2.16 International statistical cooperation

2.16 International statistical cooperation#

As outlined at the beginning of this chapter, international cooperation in official statistics is both long-standing and extensive. It reaches all countries and all NSOs of the world and encompasses all aspects of official statistics. The international statistical cooperation has several objectives, of which the main can be said to be the following:

  • ensuring adequate generation of official statistics for both national and international use;

  • harmonising official statistics between countries;

  • developing methods, standards and systems;

  • enhancing the clarity and quality of official statistics;

  • disseminating national statistics at the international level;

  • building capacity for the compilation, provision and use of official statistics in developing countries.

Following its foundation in 1946, the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) has been the centre of the world-wide cooperation in official statistics. The UNSC is the forum for discussions and decisions on statistical development and harmonisation, for development of standards, classifications, concepts, methods and procedures as well as on policies and actions to extend the cooperation and statistical development to all continents and countries. The work on these actions is carried out, both on the global and regional level, in the various institutions of the UN, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank (the so-called Bretton Woods institutions), as well as in various other international and supranational agencies.

The UN Statistics Division (UNSD) is the secretariat of the UNSC and coordinates many statistical cooperation aspects. It also receives statistics from member countries and makes these available in databases that can be accessed online and in various publications. The regional dimension of the statistical cooperation is the responsibility of the five UN regional commissions in charge of statistical development and capacity building in their respective regions.

Various specific institutions of the UN also work at the global level on statistics in their respective domains. A few of these can be mentioned. The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned with harmonising and developing health statistics as well as collecting health statistics from member countries. The International Labour Office (ILO) harmonises and develops standards for labour statistics. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN is concerned with statistics on agriculture, forestry and fishing, and on production and supply of food in the world. It also engages in statistical capacity building in developing countries. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is concerned with statistics in its field, developing standards and collecting statistics from member countries. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is engaged in developing statistics relating to children and families and conducting statistical programmes in developing countries. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works with population statistics and census taking, largely focusing on developing countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) compiles, processes and validates a wide range of international trade statistics. Other UN institutions such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) engage in statistical capacity building programmes in developing countries.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the Bretton Woods institutions, are major international statistical cooperation partners. The IMF focuses on economic, financial and monetary statistics, and it develops standards and handbooks on these subjects. It sets the dissemination standards mentioned previously on minimum requirements for compilation and regular provision of statistics in its field. The World Bank is a major actor in statistical capacity building, developing, funding and promoting capacity building programmes in developing countries.

Various international organizations outside the UN system are involved in statistical cooperation and development at global, regional and sub-regional levels. In particular, mention can be made of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU). The NSOs and other producers of official statistics in the 27 EU member states, together with the four member countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), form the European Statistical System (ESS). Under Eurostat’s leadership, the ESS countries have harmonised the bulk of their official statistics, including standards, procedures, and the requirements made for statistical quality. Eurostat is among the leaders in international statistical cooperation, participating actively in developing standards and procedures.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an association of several developed countries in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania. For a long time, the OECD has been engaged in developing and harmonising statistics, mainly economic statistics, in its member countries and has been at the forefront in international statistical cooperation.

The Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) is an important player in statistical capacity building in developing countries. It aims to increase the use of statistics for decision-making, strengthening statistical systems, for instance, by promoting and facilitating the work on NSDSs and providing a forum for donor cooperation in the field of official statistics. Regional development banks also play a critical role by providing technical assistance to their member countries for statistical capacity development.

Another example of regional statistical cooperation is the Economic and Statistical Observatory of Sub-Saharan Africa (AFRISTAT), with its 22 member and created in 1993. AFRISTAT is an intergovernmental organization whose sole working objective is the development of statistics. It devotes most of its resources to strengthening the statistical capacities of its member States and those of the sub-regional economic integration institutions. AFRISTAT, based in Bamako, Mali, contributes to the development and harmonisation of economic, social and environmental statistics in the Member States and strengthen their skills in these areas.

Most of the international organization mentioned above participate actively in developing statistical methodologies and guidelines and extending data collection to new domains required by world agendas. Many of them contribute actively to statistical capacity building in developing countries, through technical advice and/or financing of programmes. Some of them also undertake assessments of national statistical systems and statistical programmes, e.g. through so-called assessments, peer reviews or reports of specific statistical operations aspects. All the institutions participate in the current statistical work relating to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The work on the SDG indicators involves the international statistical players in one way or another – in developing new techniques, in educating and training staff to compile statistics in line with modern and harmonised concepts, standards, and methods or providing technical assistance and funding for such statistical work.