks associated with non-adherence are significant and can manifest as a loss of trust and confidence in the National Statistical System and/or National Statistical Office, a lack of professional and ethical behavior in the production of official statistics, a lack of coordination at the local and national level, and a lack of cooperation at the regional and international levels.
If these risks are not addressed, they can significantly undermine the role of official statistics in supporting sustainable development, peace and security, and the flow of knowledge and trade among states and peoples in an increasingly connected world.
What would adherence to the FPOS look like, and how can it be achieved?
In 2015, the UNSC focused on country adherence to the FPOS and explored ways to address perceived non-adherence effectively. The discussions noted the absence of definitions of adherence and non-adherence, leaving these definitions open to interpretation across different national and regional contexts.
A shared understanding of adherence will help ensure less diversity of interpretation and more consistency overall in achieving adherence across the global statistical system. The approaches that have been developed to reach that common understanding include:
Assessment and evaluation tools and
The maturity model approach.